The 8-man football playoffs begin on Thursday, October 20 with playoff brackets released this Saturday. We will have the exclusive reveal of the bracket with our partners at strivsports.com in conjunction with the Nebraska School Activities Association.

Each class of 8-man will have 32 qualifiers for the playoffs opening round. In Class D-1 there are 11 automatic district qualifying spots to champions and 21 wild cards. In Class D-2, there are nine districts with 23 wild cards. The 32 qualifiers are placed on map with 16 west and 16 east. Those schools are then seeded respectively within their geography.

The 16 winners will then be bracketed in a statewide bracket for the remainder of the playoffs. Here is a quick look at teams who have clinched spots and some games of importance this week.

Class D-1

Clinched district title: Elmwood-Murdock (1), Laurel-Concord-Coleridge (5), Neligh-Oakdale (6), Heartland (8), Bridgeport (11).

Clinch with a win: Freeman (2), Cross County (3), Stanton, Pender winner (4), Riverside (7), Hi-Line, Cambridge winner (9), North Platte St. Patrick’s (10).

Top wild cards not listed: Clarkson/Leigh, Sandhills Valley, Thayer Central, Perkins County, Freeman, Ravenna, Nebraska Christian, EMF, Crofton, Alma, Shelby-Rising City, Wisner-Pilger, Summerland, Plainview, Arapahoe, Weeping Water, Sandy Creek, Homer, Elkhorn Valley, Mead, Maxwell.

Class D-2

Clinched district title: Bruning-Davenport/Shickley (1), Howells-Dodge (2), Ainsworth (4), Lawrence-Nelson (6), Hitchcock County (8).

Clinch with a win: Bloomfield, Wynot winner (3), Osceola, Nebraska Lutheran winner (5), Twin Loup (7), Sandhills/Thedford (9).

Top wild cards not listed: Johnson-Brock, Elm Creek, Central Valley, Falls City Sacred Heart, Elgin Public/Pope John, Kenesaw, South Loup, Humphrey St. Francis, Humphrey/LHF, Mullen, Lourdes Central Catholic, O’Neill St. Mary’s, Wausa, Fullerton, Axtell, High Plains, Anselmo-Merna, Maywood-Hayes Center, Osmond, Loomis, Winside, Burwell, Creighton.