District and substate brackets for all four classes in the 2026 basketball postseason are available below.
Per the postseason manual, the Class 2A and Class 1A brackets will be released Monday, Feb. 9, and the Class 4A and Class 3A brackets will be released Monday, Feb. 16.
Preliminary round games in Class 1A are scheduled for Friday, Feb. 13. First round district games in Class 2A and Class 1A begin on Monday, Feb. 16. First round substate games in Class 4A and Class 3A begin Monday, Feb. 23.
Brackets are displayed in district and substate formats through the links below. Since the addition of IHSAA basketball rankings in 2022-23, bracket assignments and seedings are managed by the IHSAA.
For bracket purposes in 2A and 1A, the winners of District 1 and District 2 advance to play in Substate 1, the winners of District 3 and District 4 will play in Substate 2, and so on.
Eight teams from each class advance to the 2026 IHSAA State Basketball Tournament presented by Iowa Farm Bureau, set for March 9-13 at Casey’s Center in Des Moines. For more information on the postseason process, please view the postseason manual.
IHSAA Postseason Basketball Brackets
CLASS 4A SCHEDULE
- First Round: Monday, Feb. 23
- Second Round: Friday, Feb. 27
- Substate Final: Tuesday, March 3
CLASS 3A SCHEDULE
- First Round: Monday, Feb. 23
- Second Round: Thursday, Feb. 26
- Substate Final: Monday, March 2
CLASS 2A SCHEDULE
- First Round: Monday, Feb. 16
- Second Round: Thursday, Feb. 19
- District Final: Tuesday, Feb. 24
- Substate Final: Saturday, Feb. 28
CLASS 1A SCHEDULE
- Preliminary Round: Friday, Feb. 13
- First Round: Monday, Feb. 16
- Second Round: Thursday, Feb. 19
- District Final: Tuesday, Feb. 24
- Substate Final: Saturday, Feb. 28
For updated brackets and results once the postseason begins visit the IHSAA database at Bound:
BRACKET INFORMATION
Times:
All games at 7 p.m., unless specified.
Tickets:
District & substate games $6, substate finals $8.
Locations:
Higher-seeded team hosts single games, unless specified.
Neutral sites used for substate finals (2A, 1A).
New in 2026: District finals will be hosted by higher seed in 2A, 1A, pending facility capacity.
Bound:
For updated brackets, results, game details, and more, please visit the IHSAA database at Bound.
