The College Football Playoff bracket at the FBS ranks was updated on Tuesday night, but there are four other levels of the sport that are also inching towards the postseason. In fact, the conference semifinals in the JUCO ranks begin on Saturday with three Texas teams still in the mix. The Lone Star State also has multiple teams in the mix at the FCS, Division II, and Division III levels. NAIA appears to be the only college football division without a true Texas contender. 

Here is a 1,000-foot view of where the contenders stand and how each level operates in the postseason. 

FCS 

A total of 24 teams reach the FCS playoffs with 11 automatic bids given to conference champions and another 13 to at-large teams. The complete bracket will be announced On Nov. 23 with the championship taking place Jan. 5, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. on the campus of Vanderbilt University.

The Lone Star State is home to four teams ranked inside the latest FCS Top 20. That is Tarleton State (5), Lamar (14), SFA (17), and ACU (20). All four have a chance to reach the playoffs and two could receive automatic bids by the end of the weekend. That’s because SFA can clinch the Southland Conference championship with a win over Lamar and if Southeastern Louisiana knocks off UIW. In the UAC, ACU can clinch if it knocks off Eastern Kentucky and Tarleton and Southern Utah lose this weekend. 

Tarleton seems like a lock to reach the FCS playoffs as either a conference champion or an at-large team. The loss to ACU last week puts the Texans in a tough spot to win the UAC because of the tiebreaker. The loser of SFA-Lamar this weekend should remain in the at-large discussion. Three teams – UIW, ACU, and Tarleton State – reached the FCS playoffs last year. We could see four programs make it in 2025. 

Division II

Thirty-two teams reach the Division II playoffs and the state of Texas should get at least one representative in the bracket. That’s an expansion from 28 teams and automatic qualifiers are now a thing while first-round byes were eliminated. Every conference champion – all 16 of them – now gets a ticket to the playoff with the other half of the field designated for at-large bids. The tournament begins Nov. 22 with first round games on campus and ends Dec. 20 with the championship game in McKinney. 

The teams in Texas play in the Lone Star Conference, which is part of Super Region 4. Central Washington and Western Oregon play this weekend with the winner clinching the LSC championship and an automatic spot in the DII playoffs. Angelo State looked like a contender for an at-large spot at the end of October, but consecutive losses to Central Washington and Western Oregon might derail those chances. 

The state’s best bet in the DII ranks is UTPB. The Falcons are 8-2 overall with a 6-2 mark in LSC play, including a win over Angelo State earlier in the season. UTPB closes out with Sul Ross, the worst team in the conference, so a 9-2 overall record with seven wins in conference should punch their ticket to the playoffs. West Texas A&M is hovering at 6-4 overall with a 6-2 mark in conference play. A win over Angelo State on Saturday would bolster the Buffs’ chances at an at-large bid. 

Division III

The playoff has also expanded in the DIII ranks with 40 teams set to make the field in 2025, which is eight more than previous years. The move was made to get more at-large teams in the field as the number of conferences continue to grow. Twenty-eight automatic bids will be rewarded to conference champions with 12 at-large teams reaching the field. The tournament will begin Nov. 22 and the national championship, known as the Stagg Bowl, is on Jan. 4, 2026, in Canton, Ohio. 

The state of Texas should get at least two teams in the field as Hardin-Simmons, despite its recent loss to rival Mary Hardin-Baylor, was ranked 12th in the latest Coaches Poll. Trinity sits at 22nd and should get an at-large bid for finishing second in the SAA behind Berry. 

The wildcard is UMHB. The Crusaders have split with Hardin-Simmons this season and would be a dangerous opponent for most of the DIII ranks if they did get one of the at-large bids. They finish the season Saturday against Howard Payne in Brownwood. Hardin-Simmons will clinch the ASC’s automatic bid with a win over East Texas Baptist, so that leaves UMHB fighting for one of the 13 at-large bids. 

JUCO

The JUCO format is enough to make any person’s head spin so the cliff notes are that four teams make the Division I playoff but only after each conference does a four-team playoff. In Texas, that means all eyes are on Southwest Junior College Football Conference because three of the four teams in the conference tournament are from the Lone Star State. 

The No. 3-ranked Tyler Apaches are the favorite to win the conference tournament and enter with an undefeated record. They’d be a shoo-in for the national playoff if they win the next two. First up is Cisco, which the Apaches beat, 37-33, on Oct. 18. The winner of that game faces the winner of Trinity Valley at North Eastern Oklahoma A&M. Trinity Valley enters as a Top 10 team nationally, but NE Oklahoma A&M beat them 38-31 on Nov. 1. Both semifinals are at 1 p.m. on Saturday.