MHSA makes rule changes

Tweaks and changes from the June Montana High School Association executive board meeting will affect several sports this coming year. The MHSA made this announcement last Tuesday, with the most prominent change being eliminating the play-in games for the Class A basketball and volleyball tournaments.

This returns the state format to its traditional eight-team setup. Four teams from the West and four from the East will qualify for the state tournaments, instead of two teams competing earlier in the tournament week for the eighth and final spot.

Other changes include:

• The MHSA will now require shot clocks for all basketball games, including sub-varsity matches in auxiliary gyms.

• For Class A football, there will be an equal number of teams from each division qualifying for the playoffs. Perhaps more impactful was elimination of the divisional crossover in the first round.

• In Class B football playoffs, if teams with the same seeds meet, the host team will now be determined based on head-to-head results.

Golf also saw some changes as 2025-2026. The state golf tournament will now cycle between the North, Southeast, and West regions. Class C state golf will now have four teams, and 20 participants from each boys and girls division will be able to qualify.

The MHSA also expanded the Class A softball schedule from 20 to 22 games if teams want to schedule that many.

For more information on the MHSA, head to www.mhsa.org.