D-III Southeast/East First Look
Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2026 1:18 pm
This week we reach the halfway point in the 2025-26 regular season, so a good time to begin looking at the prospects for a very competitive D-III post-season in the new combined OHSAA Southeast/East tournament. No official prediction here but some observations:
--Very possible that 11 of the 13 teams in this district will have winning records by the time the seeding occurs.
--Look for 9 of 13 teams to have records of 14-7 or better, at least 4 teams with 4 losses or fewer.
--A key battle will be winning a seed in the top 3. Anything lower will make a district title extremely difficult. There will be two district champions.
--As of today, 5 teams are in strong positions to claim a top 3 seed, but there are 4 others potentially in the hunt.
--Likely that MaxPreps RPI rankings will undergo usual scrutiny and perhaps criticism. Stay tuned.
Southeast/East Schools: Steubenville - Miami Trace - Jackson - Marietta - Chillicothe - Dover - New Philadelphia - Tri Valley - Warren - Zanesville - Sheridan - Athens - Hillsboro.
--Very possible that 11 of the 13 teams in this district will have winning records by the time the seeding occurs.
--Look for 9 of 13 teams to have records of 14-7 or better, at least 4 teams with 4 losses or fewer.
--A key battle will be winning a seed in the top 3. Anything lower will make a district title extremely difficult. There will be two district champions.
--As of today, 5 teams are in strong positions to claim a top 3 seed, but there are 4 others potentially in the hunt.
--Likely that MaxPreps RPI rankings will undergo usual scrutiny and perhaps criticism. Stay tuned.
Southeast/East Schools: Steubenville - Miami Trace - Jackson - Marietta - Chillicothe - Dover - New Philadelphia - Tri Valley - Warren - Zanesville - Sheridan - Athens - Hillsboro.