BJ's Final 6A Rankings
- Brandon Jones
- 1 minute ago
- 12 min read
The AIA will announce the official expanded 20-team 6A/Open playoff bracket in less than 1 hour based on their computer power-point ranking system. Seeds 1-4 will get byes into the open, seeds 5-12 will face off against each other next week with the winners going to the open quarterfinals and losers going to 6A quarterfinals, and then seeds 13-20 will play into the 6A quarterfinals. Here is how I would seed the 6A conference:
Liberty
Ranking: 1
Overall Record: 9-1 (9-0 in-state)
Blowout Wins: #5 Pinnacle (+31), #7 Mountain View (+37), #8 Brophy (+28) #13 ALA Queen Creek (+41), #15 Highland (+40)
Other Ranked Wins: #9 Centennial (+16)
Quality losses: None
Blowout losses: Corner Canyon {UT} (-28)
Bad losses: None
Liberty has played like a boa constrictor all season. They run the ball down your throat and their defense is extremely difficult to move the ball on, and then when you think you can stack the box Brayden Stevens and his WR corps connects for a 60+ yard TD bomb.
In a region they had no business in, they've put away weaker opponents quite quickly, putting up 43 in the first quarter on Mountain Ridge, 48 in the first quarter and first minute of second quarter on Boulder Creek, and then beating O'Connor 49-17 and handling #9 Centennial.
The Lions also beat the brakes off Pinnacle, Mountain View, and Brophy, who are all looking like they could make the Open Quarterfinals.
I would have liked to see how they line up against Hamilton, Basha or Chandler, but what I have seen from the Lions tells me they will 3-peat as Open champs.
Hamilton
Ranking: 2
Overall Record: 10-0
Blowout Wins: #5 Pinnacle (+36), #8 Brophy (+37), #9 Centennial (+40), #13 ALA Queen Creek (+42), #16 Casteel (+40)
Quality losses: None
Blowout losses: None
Bad losses: None
Hamilton looked like they were going to cruise into Sun Devil Stadium until the final night of the regular season against rival Chandler. The Huskies dug themselves a deep hole, trailing by as much as 34-13 in the third quarter and finally showing some weaknesses after dominating the first 9 games from start to finish.
The Huskies ended up outscoring Chandler 42-7 for the remainder of the game for an emphatic win. But in that victory, they suffered a MASSIVE loss.
Star '28 QB Jax Sculley went down just before halftime with an apparent right knee injury after just completing his recovery a few weeks before the season from a torn left ACL suffered in 2024.
There hasn't been any confirmed updates on the severity of the injury, but seeing him carted off in tears and then come back to the sideline in crutches it looks very bleak, which you just absolutely hate to see. Especially after the amazing sophomore campaign he was having.
But '26 QB Daniel Vaita played great football and made key throws in crunch time to get Hamilton back into that game and eventually win. He will likely have to continue to do the same in the playoffs to get Hamilton their first gold ball since 2012.
I don't think they will beat Liberty without Sculley, but anything is possible when you have Roye Oliver, the Jandreau twins, and the immense amount of talent on that team that features 16 D-I prospects.
Basha
Ranking: 3
Overall Record: 9-1
Blowout Wins: #7 Mountain View (+18), #8 Brophy (+36), #10 Williams Field (+28), #14 Perry (+49), #17 Queen Creek (+22), #18 Salpointe (+51), #20 Westwood (+56)
Other Ranked Wins: #12 Mesa (+8)
Quality losses: #2 Hamilton (-16)
Blowout losses: None
Bad losses: None
Basha is also without their quarterback after North Texas commit Brodie Vehrs came out of the halftime locker room against Hamilton with a sling on for an apparent collarbone injury. It is unclear if he'll return at any point of playoffs.
The Bears did not score for the rest of that Hamilton game and the lights looked a bit bright for '27 QB Jake Rogers.
But the following week against Mesa, he settled in and played some great football against a very good Mesa defense. The game ended being close because the Basha defense getting gashed all night, but he did enough to get them the W.
And then in the season finale against Perry, he picked apart the Puma defense and RBs Josh Gaines and Noah Roberts ran all over them in a 52-3 rout. Rogers threw 4 TD passes and earned Fiesta Bowl Game of the Week MVP honors.
Is Rogers playing well enough to beat Hamilton and Liberty in the potential semis and championship? We shall see.
Chandler
Ranking: 4
Overall Record: 8-2
Quality losses: #2 Hamilton (-14), Cathedral Catholic {CA} (-1)
Blowout losses: None
Bad losses: None
Chandler has got to be kicking themselves for blowing that Hamilton game, but they are going to have to flush it from their memory. They have likely done enough to earn an open division bye and will await whoever the 5 seed is in the Open Quarterfinals. If I was seeding, it would be Pinnacle, who they beat in the final seconds on Halloween.
'27 QB Will Mencl has been lights out throwing to the deepest WR core in the state, but their defense is going to have to play much better than they did against Hamilton if they want to make it past the semifinals.
Pinnacle
Ranking: 5
Overall Record: 7-3
Blowout Wins: #11 Higley (+30)
Other Ranked Wins: #18 Salpointe (+7)
Quality losses: #4 Chandler (-6)
Bad losses: None
The Pioneers have cruised their schedule for the most part. In games against playoff teams, they throttled #11 Higley, cruised to a win against Salpointe (not as close as the score indicates), blew a 15-0 lead against #4 Chandler, and got manhandled by #1 Liberty and #2 Hamilton.
The eye test, the blowout win over Higley, and the good 45 minutes of football against Chandler are carrying a lot of weight for the Pioneer resumé.
Red Mountain
Ranking: 6
Overall Record: 8-2
Blowout Wins: #18 Salpointe (+36)
Quality losses: #17 Queen Creek (-8)
Blowout losses: #8 Brophy (-17)
Bad losses: None
At 9-1, it would have been difficult to argue ranking Pinnacle over Red Mountain. But the Mountain Lions suffered a shocking loss to Queen Creek for the second year in a row, this time in the regular season finale.
I'm not going to overreact to it too much because Red Mountain has a great body of work and 8 wins, but man. After seeing Queen Creek in person against Casteel last week, they looked like they were on the struggle bus. Not a great loss for Red Mountain, but I still think this team has what it takes to get into the Open Quarterfinals and maybe deeper.
Mountain View
Ranking: 7
Overall Record: 6-4
Other Ranked Wins: #15 Highland (2OT)
Bad losses: None
The Toros are 4 points away from being 8-2 with their only losses coming to #1 and #3, but they were unable to finish the games against Red Mountain and ALA Queen Creek. They did finally win a close game when they beat Highland in double overtime in the regular season finale, but I'm still not sure what to expect with this team.
They also have two very impressive wins where they boatraced solid Higley and Mesa teams. I do think this team will be in the Open Quarterfinals if they get the right play-in matchup.
Brophy
Ranking: 8
Overall Record: 6-4
Blowout Wins: #6 Red Mountain (+17), #10 Williams Field (+28), #14 Perry (+18), #19 Shadow Ridge (+36)
Other Ranked Wins: None
Quality losses: #11 Higley (OT)
Bad losses: None
If the Broncos had held on for a win over Higley, they would have a strong argument to be ranked higher. They have a good number of impressive ranked wins and their losses are to top 3 teams.
However, they were not even remotely competitive in those 3 games. Brophy can absolutely compete for a 6A title, but I don't think they have what it takes to make it farther than the Open Quarterfinals if they don't drop into the 6A bracket.
Centennial
Ranking: 9
Overall Record: 7-3
Other Ranked Wins: None
Blowout losses: #2 Hamilton (-40)
Bad losses: None
The Coyotes are an intriguing team to evaluate. They showed in Week 1 against Chandler that they could hang with the big dawgs. They also got pulverized by Hamilton, never really looked like they had a chance to win against Liberty, and have played 5 games against bottom 9 teams in 6A.
Their comfortable wins over Higley and Queen Creek and consistent strong play from their defense outside of the Hamilton game have shown me that this will be a team that either makes a run at back-to-back 6A title or will give somebody a game in the Open Quarterfinals.
Williams Field
Ranking: 10
Overall Record: 7-3
Blowout Wins: None
Quality losses: #4 Chandler (-13)
Bad losses: None
Williams Field is another team I am trying to figure out still. They haven't been able to dominate and blow less talented teams out the water like I would expect them to, but they don't have any losses to teams ranked below them and they finally beat rival Higley to assert themselves as a top 10 team.
Very interested to see who they're lined up against in the Open Division play-in, because I really think it depends on matchup for them to get into the Open Quarterfinals.
Higley
Ranking: 11
Overall Record: 6-4
Blowout Wins: #19 Shadow Ridge (+25)
Quality losses: #10 Williams Field (-11)
Bad losses: None
When Higley's offense has a good night, good things happen for them. When they don't play well, it's rough sledding. The Knights are 6-0 when scoring at least 20 points and 0-4 when scoring less than 20 points with an average margin of defeat of 25.5 points.
They are another team that I am interested to see what matchup they get in the Open play-in, but in all likelihood they'll drop into that 6A bracket and try to make a run there.
Mesa
Ranking: 12
Overall Record: 6-4
Blowout losses: #7 Mountain View (-37)
Bad losses: None
Since the Anetema brothers and Texas A&M commit Caleb Tafua moved to AZ from Cali and transferred to Mesa, the Jackrabbits have looked like a brand new team. They are 4-1 in the last 5 games with a one-score loss to Basha, which is the closest game the Bears have played all season and the most points they have allowed all season.
ALA Queen Creek
Ranking: 13
Overall Record: 5-5
Other Ranked Wins: #7 Mountain View (+2)
Bad losses: None
After an 0-5 start and their defense looking atrocious, it could have been very easy to write off ALA Queen Creek.
But NAU commit Khalil Bender has provided a huge spark on both sides of the ball and the defense as a whole has finally remembers how to play football and will make this team dangerous in either the 6A bracket or the Open bracket.
I know some people have them ranked in the top 10, but I think part of the reason they had such a slow start and hot finish is because of how front-heavy their schedule was. I like how they've looked in the last 5 games, but outside of the 2-point win over Mountain View, they've kind of been beating up on struggling teams.
The eye test tells me they should be in the top 12, but the resumé says otherwise. I can absolutely understand why people have them higher, especially with the Mountain View win, but I'm not gonna sit here and pretend those first 5 games didn't matter.
Perry
Ranking: 14
Overall Record: 5-5
Other Ranked Wins: #18 Salpointe (+14)
Quality losses: #12 Mesa (-7), Granite Hills {CA} (-7)
Bad losses: None
Perry, Perry, Perry. What looked like a promising season after blowout wins over Highland and Corona Del Sol, has turned south quickly and the Pumas looked extremely rough in the regular season finale against Basha.
They don't really have any signature wins. Salpointe doesn't look great, Highland was struggling before '27 QB Paiden Dalhaug returned from injury, and Westwood doesn't look like a playoff team (I just can't name 20 better teams). Seeding is going to be crucial for the Pumas.
Highland
Ranking: 15
Overall Record: 4-6
Blowout Wins: None
Bad losses: None
The first five games before '27 QB Paiden Cash Dalhaug returned from injury, this was not a good football team. '27 QB Luke Young broke his leg in the first quarter of the 20-6 loss to Higley and the defense did all they could the next 3 weeks, but the offense would end up scoring a combined 22 points in those next 3 losses.
On the back half of their schedule, they knocked off Casteel and Horizon, blew the doors off lowly Desert Ridge, and then took Red Mountain and Mountain View to the absolute brink. This is a team that I would like to avoid in the first round of the 6A play-in because they're playing their best football right now in November.
Casteel
Ranking: 16
Overall Record: 6-4
Blowout Wins: #17 Queen Creek (+27)
Other Ranked Wins: #12 Mesa (+3)
Quality losses: #15 Highland (-6)
Bad losses: None
The Colts have been much better than I expected this season. They absolutely dominated Queen Creek, they shocked Mesa (albeit before the transfers were eligible), and '27 QB Tee Smith has been a huge game changer for their offense in the last 5 games.
They did have a brutal 3rd quarter that sealed their fate against ALA Queen Creek, but they should definitely be a threat in this 6A playoff bracket.
Queen Creek
Ranking: 17
Overall Record: 6-4
Blowout Wins: None
Other Ranked Wins: #6 Red Mountain (+8)
Quality losses: None
Bad losses: None
Before a season-finale win over Red Mountain, this time did not have much of a pulse with star Clemson commit QB Tait Reynolds missing several games with injury. Even when he returned against Casteel, they still got the brakes beat off of them and he re-injured himself. It remains unclear if he's played his final game for the Bulldogs.
But '28 QB Sawyer Hales looked like he had finally gotten his confidence back, playing a great game against a tough Red Mountain defense after struggling in the back half of the season including a 6-INT game against ALA Queen Creek. If he can continue playing like he did against Red Mountain, Queen Creek does stand a chance in this 6A bracket.
Salpointe
Ranking: 18
Overall Record: 5-5
Blowout Wins: None
Other Ranked Wins: #13 ALA Queen Creek (+4), #20 Westwood (+4), 5A #3 Marana (+2), 5A #24 Tucson (+13)
Bad losses: None
The eye test on Salpointe does not look great at this point in the season. With 5A #3 Marana likely being their most impressive win, I can see why they attempted to appeal down to 5A. They'd probably have a shot at making the 5A title game. But in this 6A bracket, it's hard to imagine them winning a game.
The win over ALA Queen Creek looks great now after the Patriots won 5 in a row, but you have to wonder if losing to Salpointe was their wake-up call.
The Lancers have been competitive at times, so we shall see if they can do it in playoffs. But this is a team with a 4A enrollment that should be playing 5A football with their Southern AZ peers.
Shadow Ridge
Ranking: 19
Overall Record: 4-6
Blowout Wins: None
Other Ranked Wins: #20 Westwood (+16)
Quality losses: #10 Williams Field (-6)
Bad losses: Saguaro (-21)
Losing the regular season finale is a brutal blow to a team that was having their best season in quite some time. They don't really have a playoff resumé, but 20 teams have to make the playoffs and the head-to-head convincing win over Westwood should be enough to get them there for the first time since the 2020 COVID season. Hats off to Coach Z and his staff from turning this program around from 0-10 to a likely playoff team in just two seasons.
Westwood
Ranking: 20
Overall Record: 4-6
Blowout Wins: None
Other Ranked Wins: None
Bad losses: None
Not having any bad losses to teams that won't be in the playoffs is going to be the saving grace for the Warriors getting into the postseason after Corona Del Sol dropped their finale to Desert Vista.
'27 RB Keshawn Barkus looks like one of the best backs in the state, but it has been rough sledding for Westwood regardless this season. However, their first playoff appearance since making the Division II (5A equivalent) playoffs in 2014 would be huge for this program.