FHSAA Open Division Pairings Set: Full 2026 Schedule, Pool Play and Championship Rules

By Football Hotbed | November 6, 2026

Florida’s first Open Division football field is set, and the road to its inaugural championship begins with three consecutive Fridays of games between eight of the state’s top programs.

St. Thomas Aquinas earned the No. 1 seed, followed by Columbus, West Boca Raton, Chaminade-Madonna, Lakeland, Miami Central, Raines and Venice. The announced field creates two four-team pools, with four semifinal berths available.

The opening round is scheduled for Friday, November 13. Pool play continues November 20 and November 27, with scheduled kickoffs at 7:30 p.m. Eastern. Unlike the traditional elimination bracket, an opening loss will not automatically end a team’s title hopes.

The inaugural Open Division field

Records and seeds were announced during the FHSAA’s official November 6 bracket release show. St. Thomas Aquinas and Raines enter the postseason unbeaten, each riding a 24-game winning streak, according to the announcement.

The final seeds place Venice in Pool A and Miami Central and Raines in Pool B. Those assignments supersede the projections circulated before the bracket reveal.

Complete Open Division pool-play schedule

All times are Eastern. The scheduled kickoff for each pool-play game is 7:30 p.m. Host schools are listed second. Dates and times remain subject to official changes.

Friday, November 13 — Round 1

Friday, November 20 — Round 2

Friday, November 27 — Round 3

How does the Open Division work?

Football qualification is based on the MaxPreps rankings at the conclusion of the regular season, regardless of classification. The selected programs compete for the Open Division championship, while the remaining qualifying teams pursue their classification titles.

The eight seeds are distributed by position: Nos. 1, 4, 5 and 8 form Pool A; Nos. 2, 3, 6 and 7 form Pool B.

Each team plays the other three members of its pool once. Every participant is guaranteed at least one home game. The top two finishers in each pool advance to the state semifinals.

That creates a different postseason rhythm. A team can recover from a first-round loss, but it must still finish among its pool’s top two. A 2-1 record also could require a tiebreaker if three teams finish with the same mark.

What are the pool-play tiebreakers?

The FHSAA’s published Open Division criteria, reiterated during the official bracket release show, list these tiebreakers in order:

1. Head-to-head results among tied teams.
2. Points allowed among the tied teams only.
3. Point differential among the tied teams only.
4. Overall point differential from all games.

For example, if three teams finish 2-1 and each has beaten one of the other two, head-to-head results alone would not separate them. The next comparison would be points allowed in games involving those tied teams.

The procedure returns to head-to-head once one team is separated from a three-way tie. In the official announcement, the FHSAA explained that if three teams tie for first, the team that wins the applicable tiebreaker takes the pool’s top spot. The remaining two teams are then compared head-to-head to determine the second advancing team. The process does not simply rank all three teams by points allowed.

That makes defensive performance especially important. The size of a defeat or the points surrendered in a victory could affect advancement when records are equal.

When are the semifinals and championship?

The Open Division semifinals are scheduled for Saturday, December 5, at The Range at H.G. Morse Stadium in Sumterville, home of The Villages Charter School. The FHSAA confirmed the December 5 semifinal date during the official release show.

The crossover matchups will be:

• Pool A winner vs. Pool B runner-up.
• Pool B winner vs. Pool A runner-up.

The semifinal winners advance to the championship on Saturday, December 12, at South Dade Kia Field at Pitbull Stadium on Florida International University’s campus in Miami.

Semifinal and championship kickoff times were not listed in the FHSAA championship table reviewed for this report. Those times will be added when officially posted.

From the semifinals forward, the tournament is single elimination. Each finalist will have played five postseason games: three pool contests, a semifinal and the championship.

What stands out about the pairings?

For Football Hotbed, the schedule’s most compelling feature is how quickly it demands consistency.

In Pool A, St. Thomas Aquinas begins at home against Lakeland, travels to Venice, then closes against Chaminade-Madonna. The Raiders must handle three distinct opponents rather than prepare for a single elimination game at a time.

Pool B opens with Miami Central visiting Columbus and Raines traveling to West Boca Raton. Its final round sends West Boca to Columbus and Raines to Miami Central, leaving two direct pool matchups to settle the standings on Thanksgiving weekend.

The host rotation also matters. Aquinas, Chaminade-Madonna, Columbus and West Boca each have two pool games at home. Lakeland, Venice, Miami Central and Raines each have one.

A historic field—and a debate that will continue

The bracket settles who will participate, but the selection process remains a subject of discussion.

USA TODAY Network’s Jon Santucci tracked the changing projections throughout the season and explained the ranking-based format. Larry Blustein, writing for Prep Redzone before the reveal, questioned whether computer selection adequately recognized other deserving programs, including Carrollwood Day, DeLand and Armwood.

Those arguments will remain part of the inaugural season’s story. For the eight selected teams, however, the next test is now on the schedule: three pool games, four semifinal places and the opportunity to become Florida’s first Open Division football champion.