Miami, FL--The Football University National Championship gets underway today in all five regions of the country. Teams representing 57 cities will be competing. The culmination for eight super regional single elimination brackets all leads to Naples, FL and the December 20th championship at First Baptist Academy.
The annual tournament began in 2011 with a model after the Little League World Series, only for football. It pits all-star teams from various cities across the country against each other in an exciting tournament that reaches from coast to coast. This year’s champions will be crowned in the Middle School grades of 6th, 7th and 8th. This tournament is truly one of the most exciting in all of youth football.
TOURNAMENT PREVIEW
8th Grade
This year, the 8th grade bracket will again take center stage. Defending 7th grade champions, Team Broward County (FL) will look to make their third consecutive trip to the National Championship. They lost to Houston in 2014, but beat Seattle in 2015 as 7th graders to win it all. Now they begin their journey to another championship in Suwanee, GA today at 4 PM against Sarasota.
This is a game that will feature two of the nation’s best 8th grade running backs in Amari Daniels for Broward County and Michael Hayes for team Sarasota. Both have made their names as younger middle schoolers and have now reached their full maturity as 8th grade youth football athletes in the final year before they head to High School. This should be an interesting first round but unless Sarasota is able to surround Hayes with a lot more talent than he’s had in the previous two years, this game could get out of hand. But with a battle between two Florida teams, you can’t rule out anything.
The Suwanee bracket has another amazing first round match up featuring the Houston and GFL teams. This is a tough opening round draw for both teams and it’s tough to send one of these programs home after just one game but that’s what’s going to happen. Houston won it all in 2014, but are missing a few key pieces from that championship team, most notably Hayden Conner. GFL has a history of great success at the 8th grade level in this tournament and should be paced by Joseph McKay. This is a must see match up with the winner getting the bye into the championship on Sunday.
The tournament winner may just come from this Suwanee bracket.
Other teams to keep an eye on in 8th grade are Team Seattle, who met Broward County in last year’s championship. They were outclassed on the field but team director Sam Adams went home determined to get back to Naples this season. He built a challenging youth football schedule for the majority of his players during the regular season, all in hopes of sharpening the tools for a potential grudge match between Broward County.
A bracket that would be worth the price of admission to see in 8th grade has to be the Dacula and Sugar Hill, GA brackets in 8th grade. The list of talented teams is long. Team Dade County, lead by head coach Travis Thomas, pushed Broward to the limit last year as 7th graders. They bring back Scooter Morrison, one of the most electrifying quarterbacks who will play in the tournament. They also are paced by the play of Hotbed All-American Katravis Geter and Zuberi Mobley. Standing in their way is a very talented Team Tampa. This second year program is well run and has the depth to get to Naples, especially when they don’t have to play Houston, GFL or Broward County to do it. Add Central and Southwest Florida along with an East Houston team that’s a bit of a wildcard because of their inaugural appearance and you have the makings for fireworks.
And we didn’t even mention tournament veterans Kentucky and South Atlanta, which have traditionally fielded strong teams.
7th Grade
In the class of 2022, team Broward County returns as the 6th grade champion looking to go back-to-back. Upon seeing this team, many may mistake them for an 8th grade team, that’s just how big they are. They will certainly be a tough out. Look for challenges from team Houston, a runner up from a year ago and a wildcard out west is team Southern California. Bobby Ashtiani and his crew have done an amazing job getting the best talent from the area to buy in to this tournament and it should finally show up this year. Noah Fifita played on a predominately 8th grade team this year so dropping down on age level could get scary for opposing defenses.
6th Grade
This bracket is always an unknown because kids are entering the tournament for the first time. Watch for a team from the Southern states to win this bracket as has been custom. Mostly because of the speed and in 6th grade if you have it, you can beat nearly anyone. Especially when most kids are only 11 years old.
Here are the participating teams as of Friday at Midnight EST
New Port, RI (6 Total Cities)
Long Island (6th & 8th)
Massachusetts
New York City
Connecticut
Rhode Island
New Hampshire (7th & 8th)
Gwinnett County, GA (14 Total Cities)
Houston
GFL
Broward County (FL)
GMSAA (Georgia Middle School)
Tampa
Mississippi (6th & 8th)
SW Florida
Dade County (FL)
Kentucky
Sarasota (FL) (7th & 8th)
Jacksonville (FL) (7th & 8th)
South Atlanta (7th & 8th)
Central Florida (7th & 8th)
East Houston (8th)
Rock Hill, SC (8 Total Cities)
Southern New Jersey
Charlotte (NC)
Northern New Jersey
Maryland
Indiana
Northern VA (7th & 8th)
South Carolina (8th)
Maryland Metro (8th)
Olathe, KS (8 Total Cities)
Oklahoma (8th)
Dallas (7th & 8th)
Rio Grande Valley (6th & 8th)
Kansas City
Minnesota (7th & 8th)
Milwaukee (8th)
Illinois (7th & 8th)
East Denver( 8th)
Wichita, KS (7 Total Cities)
Austin (6th & 8th)
St. Louis (6th & 8th)
South Dakota
Wichita (6th)
West Texas (6th & 8th)
Wisconsin (8th)
South Texas (8th)
Sacramento, CA (7 Total Cities)
Central Los Angeles (6th & 7th)
Northern Washington (6th)
Seattle
Inland Empire (CA) (6th & 8th)
Southern California (7th)
Los Angels (LA) Valley (7th)
Utah (7th)
Roseville, CA (7 Total cities)
Columbia Basin (6th & 8th)
Bay Area
Sacramento
Oregon
Central Valley
San Diego
Colorado (8th)
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