The Region I race has changed a bit going into the year as we now have a nine-team district in the El Paso area, while the western fringes DFW district is traded out for a district that goes into the far northern suburbs of the Austin area. Decatur has won the region two straight years, but a three-peat won’t happen as the Eagles have moved to a very tough Region II.

The El Paso district has grown from five teams all the way up to nine teams with Ysleta dropping down from 5A and the Clint ISD schools and Fabens move back up after two years in Division II. A veteran Ysleta squad that is battle tested from 5A gets the early edge in the district race over tough teams from Austin and Bowie. The race for fourth is going to be a battle royale between Bowie, Clint and Mountain View.

Up in the Texas Panhandle the race to the playoffs is going to be an absolute battle and when you zero in on Canyon ISD, the three schools inside of CISD all expect to be outstanding. Canyon and Randall bring back a boatload of experience from squads that made the area playoffs in Division I, while newcomer West Plains, fresh off a 12-2 season in Division II loses a good senior class, but still expects to be in the mix. Don’t count out Dumas or Hereford, both are plenty talented and bring experience to the table, the only issue is there’s going to be a really good team that misses out on the playoffs in this district.

All four teams in 3-4A Division I have punched tickets to the playoffs, but seeding is still on the line in district play. Andrews switched to the Slot-T a year ago and had modest success, but a second year in the system could produce some eye-popping numbers on the ground. Big Spring should have enough to hold off what expects to be an improved Pecos squad for the second place spot.

Stephenville brings back a wealth of experience and the ‘Jackets enter the season as not only the favorite to win 4-4A Division I but the regional pre-season favorite. Brownwood suffered some heavy graduation losses after nearly winning the regional crown a year ago, but they should have enough to hold off hard-charging Lampasas for the runner-up spot. There will be some heavy travel for the first round of the playoffs in this loop without question.

DISTRICT PREDICTIONS

District 1-4A Division I

1. El Paso Ysleta
2. El Paso Austin
3. El Paso Riverside
4. El Paso Bowie
5. Clint
6. Clint Mountain View
7. El Paso Irvin
8. Fabens
9. San Elizario

District 2-4A Division I

1. Canyon
2. Canyon Randall
3. Canyon West Plains
4. Dumas
5. Hereford
6. Pampa

District 3-4A Division I

1. Andrews
2. Big Spring
3. Pecos
4. San Angelo Lake View

District 4-4A Division I

1. Stephenville
2. Brownwood
3. Lampasas
4. Burnet
5. Marble Falls

PROJECTED BI-DISTRICT MATCHUPS

W1 El Paso Ysleta vs F2 Dumas

R4 Brownwood vs T3 Pecos

W2 Canyon vs F1 El Paso Bowie

R3 Big Spring vs T4 Lampasas

W3 Andrews vs F4 Burnet

R2 Canyon Randall vs T1 El Paso Riverside

W4 Stephenville vs F3 San Angelo Lake View

R1 El Paso Austin vs T2 Canyon West Plains

REGIONAL CHAMPION

Stephenville over Canyon