The 2025 North Carolina high school football regular season is quickly drawing to a close, and the state playoffs will soon begin. Follow every NCHSAA high school football playoff tournament — from 1A to 8A — with updated scores, schedules and brackets once released.
🗓️ Key NCHSAA Football Playoff Dates – 2025
When will the NCHSAA football playoff brackets be released?
The official brackets will be announced on Sunday, November 2, 2025 (moved up from Monday, Nov. 3, when they were originally scheduled for release). Games will begin that Friday, Nov. 7.
What is the 2025 NCHSAA football playoff schedule?
- November 7 – First Round (higher seed hosts)
- November 14 – Second Round (higher seed hosts)
- November 21 – Third Round (higher seed hosts)
- November 28 – Fourth Round (higher seed hosts)
- December 5 – Regional Finals (higher seed hosts)
- December 11–13 – State Championships (neutral sites)
Where will the 2025 NCHSAA state championship games be played?
The NCHSAA will use UNC’s Kenan Stadium for four of the championship games (schedule TBA) this year. Lenoir-Rhyne’s Moretz Stadium in Hickory and Durham County Memorial Stadium also will be used.
📊 2025 NCHSAA Playoff Bracket Links
When brackets go live on Nov. 3, links below will update instantly.
| Classification | Link | Updated |
|---|---|---|
| 🏆 1A | 2025 1A Bracket → | Coming Soon |
| 🏆 2A | 2025 2A Bracket → | Coming Soon |
| 🏆 3A | 2025 3A Bracket → | Coming Soon |
| 🏆 4A | 2025 4A Bracket → | Coming Soon |
| 🏆 5A | 2025 5A Bracket → | Coming Soon |
| 🏆 6A | 2025 6A Bracket → | Coming Soon |
| 🏆 7A | 2025 7A Bracket → | Coming Soon |
| 🏆 8A | 2025 8A Bracket → | Coming Soon |
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
🗓️ When will the 2025 NCHSAA football playoff brackets be released?
The official 2025 NCHSAA football playoff brackets will be announced Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, most likely in the afternoon.
🎥 How can I stream NCHSAA playoff football games?
Streaming North Carolina high school football is simple through NFHS Network, and every subscription directly supports the schools that produce the broadcasts. Sign up for your monthly or annual NFHS Network subscription now to get ready for the playoffs!
⚙️ How many teams qualify for the playoffs in each classification?
- 1A–7A: 48-team brackets
- 8A: 24-team bracket
The smaller 8A bracket exists because that class has 32 schools statewide, while others have as many as 64.
🧮 How are the playoffs seeded?
Playoffs are seeded entirely by an RPI formula.
- Head-to-head results no longer guarantee a higher seed.
- Conference finish no longer matters — conference champions aren’t automatically qualified or seeded before wildcards.
🗺️ How are East and West regions determined?
The old static East/West region line is gone. Instead:
- The NCHSAA takes all RPI-qualified teams (48 or 24).
- Orders them west-to-east by longitude.
- Splits that list in half to create the West and East regions.
- Re-sorts each region by RPI to set seeds.
🏆 Who gets first-round byes?
- 1A-7A: Top 8 teams per region = 16 total byes.
- 8A: Top 4 teams per region = 8 total byes.
Those teams automatically advance to Round 2.
🧭 Simplified Playoff Process
- Select top 48 (1A-7A) or 24 (8A) teams by RPI.
- Sort by longitude → split West/East.
- Re-rank within each region by RPI → assign seeds.
- Top seeds earn first-round byes.
(Sources: HighSchoolOT.com, NCHSAA)
📣 Stay Updated
Bookmark this page for live bracket links, score updates and printable versions as soon as matchups are released.
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