The Michigan High School Athletic Association is changing the way its best football teams meet in the postseason, and that’s just the beginning.
The MHSAA Representative Council approved a sweeping set of changes during its spring meeting, May 3-4 in Gaylord, headlined by a new regional seeding model for 11-player football playoffs, a new transfer monitoring system, and a formal study of how schools are classified for competition.
Recommended Videos
The council considered 20 committee proposals during what is typically its busiest session of the year.
Football playoff seeding gets a makeover
The most talked-about change coming out of Gaylord affects how 11-player football playoff brackets are built.
Beginning with the 2026 postseason, the playoff field in each of the eight 11-player divisions will be organized into eight-team regionals.
Teams will be seeded one through eight based on playoff-point averages.
Seeds one, four, five, and eight will make up one district bracket, while seeds two, three, six, and seven form the other.
The two district winners will then meet in the regional final.
The practical effect: the top two teams in a region can no longer knock each other out in an early round.
The best-vs.-best matchup is now reserved for the regional championship.
The change was recommended by the MHSAA Football Committee.
Transfer tracker coming in 2027-28
As part of its ongoing focus on transfer activity, the council approved the use of a “Transfer Tracker” system to monitor student-athlete movement between schools and streamline eligibility verification.
Use of the system will become mandatory beginning in the 2027-28 school year.
The tool is designed to help administrators confirm students are eligible before they participate in a new school, addressing rising concerns about transfer activity and its effect on competitive fairness.
New study group to examine classification
The council also took a formal step in ongoing discussions about competitive balance, approving a Classification Committee recommendation to establish a study group composed of representatives from member schools.
The group will analyze school demographics, championship data across all levels of MHSAA tournaments, and other success factors.
Its findings will inform future classification decisions, raising the question of whether enrollment alone should continue to determine how schools are grouped for postseason competition.
Other notable rule changes
The council approved a wide range of additional changes across sports and operations, effective with the 2026-27 school year.
Regulations
A contest must now be suspended if an independently validated lightning-detection device or mobile weather application indicates a lightning strike within 10 miles of the event location.
The council also approved a regulation barring students enrolled at MHSAA member schools from participating as unattached or non-school participants in any regular-season school contest.
Junior high, middle school wrestling
Following the creation of similar events in other individual sports, the MHSAA will act as a presenting sponsor for junior high and middle school individual wrestling regionals at the conclusion of both the Winter One and Winter Two seasons.
The events will be conducted by the wrestling coaches’ association.
Participants may compete in only one regional, and the event will not count toward the 10 allowable events during the junior high and middle school season.
Officials conduct
Officials who make aggressive or intentional physical contact with a student or coach will face a minimum 14-day suspension and be excluded from postseason assignments.
Sport-by-sport changes
Basketball: Once a team trails by 40 points in the first half or 30 points in the second half, the point-differential clock will continue, even if the margin later narrows below those thresholds.
Competitive cheer: New inversions allowances were approved only at the high school level.
Field hockey: In its first year as an MHSAA-sponsored sport, field hockey will adopt a standardized 10-minute reduced-player overtime procedure for all regular-season varsity games, aligning them with postseason procedures.
Games still tied after overtime will be declared a tie unless part of a bracketed tournament.
A new inclement weather rule was also approved: any game with a goal differential of three or more at any point after the second quarter will be considered a complete game if it cannot be resumed after a delay.
Football: Teams are limited to nine games per season, excluding playoffs, and no more than one game in any five consecutive calendar days.
Players may not participate in more than one game or four quarters in a single day, and no more than five quarters during one football week, defined as Wednesday through Tuesday.
Teams are also limited to four interscholastic scrimmages per season.
Golf: Student-athletes must participate in at least eight dates of school team competition to be eligible for the MHSAA Golf Tournament.
If a school’s varsity team plays fewer than 16 regular-season games, the requirement drops to at least 50% of those games.
Soccer: The Limited Team Membership allowance for college identification camps was expanded to permit unlimited participation during the girls’ season, as those camps are scheduled in the spring.
The council also approved moving Boys Soccer Semifinals to Tuesday in years when Halloween falls on the usual Wednesday semifinal date, next applicable in 2029, 2035, and 2040.
Volleyball: Teams receiving a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in a girls volleyball district tournament must have a minimum of 15 varsity match results.
Additionally, textured volleyballs will be permitted for boys’ volleyball postseason play beginning in 2026-27.
Teams may continue using smooth or textured balls during the regular season.
Wrestling: At dual-meet tournaments with an odd number of teams, eligible individual wrestlers from separate participating teams may now assemble as one team and compete in the event.