Tom Bean's football team opens the 2026 season in a new district and without the players from a senior-led 2025 team that finished 9-3 and won a playoff game. The University Interscholastic League's official alignment for 2026 through 2028 puts the Tomcats in District 9, a seven-team group that includes two schools already in Tom Bean's recent record.
MaxPreps lists the 2025 Tomcats at 9-3 overall, twelve games in all, and 4-2 against district opponents. That puts two of the three losses inside a six-game league schedule. In the UIL's Class 2A Division I bracket, Tom Bean appears as the District 6 runner-up.
Source: MaxPreps, Tom Bean Tomcats 2025-26 football schedule
The playoffs opened against Bangs. Tom Bean Athletics reported a 38-12 win in bi-district, the opening round of the state tournament, a margin of 26 points. The school said the result sent the Tomcats to the Area round, the second round of the Class 2A Division I bracket.
Tom Bean was not the only nearby program in that field. Alvord, Wolfe City and Tioga reached the same 2025 bracket out of districts next to Tom Bean's, putting four area teams in the postseason.
The seniors from that team were recognized before the playoffs began. At the close of the regular season, Tom Bean Athletics posted a Senior Night item tied to the game against Trenton, saying the program honored its seniors and describing the group as a special one. Those are the players the Tomcats replace this fall.
The district map has changed since that run. The UIL's official 2026-28 alignment groups Tom Bean with Bogata Rivercrest, Cooper, Honey Grove, Trenton, Whitewright and Wolfe City. That seven-team grouping is Tom Bean's UIL district for the 2026 and 2027 football seasons.
The Tomcats trade one district for another
District 6, 2025
Tom Bean finished as the district runner-up and went 4-2 in league play before beating Bangs in bi-district.
District 9, 2026-28
Seven teams: Tom Bean with Bogata Rivercrest, Cooper, Honey Grove, Trenton, Whitewright and Wolfe City.
Source: UIL 2A Division I playoff bracket and UIL 2026-28 official alignment
Two of those names are familiar from last fall. Trenton was the Senior Night opponent on the 2025 schedule. Wolfe City was one of the neighboring-district teams in the 2025 Class 2A Division I bracket. The four others on the new list are Bogata Rivercrest, Cooper, Honey Grove and Whitewright.
Second in District 6 is the last league finish on the Tomcats' record, and the 4-2 mark behind it came in a district Tom Bean no longer belongs to. The alignment that replaces it is the one in effect for the program this season and next.
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