{
  "id": 18033996,
  "title": "What if high school football had a 12-team national playoff? Here's our Super 25 field",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/03/what-if-high-school-football-had-a-12-team-national-playoff-heres-our",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-11-03T23:01:28.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/high-school-football-had-12-230128266.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The College Football Playoff Rankings are set to be announced on Tuesday, November 3. While college football enthusiasts eagerly await the official 12-team bracket preview for the December bracket, there are still games remaining in the season. With high school football in the final stretch, we can examine the potential Super 25 playoff bracket based on the current rankings. As of this week, Santa Margarita (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA) leads the Super 25 rankings at No. 1, followed closely by St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, FL) at No. 2. In a hypothetical 12-team national playoff, the top five teams from each region would secure the first-round byes, with the other teams facing off in the first round.\n\nThe top five seeds would be awarded to the highest-ranked teams in each region. In the West, No. 1 Santa Margarita would be the seed, while the Southeast would have No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas. The Southwest would feature No. 4 Allen, the East would be led by No. 10 The St. James Academy, and the Midwest would be represented by No. 14 Brownsburg. The first-round matchups would then be determined by the seeded teams, with No. 5 Brownsburg facing No. 12 Carrollton from Georgia, No. 6 Buford taking on No. 11 Sierra Canyon from California, No. 7 Columbus vs. No. 9 IMG Academy from Florida, and No. 8 Bishop Gorman from Nevada against No. 9 IMG Academy. The remaining four teams left out of this bracket are No. 12 Baylor, No. 12 Thomas County Central, No. 15 De La Salle, and No. 16 Hough.",
  "summary": "The first CFP reveal is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 3. Here's a look at how a hypothetical high school playoff could look like.",
  "key_points": [
    "Santa Margarita leads Super 25 rankings at No. 1",
    "St. Thomas Aquinas holds No. 2 seed in Florida",
    "First-round byes awarded to top five teams in each region"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}