The Rio Grande Valley got themselves a regional champion a year ago, but Brownsville Veterans Memorial is now off to Class 6A, Region III champion Smithson Valley moves into the region and they’ll ascend to the regional favorite role, but plenty of challenges await, including inside of their own district.

As mentioned 13-5A Division I will be full of potential potholes for Smithson Valley with perennial 6A playoff team New Braunfels dropping, along with rapidly improving San Antonio Pieper, who made the regional finals in just their second varsity season. Always tough Wagner gets the pick for the four seed, but Boerne Champion, Seguin and Victoria East will be in the mix as well.

Another 6A drop-down in San Antonio Jay expects to still compete for a 14-5A Division I crown despite the loss of a stellar senior class, the Mustangs were 10-3 a year ago and are battle tested. Southwest and Southside both bring back a lot of experience from 9-2 teams, but can they overcome Jay’s athleticism and good depth for a 5A program? The battle for fourth should be plenty entertaining, I’m leaning to the Slot-T of Laredo Nixon to hold off Southwest Legacy and a much-improved South San squad.

We head south to a Corpus/RGV hybrid district where the two Corpus schools in Flour Bluff and Veterans Memorial expect to challenge for the district title, but don’t count out PSJA North who still has plenty of ammo left from a team that’s 25-2 over the past two seasons. The race for fourth should be fascinating as Harlingen South and a much-improved PSJA Memorial team will be locked in a tight race.

The Upper Valley district will be very competitive in 2024 as Vela despite returning thirteen starters has some question marks with a new coaching staff and the loss of their QB who transferred to PSJA. Vela will get a real battle from an always tough McAllen Memorial squad and Mission High who is dropping down from 6A. The battle for fourth place will come down to two McAllen schools in McHi and Rowe, with the edge going to McAllen High.

DISTRICT PREDICTIONS

District 13-5A Division I

1. Smithson Valley
2. New Braunfels
3. San Antonio Pieper
4. San Antonio Wagner
5. Seguin
6. Boerne Champion
7. Victoria East
8. San Antonio MacArthur

District 14-5A Division I

1. San Antonio Jay
2. San Antonio Southwest
3. San Antonio Southside
4. Laredo Nixon
5. San Antonio Southwest Legacy
6. South San Antonio
7. Laredo Martin
8. Eagle Pass Winn
9. Laredo Cigarroa

District 15-5A Division I

1. Corpus Christi Flour Bluff
2. PSJA North
3. Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial
4. Harlingen South
5. PSJA Memorial
6. Weslaco East
7. Donna
8. Donna North
9. Brownsville Rivera

District 16-5A Division I

1. Edinburg Vela
2. McAllen Memorial
3. Mission
4. McAllen
5. McAllen Rowe
6. Rio Grande City
7. La Joya Palmview
8. La Joya Juarez-Lincoln

PROJECTED BI-DISTRICT MATCHUPS

W13 Smithson Valley vs F14 Laredo Nixon

R16 McAllen Memorial vs T15 Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial

W14 San Antonio Jay vs F13 San Antonio Wagner

R15 PSJA North vs T16 Mission

W15 Corpus Christi Flour Bluff vs F16 McAllen

R14 San Antonio Southwest vs T13 San Antonio Pieper

W16 Edinburg Vela vs F15 Harlingen South

R13 New Braunfels vs T14 San Antonio Southside

REGIONAL CHAMPION

Smithson Valley over Corpus Christi Flour Bluff