GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida High School Athletic Association announced today the creation of the FHSAA Open Division, a championship platform designed to showcase the top high school teams in the state of Florida.
Originally endorsed by the FHSAA
Board of Directors in June 2024, the Board approved the finalized format on June 9, 2026. The Open Division will officially debut during the upcoming school year and will feature the top eight teams in the following team sports, regardless of classification: football, girls volleyball, girls basketball, boys basketball, girls soccer, boys soccer, baseball, softball, flag football, girls lacrosse and boys lacrosse.
“This is an exciting step forward for high school athletics in the state of Florida,” said FHSAA Executive Director Craig Damon. “This has been in the works for the past few years, and after today’s Board approval, we are excited to officially share it with everyone and look forward to seeing these teams compete in the Open Division Championships.”
For football, the top eight teams will be selected based on the MaxPreps rankings (on the Maxpreps website) at the conclusion of the regular season.
For all other Open Division sports, the top eight teams will be selected based on FHSAA Power Rankings by Maxpreps (on the FHSAA website) at the conclusion of district tournaments.
The eight qualifying teams will be divided into two pools of four teams each. Pool A will include seeds 1, 4, 5 and 8, while Pool B will include seeds 2, 3, 6 and 7. Each team will be guaranteed at least one home contest in pool play. At the conclusion of pool play, the top two teams from each pool will advance to the State Finals host site for a single-elimination tournament to determine the Open Division state champion.
In the event of a tie during pool play, the following tiebreaking criteria will be applied in order:
- Head-to-head results among tied teams
- Points allowed among tied teams only
- Point differential among tied teams only
- Overall point differential from all games
The Open Division was developed to provide a premier competitive pathway for the state’s highest-performing programs while maintaining the integrity and tradition of FHSAA State Championship competition across all classifications.
Additional details regarding sport-specific timelines, championship dates and State Finals host sites will be shared at a later date.
About the FHSAA
The Florida High School Athletic Association supervises and regulates interscholastic athletic programs for high school students at member public, private and charter schools. The organization also recognizes and honors academic achievement among student-athletes at over 850 middle, junior and senior high schools statewide. Headquartered in Gainesville, it is the official governing body for interscholastic athletics in Florida.