CYPRESS — It’s tough enough being last year’s district champion, but the season after a state championship means everyone — everyone — has you in their sights.

The Cy-Fair Bobcats’ perfect 15-0 (9-0 in district) run will be put to the test every single week in 2018.

But this fall will be different than what most Cypress sports fans have experienced in recent years, as the University Interscholastic League split CFISD’s high schools into two separate districts, that sit in two different regions.

Generally speaking, the schools south of Highway 290 are in District 14-6A, and the schools north of 290 were put into District 17-6A. 17-6A comprises of five CFISD teams and four Greater Houston area teams.

The way that Texas Football has collated their predictions largely weighs on the opinions of the local subject matter experts: the coaches and athletics leaders in any give area.

Leading the pack is reigning state champion Cy-Fair, followed by Cy-Falls, with Cy-Creek and Stratford as the predicted playoff teams. The remaining teams are, in ranked order: Cy-Ridge, CFISD’s Jersey Village, then Memorial, Northbrook and Spring Woods.

Now, let’s get the tricky part out of the way. Years ago, the UIL split the football playoffs into two per conference. Besides for the unnecessary complexity, the change has eventually led to four teams per district into the playoffs and no outright, undisputed state champion.

Looking at these predictions, Cy-Fair and Cy-Falls would enter the Division I playoff brackets and Cy-Creek would be accompanied by Stratford into the Division II playoff brackets. In theory, Cypress could be the home to a pair of state champion teams this December.

While the Cy-Fair Bobcats start off with a preseason No. 8 ranking, everyone starts at 0-0 when the first kickoff happens this fall.

Here’s the predictions from Texas Football magazine in list form (top four enter playoffs):

1. Cy-Fair (No. 8 in Texas)
2. Cy-Falls
3. Cy-Creek
4. Houston Stratford
5. Cy-Ridge
6. Jersey Village
7. Houston Memorial
8. Houston Northbrook
9. Houston Spring Woods

Texas Magazine’s 2018 edition was recently released, but ordering your own copy from www.texasfootball.com is your safest bet to secure a copy.