The Kentucky high school football postseason format will again return to the first-round cross-bracketing or “sister district’ format beginning in 2023 following a Wednesday vote by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association Board of Control.
Two years ago, the KHSAA voted to change to a format that has teams playing other teams from within its districts in the first and second rounds of the playoffs. This move cuts down on travel in most instances. It’s a change from the cross-bracketing system that features the top four teams from one district facing the top four teams from another district in the first round.
The same inter-district format was used in 2006 and 2007 before the KHSAA switched back to the traditional format that a majority of coaches in the state favor.
A survey conducted by 193 members of the Kentucky Football Coaches Association following the 2020 season said 76-percent are in favor of changing the current postseason format back to the cross bracketing system between districts.
The KHSAA conducted its own survey this spring and found 109 were in favor of the cross-bracketing or “sister district” format. 58 were in favor of playing in the same district for first and second-round games. 58 schools did not respond.
The postseason change will not take effect until the 2023 football season when the current four-year district alignment ends. The postseason change will coincide with the new district alignment for 2023-26.
KHSAA School Survey Info
Schools Wishing to Change to Cross-Bracketing Format
Caldwell County
Mayfield
Bowling Green
Christian County
South Warren
Hopkinsville
Logan County
Madisonville
Franklin-Simpson
Warren Central
Warren East
Webster County
Apollo
Daviess County
Henderson County
Caverna
Butler County
Schools Wishing to Keep Postseason Format the Same
Graves County
Owensboro
Hopkins County Central
Union County
Marshall County
McCracken County
Fulton City
Crittenden County
Murray
Hancock County
McLean County
Owensboro Catholic
Schools that Did Not Respond to Survey
Fulton County
Russellville
Ballard Memorial
Fort Campbell
Todd County Central
Muhlenberg County
Greenwood
Paducah Tilghman
Trigg County
