Bishop Gorman football among top 2026 Nevada high school sports stories

Major changes are coming to Nevada high school sports in the 2026 calendar year.

New sports are being added, and there is a radical change to football alignment and playoff format. There are still questions to be answered for the current winter sports and spring sports seasons.

Here are five high school sports stories to watch for 2026 (in no particular order):

1. (Another) new football format

Southern Nevada football teams will be playing in their fourth alignment and postseason format since 2021.

The Nevada Interscholastic Athletic Association Board of Control approved a proposal by Clark County School District principals that will put the top Southern Nevada teams in a 10-team Open Division. Teams will play nine league games, and the top six teams will play in a six-team state tournament. No Northern teams are in the Open Division.

The same format will be in place for Class 5A. The change came at a board meeting days before the football state title games were played in November. Southern board representatives cited issues with the NIAA’s HRM points rating system after multiple adjustments were made to the final rankings because of issues with MaxPreps’ rankings and an unreported forfeited game.

The 10 teams in the Open Division are: Bishop Gorman, Liberty, Arbor View, Foothill, Shadow Ridge, Las Vegas High, Desert Oasis, Desert Pines, Green Valley and Faith Lutheran.

Those teams will have only one nonleague game, which presents an interesting scenario for figuring out what to do with it. Look at a team such as Arbor View, which has played Gorman for the state title each of the past two years.

Do the Aggies keep their longtime rivalry game with Legacy? Do they continue to try to renew their rivalry with Centennial? Or do they play a quality out-of-state team to try to prepare for the challenge of Gorman and Liberty?

The system should be in place for the next two seasons. It will be interesting to see what teams do with one nonleague game and if the sport begins to change because of unintended consequences with the new format.

But who knows? Maybe there will be another board meeting (days before the football state championship games) next year when the NIAA will throw this in the trash and come up with something else. Again.

2. What happens to Bishop Gorman?

Gorman reiterated that it will play in the 10-team Open Division next year and not play a full national schedule as an independent.

Playing only one nonleague game will reduce Gorman’s presence on the national stage. The Gaels have played four to five nonleague games the past several seasons against the nation’s top teams to consistently be ranked as one of the top teams in the country.

In 2023, Gorman won its fourth mythical national title. One story will be who Gorman finds to play for its one nonleague game. Could it be another rematch with Mater Dei, whom the Gaels are 0-5 against? Or Santa Margarita (California), which is the top team in the state?

Playing as an independent appears to be out of the question because that would mean Gorman would be ineligible to play for a state title. And other states, such as California, prohibit their teams from playing independents, such as IMG Academy (Florida).

The move might not push Gorman out in the immediate future, but what are the long-term implications if this format stays?

It might not do much for competitive balance since the nine other teams in the Open Division face the daunting task of trying to be competitive against Gorman just to have a glimmer of hope for a state title, while the top Northern teams will play, in theory, the 11th-best Southern team for the 5A title.

3. Struggling for postseason venues

Not every sport has an Allegiant Stadium that opens its doors and lets the NIAA use its facility for free for state championship events.

There are still no sites announced for the 2026 basketball state tournaments in all classifications for boys and girls.

In wrestling, it was the South’s turn to host the wrestling state tournament. When the NIAA couldn’t find a site in the region to host it, the Winnemucca Events Center offered to host the tournaments for free, much to the dismay of Southern Board of Control representatives.

The NIAA has said it could have better luck in finding venues if it decides to designate certain regions for certain sports for multiple consecutive years of hosting. Like how Sam Boyd hosted state football and Lawlor Events Center hosted state basketball in the past.

Then there are other issues, such as cost. Lee’s Family Forum asked the NIAA for more than $100,000 for three days of hosting state basketball.

If the NIAA decides to commit for multiple consecutive years to the same site for multiple sports, regardless of where it is in the state, it could give most of its sports the best chance to play at the best possible venues for its student-athletes and not have yearly issues of where it is going to host these postseason events.

4. Spring state tournaments all up north?

Formula One has forced the football state championship games at Allegiant Stadium to be played on a Tuesday.

Now, the Electric Daisy Carnival might force all of the spring sports state tournaments to be played in Northern Nevada.

At multiple Board of Control meetings, the NIAA has cited limited lodging availability and high costs of hotel rooms for spring sports such as baseball, softball, track and field, swimming and boys golf when teams come to Southern Nevada for state tournaments.

One idea floated was to have Northern Nevada host all of the spring sports state tournaments. That could help with the issues of availability and costs, and with the NIAA’s issues with looking for venues.

No spring sports have venues announced for 2026 state tournaments. Baseball is still determining its postseason format for the 5A Southern Region playoffs, with 17 teams in the classification and coaches wanting to expand the tournament to 12 teams.

Another issue is end of year standardized testing. Students in AP or International Baccalaureate classes must take standardized tests that are nationwide. The NIAA is also looking at avoiding conflicts with testing and its spring playoff schedule.

5. Adding new sports

Two sports will be added for the 2026-27 school year: girls wrestling and lacrosse.

Girls wrestling is offered as a division within wrestling — 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A and girls. But beginning in 2026, girls wrestling will be its own sanctioned sport, and girls will have an official state meet.

The NIAA cited growth with 577 girls wrestling in 2024-25, a significant jump from 388 that wrestled in 2022-23.

Another new sport coming is lacrosse for boys and girls in the spring of 2027. Several Southern schools — such as Bishop Gorman, Palo Verde and Centennial — have club teams that compete against one another and play Northern club teams for an unofficial state tournament.

The change came at a board meeting in August 2025 after the previous legislative cycle. There was a bill asking the NIAA to sanction lacrosse as a sport. An amendment to the bill would have created a government oversight committee over the NIAA, which is why Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoed the bill.

Shortly after Lombardo vetoed the bill, the NIAA announced it was sanctioning the sport.

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.