PHOENIX — The regular season is now over on Friday Night Fever, Arizona's No. 1 and longest-running high school football show, and we now know all of the teams that will chase a state championship this season.
On Saturday, the Arizona Interscholastic Association released the playoff brackets for the Open Division, 6A football, 5A football, 4A football, 6A flag football, 5A flag football and 4A flag football.
The playoffs have already begun in 3A football, 2A football and 1A football.
And before we break down the 5A bracket, here's a reminder of how the playoffs work in Arizona.
1A plays a 12-team bracket, where the top four seeds received byes to the quarterfinals. That is the only conference where teams receive byes. The 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A and 6A conferences all play a 16-team bracket. The Open Division is an eight-team bracket made up of the top eight teams in 5A and 6A, as ranked by the AIA.
In flag football, all three conferences play 16-team brackets.
Now, let's break down the 5A bracket, starting with a look at the overall seeds.
2024 5A High School Football Playoff Seeds
Note: The seeds below will not include the teams ranked No. 1-4 in 5A (Marana, Higley, Desert Mountain and Horizon) as those teams will play in the Open Division playoffs instead of the 5A playoffs.
- ALA-Gilbert North Eagles (7-3, 3-2) 4th place 5A Northeast Valley region
- Tucson Badgers (8-2, 4-1) 5A Sonoran region champions
- Buena Colts (8-2, 4-1) 2nd place in 5A Southern region
- Cactus Cobras (7-3, 4-1) 5A Desert West region champions
- Ironwood Ridge Nighthawks (8-2, 4-1) 3rd place in 5A Sonoran region
- Verrado Vipers (8-2, 4-1) 2nd place in 5A Desert West region
- Desert Edge Scorpions (6-4, 4-1) 3rd place in 5A Desert West region
- Campo Verde Coyotes (7-3, 5-0) 5A San Tan region champions
- McClintock Chargers (9-1, 4-1) 2nd place in 5A San Tan region
- Cactus Shadows Falcons (7-4, 1-4) 5th place in 5A Northeast Valley region
- Notre Dame Prep Saints (5-5, 1-4) 6th place in 5A Northeast Valley region
- Raymond S. Kellis Cougars (9-1, 5-0) 5A Central Valley region champions
- Mountain View Marana Mountain Lions (6-4, 4-1) 2nd place in 5A Sonoran region
- Casa Grande Cougars (6-4, 2-3) 4th place in 5A Southern region
- Cienega Bobcats (5-5, 3-2) 3rd place in 5A Southern region
- Barry Goldwater Bulldogs (7-3, 4-0) 5A Northwest Valley region champions
*5A Metro region champion Camelback finished 21st in the AIA's 5A rankings and did not make the playoffs.
2024 5A Playoffs First Round (Round of 16) Matchups
- No. 1 ALA-Gilbert North will host No. 16 Barry Goldwater
- This will be the first-ever meeting between ALA-Gilbert North and Barry Goldwater, according to MaxPreps.
- No. 2 Tucson will host No. 15 Cienega
- This will be the seventh meeting, and second this season, between Tucson and Cienega, according to MaxPreps. The schools also played back in September and Tucson won, 13-7. That was Tucson's first-ever win over Cienega.
- No. 3 Buena will host No. 14 Casa Grande
- This will be the ninth meeting, and second this season, between the 5A Southern region rivals, according to MaxPreps. Buena leads the series 5-3 and beat Casa Grande, 66-42, on Oct. 4.
- No. 4 Cactus will host No. 13 Mountain View Marana
- This will be the first-ever meeting between Cactus and Mountain View Marana in football, according to MaxPreps.
- No. 5 Ironwood Ridge will host No. 12 Raymond S. Kellis
- This will be the first-ever meeting between Ironwood Ridge and Raymond S. Kellis in football, according to MaxPreps.
- No. 6 Verrado will host No. 11 Notre Dame Prep
- This will be the third meeting between Verrado and Notre Dame Prep, according to MaxPreps. The teams have split the two previous games with Verrado winning 21-14 in a regular season game in 2021 and Notre Dame Prep winning 38-28 in the first round of the 5A playoffs in 2019.
- No. 7 Desert Edge will host No. 10 Cactus Shadows
- This will be the third meeting between Desert Edge and Cactus Shadows, according to MaxPreps. The teams have split the two previous games with Desert Edge winning 35-0 in a regular season game in 2022 and Cactus Shadows winning 45-7 in the first round of the 4A Division II playoffs in 2006.
- No. 8 Campo Verde will host No. 9 McClintock
- This will be the sixth meeting, and second this season, between the 5A San Tan region rivals, according to MaxPreps. Campo Verde has a 5-0 record over McClintock and beat the Chargers 34-14 on Nov. 1.
The full 5A bracket is below.
All eight of the first round games in 5A are scheduled to be played on Friday, Nov. 15 and each game will be hosted by the higher-seeded school.
The 5A State Championship Game is scheduled to be played at 8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 6 at Arizona State's Mountain America Stadium in Tempe.
There will be a new champion this year in 5A as the back-to-back reigning champion, Higley, advanced to the Open Division playoffs.
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