By Brian Gosset
X – @gosset41
X – @gmsportsmedia1
REALIGNMENT DAY IS MONDAY 2/2
UIL WILL OFFICIALLY RELEASE NEW DISTRICTS (FB/VB) AT 9 AM
1. Aledo Going To Class 6A
One of the biggest moves in the state will come from Parker County and 12-time state champion Aledo Bearcats, who are set to play in 6A for the first time. But where would the Bearcats land? Most sensible is to hook up with PC neighbor Weatherford along with several Fort Worth-area schools. Weatherford’s current district, 3-6A, also features North Crowley, Crowley, Boswell, Mansfield, Mansfield Legacy and Mansfield Lake Ridge.
Granbury is also moving up to 6A and Legacy is moving back down to 5A so the math fits perfectly here; 6 + 2 = 8. Granbury has played football with Aledo the last two seasons while volleyball has been paired up with the past six seasons.
But it wouldn’t be UIL realignment without rumors and speculation and we’ve heard Aledo could move farther west – which makes no sense. Abilene is no longer 6A and after Abilene, the closest to DFW is San Angelo Central, 3 hours away from Aledo. Then comes Midland and Odessa, where you tack on an extra hour. There’s still a chance Mansfield ISD moves away from this district – they’ve been linked with Arlington ISD and even the District Of Doom before.
Let’s go UIL – give us Aledo and North Crowley football for the next two years.
2. DeSoto, Cedar Hill & Lancaster In 5A
Another big development is the break-up in the District Of Doom 11-6A. Four schools move down to 5A including the Eagles, Longhorns and Tigers. Will the UIL keep the trio together or spilt them up? We’ve seen mocks that have DeSoto and CH going south with the Waco-Killeen area while Lancaster stays in the metroplex. Midlothian, Mansfield Summit and Mans. Legacy are in the mix and the proximity fits the mold for all schools mentioned. But who goes where?
Mesquite is the other moving down – they are locked in with North Mesquite and West Mesquite. Give me Mesquite ISD, DeSoto, CH and Lancaster plus Garland Naaman Forest for a 7-team district in 7-5A D1. Naaman Forest had an error in submitting enrollment numbers and got locked into D2.
Garland normally opts all schools to 6A, but with NF having D2 numbers, the rule is you can’t jump two divisions i.e. 5A D2 to 6A. Instead, Garland elected to push Naaman to 5A D1, which is a head scratcher.
3. Frisco Wakeland, Prosper Walnut Grove & Red Oak
Several other programs are making the move up with the big boys as the Wolverines, Wildcats and Hawks will be playing 6A football for the next two seasons. First, can we talk about Walnut Grove and the continued growth in Prosper??! Wow.
WG just capped off its third football season, going 12-1 overall and 8-0 in district. Now, in one of the biggest jumps in the state, WG goes from 5A D2 to Class 6A. Youngest sibling Prosper Richland is also moving – but we’ll get to that later. Of course, there are still two Prosper 6As in big brothers Prosper High and Rock Hill in 6-6A. The current district is nine deep along with McKinney ISD, Plano ISD, Allen and Princeton. Meanwhile, let’s not forget Wakeland – which doesn’t go any more than nine miles to any Prosper school.
Add them to 6-6A and now you have 11 so what’s the next move?
Looking around 6A in DFW – the closest to Plano is…Richardson. A 10-minute drive. Remember, Dallas Jesuit (all boys school) playing with Richardson ISD in 7-6A. Let’s replace three Irving schools with three Plano schools along with four Richardsons and Jesuit. Then 6-6A will have three Prospers, two McKinneys, Wakeland, Allen and Princeton. Or instead of Plano, plug in Prosper with Richardson – which is closer in enrollment size.
Now Red Oak is south DFW – so it would make sense to plug the Hawks into 11-6A, the Duncanville/Waxahachie district. They still will lose four – DeSoto, Lancaster, Cedar Hill and Mesquite, who all move down to 5A. Mesquite Horn, Dallas Skyline are still here and give me SGP and Grand Prairie to jump over. It’s still unclear if DeSoto will opt up to 6A.
4. Any Changes With Denton Ryan?
Aledo and Ryan have created a fun football rivalry the past few seasons, both in district and postseason, but with the Bearcats out of 3-5A D1, will anything change for the Raiders? Do they move…do they stay put? Will 3-5A bring in new blood? Without Aledo and Granbury, the district remains at seven with Ryan, Denton High, Birdville, Richland, Keller Fossil Ridge, Azle and Brewer.
We’ve seen other mock drafts that have Denton ISD with Carrollton and Dallas. We’ve also seen where 3-5A adds Burleson Centennial and Cleburne. Maybe Saginaw and Chisholm Trail?
5. Will Fort Worth ISD Be All Alone In 5A?
For the FWISD admin, that’s the dream. With seven schools in 5A, they would love the UIL to keep them all alone again. You’d have to go back to 2017 when we had an all FWISD 5A district. Since then, we’ve seen Grapevine-Colleyville, we’ve seen Justin Northwest.
But half the schools have D2 numbers, so Fort Worth opted to have them all in D1 – Heights, North Side, Paschal, Trimble Tech, Wyatt, Poly and South Hills. Saginaw and Chisholm Trail have been with FWISD the past two seasons, but it wouldn’t surprise anyone if they moved to 3-5A, which they have before. Outside of football, both schools still play district games with Azle and Brewer.
6. Eagle Mountain, Prosper Richland & Frisco Panther Creek Fast Growing
Such as Pros. Walnut Grove, Eagle Mountain, Richland and Panther Creek are moving up quickly. EM just finished its second football season and goes from 4A D2 to 5A D2. The unfortunate part is the Knights turned in 1,315 and the cut-off is 1,305 making them one of the smallest 5A D2 schools in the state. We have them joining Argyle, Arlington Seguin, Everman, Grapevine, Colleyville Heritage, Joshua and Burleson.
Richland is still in its first school year – the Raiders played an independent schedule in football, going 3-7. Now, they’re set to play their first true schedule in fall 2026. All their sports this year are playing in 4A and they turned in 1,797. They were 73 students away from going D1. Give me the Raiders, Anna, The Colony and five Frisco schools to form 4-5A D2. Maybe even Celina.
In its first four years, Panther Creek made the playoffs four times with 11 wins in 2023 and 10 in 2024. Come Year #5, the Panthers will be 5A and we have them joining Richland in 4-5A. Such as EM, Panther Creek will be a small 5A D2 school with a enrollment submission of 1,352. Frisco ISD is one of the biggest in the state – yet when PC plays football in 2026, it will be the first time they play a sibling school for the first time since Week 3 of 2023.
7. Celina To 5A D2
The Bobcats, who won the 4A D1 state championship in 2024, will also be making the move up a class. Celina is a 9-time UIL state champion and coming off a 14-1 record with a trip to the state semifinals. The team has won 64 games during the past five seasons.
Where will Celina end up? Anna, Prosper and Frisco are all neighbors. The Colony and Lucas Lovejoy too. Proximity wise, going with Anna, Frisco ISD, The Colony and Prosper Richland seems to fit. Could Celina go to Region 2? If they do, we could see Celina and SOC in the playoffs. SOC has reached the champ game in five straight seasons and have won titles in 2021, 2022 and 2025. And if PNG stays Region 2, we might have three giants before the state semifinals. Anna, Lovejoy and Frisco ISD have been in Region 1 the past two seasons.
8. FWISD 4A & What About Stephenville?
During the past two seasons, Decatur and Springtown were put into the Fort Worth district in Class 4A – making for some lopsided affairs on the gridiron. Before that, it was Kennedale, Lake Worth and Castleberry.
It didn’t make much sense when the UIL put Decatur and Springtown in – Kennedale, Lake Worth and Castleberry is much better and we could see it that way again. One note – FWISD has opted up so 4A D2 schools, Benbrook and Dunbar will be in D1.
There will be seven Fort Worth schools in 4A D1 – meaning Kennedale, Lake Worth and Castleberry all can’t join. Maybe 2 of the 3? Maybe only Castleberry?
Could we see a new district of doom in 4A then – Decatur, Springtown and Alvarado? And what about defending champ Stephenville, which went 16-0 and defeated Kilgore in December. The Yellowjackets are on an island and were set up with Burnet, Lampasas, Brownwood and Marble Falls the past two seasons. Brownwood is going D2 and in one mock, the others are headed south – leaving Stephenville all alone. Would the UIL bring them up to DFW – even dare put them with FWISD? That wouldn’t do anyone any good. But what about Decatur, Springtown and Alvarado – whoa! Four great programs fighting in one district.
We can only hope.
