Top Storylines From Tentative Class Release

Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!   Last week, the OSSAA released the tentative football classes for the 2026-2027 seasons. These are not official but this could very well be what football will look like this fall and in 2027. There are still a few factors up and the air before these can be finalized and after that, the district assignments will be decided. But for now, we're diving into the tentative class releases with 12 storylines that could make for major headlines when the 2026 season kicks off. Below, we look at each class and some of the major things that stood out.   CLASS 6A-1   Bixby Broken Arrow Deer Creek Edmond Memorial Edmond North Edmond Santa Fe Enid Jenks Moore Mustang Norman North Owasso Southmoore (Moving Up From 6A-2) Union Westmoore Yukon   After a couple seasons in Class 6A-2, Southmoore is moving back up to Class 6A-1. And it's interesting because the Sabercats have momentum. They just won their first playoff game since 2009 and they return starting quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='445315' first='Taven' last='Hayes'] and some serious talent on offense. But 6A-1 has turned into an absolute gauntlet since Bixby moved up in 2022. The Sabercats will have some work cut out for them as they move back up to the state's largest class.   CLASS 6A-2   Bartlesville Booker T Washington (Moving Up From 5A) Capitol Hill Choctaw Lawton Eisenhower Muskogee Norman (Moving Down From 6A-2) Northwest Classen Piedmont Ponca City Putnam City Putnam City North Putnam City West Sand Springs Stillwater U.S. Grant   We'll see two new teams in Class 6A-2 this fall as Booker T Washington has moved back up after a few seasons in Class 5A. They'll be joined by Norman as 6A-2 newcomers. The Tigers have been in Class 6A-1 ever since the 32-team Class 6A was split into two divisions. This is their first time in 6A-2 and in our opinion, they instantly become a team to watch out for. They've been more than competitive in Class 6A-1 over the last two seasons so they could be a state title contender as soon as this fall. For Booker T Washington, the Hornets are moving back up after two years in Class 5A. They will always have talent but their last year in 6A-2 was 2023 and they missed out on the playoffs.   CLASS 5A   Altus Bishop Kelley Bishop McGuinness Carl Albert Claremore Classen SAS Collinsville Coweta Del City Duncan Durant East Central Edison El Reno Elgin (Moving Up From 4A) Glenpool (Moving Up From 4A) Guthrie Guymon Lawton Lawton MacArthur McAlester Memorial Midwest City Nathan Hale Newcastle Noble Pryor Sapulpa (Moving Down From 6A-2) Shawnee Southeast Tahlequah [player_tooltip player_id='1161912' first='Will' last='Rogers']   Sapulpa is moving back down to 5A from 6A-2, while Elgin and Glenpool are moving up from Class 4A. Hands down, the biggest storyline here is Elgin returning to Class 5A. The Owls have gone 27-1 in the last two seasons in 4A football, winning the 2024 state title and finishing last year as 4A's runner up. Prior to dropping down from 5A to 4A in 2024, the Owls had never made it out of the quarterfinal round. But this is an Elgin program that is on the rise and as they eye their return to 5A football, they aren't going to back down from a fight. Class 5A has been owned by Carl Albert for the last decade. Nine titles in ten years passes the bar for class ownership. Elgin will look to rock the boat immediately in Class 5A.   CLASS 4A   Ada Ardmore Bethany Blanchard Bridge Creek Broken Bow Cache Chickasha Cleveland (Moving Up From 3A) Clinton Cushing Douglass Elk City Fort Gibson Grove Harrah Hilldale John Marshall (Moving Down From 5A) Mannford (Moving Up From 3A) McLain Miami Oologah Poteau Sallisaw Skiatook Stilwell Tecumseh Tuttle Wagoner Weatherford Western Heights (Moving Down From 5A) Woodward   Class 4A will see four new teams entering the fold from John Marshall and Western Heights moving down from 5A and Cleveland and Mannford moving up from 3A. But the biggest headline here is what we previously mentioned with Elgin moving up to 5A. After back to back state championship game appearances, including winning the 2024 gold ball, the Owls are gone and that's going to clear the path for a new team to make a possible run to Edmond. Early favorites in Class 4A include (alphabetically listed) Ardmore, Broken Bow and Tuttle.   CLASS 3A   Berryhill Bristow Cascia Hall Catoosa (Moving Down From 4A) Daniel Webster (Moving Up From 2A-1) Heritage Hall Holland Hall Idabel Inola Jay Jones (Moving Up From 2A-1) Kingfisher Lincoln Christian Locust Grove Lone Grove Madill (Moving Down From 4A) Marlow (Moving Up From 2A-1) McLoud Metro Christian (Moving Up From 2A-1) Mount St. Mary (Moving Up From 2A-1) Muldrow North Rock Creek Oklahoma Christian School (Moving Up From 2A-1) Pauls Valley Perkins-Tryon Plainview Purcell Seminole Star Spencer Sulphur Verdigris Vinita   There is not a bigger storyline in the class shakeup than what Class 3A could potentially look like this fall. Catoosa and Madill are moving down from Class 4A. But look at who is moving up from 2A-1. Jones, Marlow, Metro Christian, Mount St. Mary and Oklahoma Christian School are joining a class that still includes Cascia Hall, Heritage Hall, Holland Hall, Lincoln Christian, Perkins-Tryon, Plainview and Sulphur. Get ready for an absolute gauntlet of a season. Jones is coming off winning the 2A-1 title. Marlow has been a consistent contender and it hasn't mattered which class they've been in. Metro Christian will always be in the mix. Mount St. Mary is going to return basically everyone and that's a roster that more people need to pay attention to and OCS is in the same boat as a perennial contender that you pencil in to be a playoff team. Lincoln Christian has won the last three state championships in Class 3A. They've won 42 consecutive games. The last two seasons, Lincoln Christian and Sulphur have been on collision courses for state title clashes and everyone else was playing for third place. That will not be the case in 2026.   CLASS 2A-1   Anadarko (Moving Down From 3A) Bethel Blackwell Casady (Moving Up From 2A-2) Central Chandler Checotah (Moving Down From 3A) Chisholm Claremore Sequoyah (Moving Down From 3A) Crooked Oak Crossings Christian Dewey Dickson Eufaula (Moving Down From 3A) Heavener Henryetta (Moving Up From 2A-2) Hugo Kiefer Kingston Lindsay Little Axe Okmulgee Perry Rejoice Christian (Moving Up From A-1) Roland Sperry Spiro (Moving Up From 2A-2) Stigler (Moving Down From 3A) Tahlequah Sequoyah Victory Christian (Moving Down From 3A) Washington Westville   Obviously with the list of heavy hitters moving up to Class 3A, there is a lot of movement coming to Class 2A-1. The most notable being Rejoice Christian going from Class A-1 to 2A-1 after winning back to back state championships. And with [player_tooltip player_id='1328118' first='Kamieon' last='Compton-Nero'] returning this fall, the Eagles could immediately challenge for the 2A-1 crown. Washington is still in the mix here and like Rejoice, they also have one of the best 2028 quarterbacks in the state with [player_tooltip player_id='473891' first='Creed' last='Barrett'] returning. They will certainly be gunning for a return trip to Edmond after losing to Jones in December. Then you have teams like Anadarko and Checotah that are both dropping down from Class 3A. They each have some talented players returning and could make for breakout teams this fall.   CLASS 2A-2   Adair Alva Antlers Atoka Beggs Cashion (Moving Up From A-1) Chelsea Chouteau (Moving Up From A-1) Christian Heritage (Moving Up From A-1) Community Christian Davis Dibble Hartshorne (Moving Up From A-1) Hennessey Holdenville Kansas Kellyville Keys KIPP Tulsa (New OSSAA Member) Lexington (Moving Down From 2A-1) Marietta (Moving Down From 2A-1) Meeker Millwood (Moving Down From 2A-1) Morris Newkirk Prague (Moving Down From 2A-1) Salina Stroud Tishomingo Valliant Wilburton Wyandotte   Class 2A-2 will see plenty of new teams this season, including KIPP Tulsa, who is a new OSSAA member altogether. But when we look at the new additions to this class, and who could potentially challenge Adair for 2A-2 supremacy, two names come to mind. Cashion moving up from Class A-1 is going to be interesting because they return quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1524930' first='Kellen' last='Smith'] and he was a very dynamic two-way player for the Wildcats during the 2025 season. Then you also have Millwood dropping down from 2A-1. The Falcons missed the playoffs in 2025. The last time they missed the playoffs, they would follow that up with three straight state championship game appearances. And with a young roster returning, led by star [player_tooltip player_id='2042560' first='Anthony' last='Keys'] at running back, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Falcons make a run back to Edmond in December.   CLASS A-1   Caney Valley Coalgate (Moving Down From 2A-2) Colcord (Moving Down From 2A-2) Comanche (Moving Down From 2A-2) Commerce (Moving Down From 2A-2) Crescent Fairview Frederick Haskell Hinton Hooker Hulbert Luther (Moving Down From 2A-2) Mangum (Moving Up From A-2) Merrit Minco Morrison Nowata Okemah Panama Pawhuska Pawnee Pocola Sayre Stratford Summit Christian (Moving Up From A-2) Tonkawa Vian (Moving Down From 2A-2) Walters Warner Watonga Wynnewood   Class A-1 is guaranteed to see a new state champion after back to back defending champ Rejoice Christian moved up to Class 2A-1. But an A-1 newcomer that is immediately going to be considered one of the favorites is a team used to contending for state titles. Vian moving down from 2A-2 after back to back trips to the state title game will be something to watch. The Wolverines lose a very special senior class but Vian is one of those programs that is always going to be a contender. They'll enter this season expecting to make another trip to Edmond in December. Also look out for Mangum moving up from Class A-2 this season. The Tigers bring back a ton of talent from last year's team and they could be one of the more experienced squads in the class this fall. They are still looking for that breakthrough playoff moment and perhaps it's on the horizon in their new class.   CLASS A-2   Afton Allen Apache Barnsdall Canadian (Moving Up From B-1) Carnegie Central (Sallisaw) Cordell Drumright (Moving Up From B-1) Empire (Moving Up From B-1) Fairland Gore Healdton Hobart (Moving Down From A-1) Hominy Ketchum Konawa Liberty Mooreland Mounds Oklahoma Union (Moving Down From A-1) Porter Quapaw (Moving Down From A-1) Regent Prep Ringling Southwest Covenant Talihina Thomas Wayne Wewoka Wilson Woodland   Similar to Class 4A, there aren't many major storylines when looking at the shakeups in Class A-2. Canadian, Drumright and Empire will all be playing 11-man football this fall, making the transition from 8-man. But this is going to be a class where all eyes will be on defending champion Talihina. The Golden Tigers went 14-0 and captured their first state championship in nearly six decades. And with quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1524935' first='Landen' last='Griffith'] returning after a season where he accounted for 70 touchdowns, they are going to be massive favorites to repeat.   CLASS B-1   Alex (Moving Up From B-2) Burns Flat Caddo Central High Cherokee (Moving Up From B-2) Coyle (Moving Up From B-2) Cyril (Moving Up From B-2) Dewar Elmore City (Moving Down From A-1) Foyil Garber Hollis Laverne Pioneer Pleasant-Vale Quinton Rush Springs (Moving Down From A-1) Savanna Seiling (Moving Up From B-2) Strother (Moving Up From B-2) Velma-Alma (Moving Down From A-1) Waukomis (Moving Up From B-2) Waurika Weleetka (Moving Up From B-2) Yale   Class B-1 will be the 8-man equivilent of Class 3A this season. An absolute bloodbath as Dewar, Laverne, Seiling and Weleetka are all in the same class. Dewar and Laverne played in each of the last two B-1 state title games while Seiling and Weleetka played in each of the last two B-2 state title games. Only two teams can make it back to Edmond in December and four teams (plus many more) will be kicking off the season, expecting to make it back.   CLASS B-2   Arkoma Balko/Forgan (Moving Up From C) Boise City Canton Cave Springs (Moving Down From B-1) Copan Davenport Depew (Moving Down From B-1) Gans Keota (Moving Down From B-1) Kremlin-Hillsdale (Moving Up From C) Mountain View-Gotebo (Moving Up From C) Okeene Oklahoma Bible Academy (Moving Down From B-1) Pond Creek-Hunter (Moving Down From B-1) Ringwood Shattuck Snyder (Moving Down From B-1) Texhoma (Moving Down From A-2) Turpin (Moving Down From B-1) Webbers Falls Welch (Moving Up From C) Wesleyan Christian Wetumka   Class B-2 will see a new state champion with Seiling moving up to Class B-1. We'll also see a new state title match-up with Weleetka joining them. There is a ton of shakeup in this class as half of the class will feature teams that are either dropping down from Class B-1 or moving up from Class C. Texhoma will be a newcomer but they are coming down from Class A-2, so they'll be transitioning back to 8-man football.   CLASS C   Beaver Bluejacket Bowlegs Bray-Doyle Buffalo Corn Bible Academy Covington-Douglas (Moving Down From B-2) Crossover Prep (New OSSAA Member) Fox Geary Graham-Dustin Grandfield Maud Maysville Medford Midway Oaks Oilton (New OSSAA Member) Olive (Moving Down From B-2) Paoli Ryan Sasakwa Sharon-Mutual South Coffeyville Temple Thackerville Timberlake Tipton Tyrone Watts Waynoka Wilson (Henryetta) (Moving Down From B-2)   Finally in Class C, the biggest storylines here are the two new OSSAA members. Crossover Prep and Oilton will play their first seasons as OSSAA members. But when it comes to Class C, all eyes will be on Ryan again after they captured the state championship in December. And their star quarterback, [player_tooltip player_id='1832582' first='Noah' last='Torrez'] will return to make another run at the gold ball.

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