Only one regular-season game remains before seeding Sunday for NCHSAA football playoffs and the journey to the 2026 state championships.
Newly expanded brackets mean more teams make the postseason field these days, and seedings are determined solely by the NCHSAA's Ratings Percentage Index, which weighs winning percentage, opponents' winning percentage and opponents' opponents' winning percentage to formulate standings.
High school football playoffs begin Nov. 6 and culminate with state championships set for Dec. 10-12 as teams vie for titles in eight NCHSAA classifications.
With an expanded postseason format that started last year, 48 teams will fill brackets in classes 1A-7A — 24 from the East Region and 24 from the West Region — while the 8A bracket will hold 24 teams total.
Conference champions are no longer guaranteed a playoff spot, and postseason berths are determined only by RPI, with the top 48 making the 1A-7A fields. After qualifiers are separated by longitude into East and West brackets, they are re-sorted by RPI and seeded accordingly in their respective region.
SEASON-LONG FOOTBALL COVERAGE: High school football in Fayetteville: Complete coverage from the 2026 season
Sixteen teams, eight in each regional bracket, will receive a first-round by in classes 1A-7A. Eight teams in the 24-team 8A playoff field will earn first-round byes.
Fayetteville is poised to send eight of its 10 NCHSAA teams into playoffs as the season stands with one regular-season game remaining.
Cape Fear and Seventy-First are the highest-ranked of Fayetteville's teams, with the Colts projected to earn a first-round bye and the Falcons likely to jump into a bye spot next week.
South View is hanging on at the No. 48 spot in RPI, holding the last playoff spot heading into a finale against Seventy-First.
Westover, Gray's Creek, Terry Sanford are set to join Seventy-First and South View in the 7A playoffs, while Pine Forest and Jack Britt are expected to be in the 6A field with Cape Fear.
The Bulldogs have leapt from last five in to a projected 19 seed in the 6A East, but they'll share a bracket with Gray's Creek and those two have a season-ending showdown coming Friday that will impact where they land in seedings.
Jack Britt, too, has been teetering on the cutoff as one of the last five in before adding a win over Pine Forest last week. The Bucs are currently the eastern-most team in the West Region, and they'll close the season at Hoke on Friday.
Here's a look at where Cumberland County teams stand in RPI rankings as of Oct. 26, along with bracket projections.
NCHSAA 6A RPI(as of Oct. 26)
- No. 12 Seventy-First
- No. 27 Westover
- No. 34 Gray's Creek
- No. 39 Terry Sanford
- No. 48 South View
NCHSAA 6A East playoff projection (as of Oct. 26)
- No. 9 Seventy-First vs. No. 24 South View
- No. 14 Westover vs. No. 19 Terry Sanford
- No. 17 Gray's Creek at No. 16 Felton Grove
NCHSAA 7A RPI (as of Oct. 26)
- No. 15 Cape Fear
- No. 31 Jack Britt
- No. 37 Pine Forest
NCHSAA 7A East playoff projection (as of Oct. 26)
- No. 8 Cape Fear, bye
- No. 19 Pine Forest at No. 14 South Central
NCHSAA 7A West playoff projection (as of Oct. 26)
- No. 15 Jack Britt at No. 18 RJ Reynolds
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: High school football playoff projections for Fayetteville teams