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Football Playoff Breakdown: What teams missed this year, who rejoined, who changed divisions

10/17/2017, 2:00pm CDT
By Travis Wilson

River Ridge is back in the playoffs for the first time since 2010

The high school football playoffs begin on Friday night with Level 1 action around the state, and we take a look at changes for the postseason this year, including teams that missed out after qualifying last year, teams that qualified for the postseason after missing last year, and teams that changed divisions compared to last season.

* - Notes

- There are 52 teams that are different in 2017 than qualified in 2016.

- McDonell Central made the playoffs in 2016 but moved to 8-Man Football in 2017, though the Macks ended up canceling their varsity season.

- Pepin/Alma became a co-op program in 2008, making the playoffs every year since, until this season. The Pepin team also made the playoffs from 2002 to 2008 as a standalone program.

- Wisconsin Lutheran joined the WIAA with the other private schools in 2000. The Vikings had qualified for the WIAA playoffs every year, until this season.

- Belleville was in a co-op with Albany for several years, last qualifying for the playoffs in 2007. The school last qualified for the playoffs as a standalone program in 1982.

- Milwaukee Career & Tech. Ed. is formerly known as Milwaukee Custer.

- Milwaukee Reagan was part of the Milwaukee Pulaski/Arts/Reagan co-op program when it previously qualified for the playoffs in 2011 to 2014.

- Potosi/Cassville is a first-year co-op program. Potosi has been in the playoffs as a standalone program every year since 2004. Cassville qualified as a standalone program in 2015 before canceling its varsity season in 2016.

Teams that missed playoffs in 2017 after qualifying in 2016

Team 2016 Division Last Missed
Adams-Friendship 4 2013
Altoona 4 2014
Amery 4 2015
Arcadia 5 2008
Big Foot 4 2002
Brodhead/Juda 4 1991
Cameron 5 2009
Cedarburg 2 2004
Chippewa Falls 1 2014
Cochrane-Fountain City 6 2008
Coleman 6 2005
Columbus 5 2012
D.C. Everest 1 2014
Delavan-Darien 3 2014
Dominican 5 2015
Eleva-Strum 5 2013
Fort Atkinson 3 2015
Glenwood City 6 2015
Hayward 3 2014
Highland 7 2014
Hortonville 2 2009
Kenosha Indian Trail 1 2012
La Crosse Logan 2 2004
Manawa 6 2015
Marshall 5 2005
McDonell Central * 7 2013
Milwaukee Bradley Tech 2 2002
Milwaukee Vincent 1 2014
New Lisbon 7 2015
Oconomowoc 1 2014
Oostburg 5 2014
Oshkosh North 2 2011
Ozaukee 6 2009
Pepin/Alma 7 2001 *
Random Lake 5 2015
Reedsburg 3 2011
Rib Lake/Prentice 6 2015
Ripon 4 2015
Shawano 3 2015
Shiocton 6 2002
Shorewood/Messmer 2 2015
Shullsburg 7 2015
South Milwaukee 2 2015
Sparta 3 2015
Superior 2 2011
Suring 7 2015
Waterloo 6 2012
Waupaca 3 1990
Wausau West 2 2015
Wauwatosa West 2 2014
Winnebago Lutheran 5 2012
Wisconsin Lutheran 3 1999 *

Teams that qualified for the playoffs in 2017 after missing in 2016

Team 2017 Division Last Appearance Last Division
Athens 7 2015 7
Beaver Dam 2 2011 2
Belleville 6 2007 * 4
Beloit Turner 4 2015 4
Burlington 2 2014 2
Cambridge 6 2015 6
Chilton 4 2013 4
Crivitz 6 2015 6
Cumberland 5 2013 5
Deerfield 7 2014 6
Eau Claire Memorial 1 2015 1
Ellsworth 4 2014 4
Fall Creek 6 2015 6
Frederic 7 2014 7
Hillsboro 7 2015 7
Howards Grove 5 2014 5
Independence/Gilmanton 7 2014 6
Janesville Craig 1 2014 1
Kettle Moraine 1 2008 1
La Crosse Central 2 2013 2
Lake Holcombe/Cornell 6 2014 6
Lakeside Lutheran 4 2012 4
Madison Memorial 1 2015 1
Manitowoc Lutheran 6 2014 6
Marshfield 2 2013 2
Mayville 4 2009 4
Milwaukee Career & Tech. Ed. * 4 2008 2
Milwaukee Lutheran 3 2011 3
Milwaukee Reagan * 2 2014 1
Mishicot 6 2014 5
Mondovi 5 2015 6
Mosinee 3 2015 3
Muskego 1 2015 1
New Holstein 5 2015 5
New London 3 2009 3
Oregon 2 2015 2
Oshkosh West 1 2010 1
Pardeeville 6 2015 6
Pittsville 7 2013 7
Prairie du Chien 5 2015 5
Reedsville 6 2013 6
River Ridge 7 2010 5
Slinger 2 2015 2
Spooner 5 2014 4
Sussex Hamilton 1 2014 2
Wautoma 4 2015 4
Webster 6 2013 6
West Bend East 2 2011 2
Whitehall 6 2015 6
Whitnall 3 2015 3
Winneconne 4 2015 4
Wittenberg-Birnamwood 5 2006 4

Teams that changed division from 2016 to 2017

Team 2016 Division 2017 Division
Appleton West 1 2
Milwaukee Washington 1 2
Whitefish Bay 2 3
East Troy 4 3
Berlin 4 3
West Salem 4 3
Saint Francis 4 3
Bloomer 5 4
Racine St. Catherine’s 5 4
Chetek-Weyerhaeuser 6 5
Grantsburg 6 5
Abbotsford 6 7
Johnson Creek 7 6

For the latest and most up to date football news and recruiting information, follow Travis on Twitter @travisWSN. Email story ideas, recruiting info, etc. to Travis at travis(at)wissports.net.

Tag(s): News Archive  News  Travis Wilson  Football Playoffs