It wasn’t the most exciting UIL realignments like in years past, but there was still some intrigue during the 2026-2028 high school football portion of UIL realignment Monday morning at Happy Bank State Stadium in Canyon.
Some coaches opening their packets at 9 a.m., got a district they expected, while some had to make some changes, and then there were a few that came in full shock.
Let’s start with the obvious, from Texas Panhandle and South Plains big schools. After October’s snapshot day and UIL releasing the new cutoff numbers in December, the question was, how big would 2-5A Division I be with the additions of Frenship and Frenship Memorial dropping in.
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As expected, the UIL went with an eight-team district that will consist of – Abilene High, Amarillo High, Caprock, Frenship, Frenship Memorial, Lubbock High, Lubbock Monterey, and Tascosa.
“I think it’s a great district,” Tascosa head football coach Ken Plunk said. “It’s going to be an exciting district with a lot of good football teams. “You’ll have to play well to get it the top four. It helps that you only have to get three non-district games.”
The big state-wide news out of Class 5A Division I, was to see Aledo make the leap into Class 6A.
In District 2-5A Division II, it basically stays the same with Abilene Cooper, Abilene Wylie, Lubbock-Cooper, Palo Duro, Wichita Falls Memorial and Wichita Falls Legacy. The one change, was Lubbock Coronado dropping in from Division I to replace Plainview, which enters Class 4A Division I.
Speaking of Class 4A, Canyon, Randall and West Plains will all be together two more years. In fact, District 2-4A stays exactly the same with Dumas, Hereford and Pampa all staying together with the Canyon ISD schools.
“It’s great to have our teams together,” Canyon ISD athletic director John Peterson said. “It’s exciting that we get to keep this district together and keep the same rivalries we have. We are always planning ahead and things can change in two years, but we’ll live in the moment right now.”
In Class 3A, River Road is dropping into Division II from Division I. The Wildcats have been in Division I since the UIL added six conferences in 2013. River Road will join 1-3A Division II with Canadian, Childress, Dimmitt in Friona. State-wide news out of Region I-3A Division II, was seeing powerhouses Wall and Gunter go to Division I.
In 1-3A Division I, Bushland, Dalhart and Shallowater all stay together. Brownfield and Denver City are going to join the trio making up a five-team district.
In Class 2A, Tulia falls into Division I and Farwell comes up from Division II. That makes up a very good 2-2A Division I with Farwell, Floydada, Hale Center, Tulia and Olton.
New Tulia head football coach Trevor Cordova is happy with the move.
“I’m trying to hit the ground running,” Cordova said. “Being here at realignment and seeing this is so much fun. We were able to get our schedule filled and we got into a very good district. It’s going to be a challenge and we can’t wait to see what we can do.”
West Texas High is now in Division II. The Comanches will be grouped with Bovina, Gruver, Stratford, and Vega to make up 1-2A Division II. The Comanches are losing key pieces, including head coach Jeff Smith to Floydada, but will fit right in the new conference.
The one bad news came in the eastern Texas Panhandle. Clarendon, Memphis, Quanah, Wellington, Wheeler and Shamrock stayed in Region II. Those six schools were hopeful for a move back to Region II. Instead, they will continue in 5-2A Division II.
Texas Panhandle and South Plains football districts for 2026-2028
District 2-5A
Division I
Abilene High
Amarillo High
Caprock
Frenship
Frenship Memorial
Lubbock High
Lubbock Monterey
Tascosa
District 2-5A
Division II
Abilene Cooper
Abilene Wylie
Lubbock-Cooper
Lubbock Coronado
Palo Duro
Wichita Falls Memorial
Wichita Falls Legacy
District 2-4A
Division I
Canyon
Dumas
Hereford
Pampa
Randall
West Plains
District 3-4A
Division I
Andrews
Midland Greenwood
Plainview
San Angelo Lake View
District 2-4A
Division II
Borger
Levelland
Lubbock-Cooper Liberty
Lubbock Estacado
Perryton
District 1-3A
Division I
Brownfield
Bushland
Dalhart
Denver City
Shallowater
District 1-3A
Division II
Canadian
Childress
Dimmitt
Friona
River Road
District 2-3A
Division II
Idalou
Littlefield
Lubbock Roosevelt
Muleshoe
Slaton
District 1-2A
Division I
Highland Park
Panhandle
Sanford-Fritch
Spearman
Sunray
District 2-2A
Division I
Farwell
Floydada
Hale Center
Olton
Tulia
District 3-2A
Division I
Abernathy
New Deal
New Home
Post
Sundown
District 1-2A
Division II
Bovina
Gruver
Stratford
Vega
West Texas High
District 5-2A
Division II
Clarendon
Memphis
Quanah
Wellington
Wheeler
Shamrock
District 1-1A
Division I
Boys Ranch
Booker
Claude
White Deer
Wildorado
District 2-1A
Division I
Nazareth
Springlake-Earth
Whiteface
Whitharral
District 3-1A
Division I
Happy
Kress
Petersburg
Silverton
District 1-1A
Division II
Follett
Groom
Hedley
Lefors
McLean
Miami
District 2-1A
Division II
Chillicothe
Crowell
Guthrie
Motley County
Paducah
Valley
District 3-1A
Division II
Amherst
Anton
Cotton Center
Hart
Lazbuddie
Lorenzo