Florida enters the 2026 high school football season exactly where it usually sits: at the top. The Sunshine State placed 53 teams in the 2026 Preseason HSFA 300 national rankings, accounting for 18% of the entire list and well ahead of second-place Texas, which landed 43 teams. That kind of depth means the state’s top programs aren’t just chasing state titles; they’re playing for national relevance from Week 1.
Here are the top Florida High School Football teams we will be tracking as pads go on this August.
St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale)
The Raiders enter the year as the reigning national champion according to High School Football America’s proprietary rankings, powered by NFL Play Football, a title earned after a 14-1 season that included a shutout of Lakeland in the Florida Class 5A championship. Worth noting for accuracy: high school football has no official, sanctioned national champion. MaxPreps ran its own separate 2025 rankings and named Buford (Georgia) its national champion instead, after Buford beat Carrollton for the Georgia 6A title. Different organizations, different results, both legitimate within their own systems.
By High School Football America’s measure, St. Thomas Aquinas has a real shot at back-to-back national titles, helped along by Florida adding an Open Division state championship this season. The schedule won’t make it easy. The Raiders open August 29 against Texas power DeSoto in the Broward County National Football Showcase, an event stacked with 14 teams from the Preseason 300.
IMG Academy (Bradenton)
IMG opens the season at No. 3 in the national HSFA Top 100 rankings, with five regular-season opponents also starting the year in the Preseason 300. Beyond the usual national slate, the Ascenders face The Hun School of New Jersey and NFL Academy from England, the same England program that nearly upset St. Thomas Aquinas last season. Circle November 13: IMG’s matchup against St. Frances Academy (Maryland) is already being treated as a marquee date nationally.
Miami Carol City: The Transfer Story of the Offseason
No program in South Florida changed its outlook more this offseason than Miami Carol City. The Chiefs finished 6-6 in 2025 and were ranked outside the state’s top 100, but new head coach George Stubbs Sr. has overseen a wave of transfers that has the program projected as a legitimate playoff contender. Four-star wide receiver Nick Lennear left Miami Northwestern for Carol City, joined by quarterback Malik Leonard, who threw for nearly 2,935 yards and 31 touchdowns before leaving Chaminade-Madonna, and athlete Aden Johnson, who transferred in from McArthur. The Chiefs’ 2026 schedule includes home dates against Miami Northwestern and Miami Central, both games that now carry extra weight given where the new talent came from.
Carol City isn’t an isolated case. South Florida programs have seen transfer activity increase every offseason, and it’s becoming as important a storyline as recruiting itself heading into fall camp.
Miami Columbus and Miami Central
South Florida’s public school programs are punching above their usual national profile this preseason. Miami Columbus opens at No. 113 nationally, while Miami Central checks in at No. 36 and adds a notable out-of-state test against Georgia 6A champion Buford, last year’s MaxPreps national champion. Both are worth midweek coverage as camp battles shake out, especially at the skill positions, where Dade County keeps producing top-tier Division I talent.
The Bigger Picture: Open Division Changes the Math
The Florida High School Athletic Association didn’t just tweak a bracket. It added an entirely new postseason tier, officially approving Open Division playoffs this June. The change also extends to volleyball, basketball, soccer, baseball, softball, lacrosse, and flag football. For football, that means the state’s true elite (St. Thomas Aquinas, IMG Academy, and whoever survives the toughest non-conference gauntlet) will settle their in-state arguments on the field, even if the national title question stays split across competing polls.
Florida High School Football Programs on the Rise
Beyond the marquee names, don’t sleep on last year’s title-tier programs looking to reload: Chaminade-Madonna, Venice, and Miami Northwestern all return with strong coaching continuity and Division I pipelines that keep producing regardless of graduating classes. Expect several to climb the in season rankings once non conference play separates contenders from pretenders, worth tracking through MaxPreps’ Florida football hub, which updates schedules, scores, and stat leaders in real time once the season kicks off.
Why this Matters for Florida Sportswire Readers
Florida’s density of nationally ranked programs isn’t just a bragging point. It’s a recruiting pipeline story, a college football story, and eventually an NFL story. When a fifth of the national rankings run through one state, nearly every Friday night carries stakes beyond the local scoreboard. That’s the angle Florida Sportswire is built to own: connecting this week’s camp battle to next year’s college signee to the NFL roster five years out.
Photo by Jeff Klein/Power Play Photo
