Texas high school hoops is basically a religion in some towns, and honestly, the Texas 6A basketball playoffs are the high-stakes altar where everything is decided. If you aren’t from around here, you might think it’s just another tournament. It isn't. It is a grueling, multi-week gauntlet that eats good teams alive and turns teenagers into local legends.
Right now, as we hit the mid-January stretch of 2026, the atmosphere is getting heavy. Districts are grinding through their second half of the schedule. Every coach is staring at the standings, doing the "what-if" math. By February 14 for the girls and February 21 for the boys, the district chairs have to certify their winners. If you aren't in the top four by then? Your season is over. Period.
The New Reality of the Split Division
You've probably noticed the brackets look a little different these days. The UIL didn't just want more champions; they wanted to fix the enrollment imbalance. Now, the top four teams from each district get in, but they don't all go into one giant bucket.
The two biggest schools (based on their October 2023 enrollment numbers) go into Division I. The two "smaller" 6A schools head to Division II. This matters. A lot. It means we no longer see a school with 4,000 kids constantly steamrolling a school with 2,200 just because they're both technically "6A."
It has changed the scouting game entirely. Coaches aren't just watching their next opponent; they're tracking the enrollment of every potential threat in the region to see which bracket they’ll actually fall into.
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Who is Actually Scary Right Now?
If you’re looking at the 2025-2026 landscape, a few names keep coming up in every conversation at the concession stands. San Antonio Brennan is playing like they’re from another planet. They went into mid-January with a 17-game win streak, and Kingston Flemings is a huge reason why. The kid is a University of Houston signee, and he’s putting up stat lines that look like a video game: 20.7 points, nearly seven assists, and almost seven boards a game.
Then there’s Allen. They’ve got a program-best win streak going—21 games as of the last report—and they just dismantled a very good Plano East team.
In the DFW area, Lancaster and Duncanville are locked in their usual cage match for District 11-6A supremacy. Lancaster beat Duncanville back in late January, but Duncanville is Duncanville. They’ve been winning their recent games by an average of 23 points. Kayden Edwards is shooting the lights out, taking over eight three-pointers a game. You cannot leave him open. You just can't.
Down in the Houston area, Seven Lakes and Shadow Creek are the ones to watch. Seven Lakes is on their fourth straight 30-win season. Think about that for a second. The consistency is actually insane.
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Teams to Keep an Eye On:
- San Antonio Brennan: Lead by Flemings, they are the clear favorites in South Texas.
- Allen: They are deep, disciplined, and currently unbeatable.
- Lake Ridge (Mansfield): Eze Nwakamma is a beast on the boards (8.3 per game).
- Katy Jordan: They’re hunting their first-ever district title and Elijah Black just hit 1,000 career points.
The Gauntlet: From Bi-District to San Antonio
The road to the Alamodome is basically a series of "survive and advance" moments. It starts with the Bi-District round. One game. Win or go home. No best-of-three series like you see in baseball. If you have a bad shooting night or your star player gets into early foul trouble, that’s it.
After Bi-District comes the Area round, then the Regional Quarterfinals. This is where things get weird. By this point, you’re usually playing at neutral sites. You might be driving three hours to a random college gym or a massive high school arena in a town you've never visited.
The Regional Semifinals and Finals are the ultimate pressure cooker. If you win those, you’re headed to the state tournament in San Antonio. For the girls, the state finals happen on March 7, 2026. The boys follow a week later, with the 6A Division 1 and Division 2 finals set for Saturday, March 14, 2026.
How to Actually Watch This Stuff
Honestly, unless you’re willing to drive across the state, you’re going to be watching a lot of this on your phone or laptop. The NFHS Network is the primary home for the Texas 6A basketball playoffs. They livestream basically everything from the early rounds all the way to the state championships at the Alamodome.
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A lot of people complain about the subscription, but it’s really the only way to catch the regional games if you can't be there in person. Just a heads up: some of the smaller gyms might have spotty camera quality, but by the time you hit the regional finals, the production value goes way up.
What Most People Get Wrong About Rankings
Rankings are fun for Twitter, but they don't mean much once the brackets are set. In Texas, a team can be ranked #5 in the state and lose in the second round because they ran into a #12 team that happens to have a 6'10" center that matches up perfectly against them.
The UIL doesn't use a selection committee. There are no "at-large" bids. It doesn't matter if you're the best team in the world—if you don't finish top four in your district, you're out. This leads to "Districts of Death" where legitimate state-title contenders are sitting at home in March because their local competition was just too top-heavy.
Actionable Steps for the Postseason
If you're planning on following the 2026 run, don't wait until the last minute to find out where games are being played. Playoff matchups are often decided on a Friday night and played the following Tuesday.
- Check the Brackets Early: The UIL website updates their brackets in real-time. Bookmark the 6A Division I and Division II pages.
- Follow Local Beat Writers: In Texas, the local newspaper guys on X (formerly Twitter) are faster than the official sites. They’ll know the tip-off times and neutral site locations before anyone else.
- Buy Tickets Online: Most playoff venues have moved to digital ticketing (HomeTown Ticketing is common). Don't show up at the gate with a $20 bill expecting to get in; many places won't take it.
- Watch the Enrollment Shifts: Keep an eye on the "cutoff" for Division I and Division II. A team you thought was going D1 might slide into D2 if a bigger school in their district also qualifies.
The 6A playoffs are essentially a month of controlled chaos. It’s loud, it’s emotional, and it’s the purest version of the sport you’ll find in the state. Whether you’re rooting for a powerhouse like Duncanville or a rising threat like Katy Jordan, the margin for error is zero. That's what makes it great.