Birdville boys basketball coach Anthony Holman wanted to clinch the No. 1 seed for his team, but he also wanted to win.
There was no best of both worlds scenario entering the final game of the regular season, which also happened to be Birdville’s senior night. Holman and his players chose to win, beating Denton Ryan 68-55. For that effort, the state’s sixth-ranked 5A team earned District 6-5A’s No. 2 seed in the 5A Division I Region I playoffs.
With a loss to Ryan, Birdville would have been the top seed.
How is that possible? Ryan was still in postseason contention ahead of the regular season finale. Denton High won the District 6-5A title, but because Ryan was still alive and had a larger school population, the scenario pushed Denton into the 5A Division II bracket.
Birdville’s win eliminated Ryan from playoff contention and moved Denton into the Division I bracket, because its enrollment is larger than Colleyville Heritage and Richland, the district’s other two playoff qualifiers.
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“It was weird how it worked out,” Holman said.
In 2024, the University Interscholastic League restructured the basketball playoffs to resemble the 6A football postseason format, which splits qualifying teams into two divisions based on enrollment and crowns two champions in each classification. Previously, no divisions existed in UIL postseason basketball.
This month, the UIL revealed its new districts for the 2026-28 realignment cycle, for which the organization plans to continue following the Class 6A football postseason format. Many Dallas-area basketball coaches hoped the UIL would predetermine their district and playoff bracket assignments based on their enrollment number each realignment, like it does for football programs in Classes 1A through 5A.
The format has created scheduling and preparation issues for Dallas-area coaches, who don’t have a clear picture of their potential playoff opponents. It has also put coaches like Holman in difficult positions.
“If seeding was the only thing that mattered, you could imagine that a coach would in that scenario, not want to win that game,” Holman said. “Because if I win that game, I put our team in a worse position because that could change the seeding.”
Double the prep for Panther Creek
With playoff divisions and seedings still not finalized by the time Frisco Panther Creek clinched a postseason berth, boys coach Kevin Graham already started preparing for both No. 1 Carter and defending 4A Division I state champion Kimball, programs his team could see in the second round.
“They’re really good programs, but to have to prep for both of them, that can be very taxing,” Graham said.
Kimball ended up going 4A Division I and Carter landed in the 4A Division II bracket with Panther Creek. Both Carter and Panther Creek enjoyed huge first-round playoff wins and will now play each other Thursday in the area round.
Graham had a prospective matchup with either of the two Dallas ISD powers on his mind, but it wasn’t until last Friday, long after his team had clinched, that he knew who Panther Creek’s first playoff opponent would be.
“Prosper Richland and Gainesville had a play-in game. We are smaller than Richland, but we’re bigger than Gainesville,” Graham said. “Richland won the game, so that pushed us to small school. But if Gainesville would have won the game, that would have pushed us to big school.”
Carter coach Lyndon Love said he also didn’t know if his program could potentially face Gainesville or Panther Creek.
“All you can do is wait until it comes out,” Love said. “When it came out that it was Panther Creek, we were really excited to get that matchup.”
UIL format a plus for Dallas ISD
While some coaches like the fact that the playoff format crowns two state champions and creates more opportunities for teams across the state, others have said the competition seems watered down.
But it’s because of the new format that Dallas ISD has the potential to boast two state champions in Class 4A, with Kimball and Carter being top contenders in the Division I and II brackets, respectively.
“That will be awesome for the city, awesome for DISD,” Love said. “I don’t think it’s ever been done, so it will be a first.”
Love said he is a proponent of splitting the classifications. Graham said he can also appreciate the opportunities the format presents, though he wishes the division splits were predetermined.
“I get it’s easier based on location, but I’m not sure if what’s easier is always what’s best,” Graham said. “In [non 6A] football, you have a clear vision of what that route looks like. Your kids can prepare, you can prepare. … When it’s last minute, it almost puts everybody at a disadvantage.”
Birdville coach Holman said the basketball districts and playoff format also disrupt continuity, which can take away from the team and fan experience.
“To me it makes sense that you would just keep everything together with your football split,” Holman said. “I want to coach at a place where the rivals that our football team have are the rivals that we have. We play completely different schools for the most part than our football team does.”
On Twitter/X: @t_myah
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