- FHSAA introduced two new championships for 2026-27: the Open Division for top teams and the Independent League with two divisions.
- The Open Division will feature Florida's top eight football teams based on MaxPreps rankings competing for an overall state champion.
This fall, there are 10 championship games for Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) member schools.
Although the FHSAA has done away with the Rural classification, at least for now, there are six classification championship games (1A-6A), plus the 1A-3A Florida Invitational Tournament (FIT) and the 4A-7A FIT championships.
Two new championships, the Open Division Championship and the Independent League Championship, are among the changes to come for high school sports this school year.
The Open Division is a championship platform that highlights Florida’s top high school teams.
For football, the top eight teams will be selected based on the MaxPreps rankings at the conclusion of the regular season and they will play for an overall state champion.
It’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility that Buchholz, which plays a tough non-district schedule, could end up among the top eight.
“I think there are pros and cons to it,” said Buchholz coach Mark Whittemore. “Honestly, I hate to be ambivalent…it’s a super-duper cool thing for those top-tier teams to go in and punch on each other a little bit and find out who the big dog really is. However, it also kind of waters down the other classifications. I think there are a couple ways of looking at it. I do applaud the FHSAA, however, for being innovative for doing proactive things.”
Whittemore was a huge fan of the Suburban/Metro classifications four years ago.
“I mean that was fantastic, and it was innovative,” he said. “I like the fact that the FHSAA and our state legislature have wanted to innovate a little bit. We could argue all day, is it (Open Division) the right move or the wrong move, but at least we’re making a move, and I think that’s important that we don’t get stagnant as we move forward with new technologies and new scenarios.”
The Bobcats (12-2), who advanced to their fifth straight state semifinal last year, will compete in Class 5A-District 3 with Forest (Ocala), Matanzas (Palm Coast), Oakleaf (Orange Park) and West Port (Ocala).
With eight returning starters on offense and seven returning on defense, expectations are high again.
“I definitely don’t like to count my chickens before they hatch; however, I like our squad,” Whittemore said. “I like us up front on both sides of the ball, which is kind of what I believe wins football games. Our offensive line stands to be one of our best, and our D-line is talented, very talented…our running back room is probably the deepest it’s been since I’ve been here, and we’ll toss it around enough to stay competitive.”
Buchholz is ranked at No. 120 in the High School Football America 300 national rankings.
The FHSAA Independent League will feature two divisions, Pool A and Pool B, each with North and South regions. Pool B North will include area teams P.K. Yonge and Oak Hall School. Oak Hall is returning to the FHSAA after winning the Sunshine State Athletic Association Class 3A championship in 2025.
MaxPreps rankings will be used to seed teams for postseason competitions. There will be 16-team brackets (eight teams from the North Region and eight teams from the South Region). The winner of the North and South regions of each division will meet at The Villages Charter School for two championship games on Dec. 4.
“We won a ring in the SSAA, so there’s no reason why we can’t or shouldn’t be trying to play for an FHSAA ring, so that’s exciting for us,” said OHS coach R.J. Fuhr. “I think it’s exciting for the kids, and yeah, it definitely gives us motivation for sure.”
Division A will include schools with student populations of 900 and above, while Oak Hall and P.K. Yonge will be in Division B (schools with populations up to 899 students).
“We have some familiar foes in our pool or in our division,” Fuhr said. “We have about 280 in our high school, so we’ll be playing with some much bigger schools. We’re used to that. Mount Dora Christian has always been an SSAA opponent that’s now coming over to the FHSAA, as well as Trinity Prep (Winter Park) and a few other schools that we’ve played.”
Oak Hall had its first losing season in 10 years in 2024, but the Eagles went 9-4 last year and defeated Cambridge Christian (Tampa), 27-10, at The Villages Charter School to win the SSAA 11-man 3A Championship.
The Masters Academy (Oviedo), who OHS defeated in the semifinals, is also in the North with the Eagles.
“It’ll be fun, it will be interesting,” Fuhr said. “It will be a hard run in the playoffs, but we’re excited for the opportunity.”
Fuhr applauded the FHSAA.
“We had a meeting earlier this year and they took a lot of the coaches’ opinions, advice on how to structure things,” he said. “The FHSAA has been great on getting our opinions on it, which is nice, so I think it’s going to continue to get tweaked and improve year in and year out.”
Previously, the FHSAA’s Independent classification did not offer a postseason, which could influence whether OHS remains independent or moves into a new classification.
“I think we’re just going to see how it goes,” Fuhr said. “We were the only sport at Oak Hall that wasn’t FHSAA, so I know the plan had been to try and get back to that. We’re a full membership status, but I think as long as they have this independent classification, I can foresee us staying in it…I mean, we still have to make the postseason.”