Muenster opens 2026 season a division up after two straight titles

_GvilleTX Newsroom report_

Muenster opens the 2026 football season August 28 at Lindsay in a division above the one it just won twice, after the University Interscholastic League moved the Hornets into Conference 2A Division I. UIL's state results list Muenster as the 2A Division II champion in both the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons.

What moved the Hornets up was a handful of students. UIL's 2026-28 rank-order list counts 180 students at Muenster, and the league's cutoff chart sets the floor of 2A Division I at 175.6. Clear that line and the smaller division is closed to a school for the next two years.

Muenster lands in District 6-2A Division I with Alvord, Chico, Nocona, Olney and Tioga, according to UIL's alignment. By the league's own enrollment figures, Muenster is the smallest of the six; Nocona, the largest, lists roughly sixty more students. UIL playoff rules send the top four teams from each 2A district to the postseason, so two of those six will finish their year in November.

TexasHSFootball.com previewed the season in an article titled "Muenster Hornets 2026 Season Preview," filed under the site's 2A coverage and organized around the team's 2026 schedule. The outlet describes itself as a media source covering high school football players, coaches, teams, schools, cities, stories and stats.

Muenster ISD's published varsity schedule starts outside the district against Lindsay, Holliday, Windthorst, Collinsville and Fort Worth Christian, then turns to Tioga, Alvord, Nocona, Chico and Olney, with an open date October 2. Lindsay ISD places its own team in District 9-2A, which keeps the short trip down the road a non-district game.

The new map came out of UIL's biennial reclassification, announced February 2 with district appeals set for later that month, according to the league's realignment packet. The same packet shows the 2A enrollment band tightening at the top end this cycle. For local scale, UIL lists Gainesville ISD at 885 students in 4A and Lindsay ISD at 145 in 2A.

UIL's tentative calendar for 2A schools set August 3 as the first day of conditioning and November 7 as the date district standings must be certified. The league has scheduled the 2A Division I championship for December 17 at 3 p.m. at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, one day after the Division II final Muenster has won two years running.

Muenster ISD lists home varsity admission at $6 for adults and $4 for students, with lower prices at junior varsity and junior high games. The district's football page still carries team photographs labeled for the 2025, 2024 and 2017 state champions.