2018 Division II 7-on-7 State Tournament Preview

Forty-eight teams from Class 4A, Class 3A Division I and a lone Class 3A Division II school (East Bernard – which qualified in a higher division) will head to College Station this weekend to compete in the 21st annual Adidas Texas 7-on-7 State Championships. This is the 12th year that the Division II bracket is in place, having been implemented in 2007. The field will be somewhat forgiving if teams want to compete for a title as 32 of the 48 teams will move on to the championship bracket, so even if they have a rough first day there’s a chance of getting things together on Day 2 of the single elimination format.

With the smaller schools, the dynamics are a bit different as it’s not so much getting hot on Day 2 as it is a war of attrition. In most years, teams who have a full roster of 20 players with ability tend to wear the teams down who have more front line talent but less depth. Graham – last year’s winner – is a perfect example of that. The Steers didn’t have any real elite FBS talent, but had a deep roster of players capable of getting the job done.