A longstanding debate in the recruiting world has been which metro area produces the best football players. So now in conjunction with millions of other brackets, our bracket also is reaching its conclusion with two metro areas still standing: Miami/South Florida vs. Dallas/Fort Worth.
Our national recruiting analysts chose the top 16 metro areas for high school football talent and seeded them 1-16, with No. 1 Tampa being their collective pick as the best. Our analyst group focused solely on the talent churned out so far in the 2020s.
And we will let the fans take it from there. So far, there have been three rounds of voting to whittle the 16 cities down to two.
Vote now in the finals and help decide the metro area that produces the best football talent.
PREVIOUS ROUNDS
FIRST-ROUND RESULTS
No. 1 Tampa/St. Pete defeated No. 16 Philadelphia
No. 2 Atlanta defeated No. 15 Charlotte
No. 3 Dallas/Fort Worth defeated No. 14 Chicago
No. 4 Los Angeles defeated No. 13 Las Vegas
No. 5 Miami/South Florida defeated No. 12 St. Louis
No. 7 Detroit defeated No. 10 DMV
No. 8 New Orleans/South Louisiana defeated No. 9 Houston
No. 11 Birmingham/Montgomery defeated No. 6. South Georgia
QUARTERFINAL RESULTS
No. 8 New Orleans/South Louisiana defeated No. 1 Tampa/St. Pete
No. 2 Atlanta defeated No. 7 Detroit
No. 3 Dallas/Fort Worth defeated No. 11 Birmingham/Montgomery
No. 5 Miami/South Florida defeated No. 4 Los Angeles
SEMIFINAL RESULTS
No. 3 Dallas/Fort Worth defeated No. 2 Atlanta
No. 5 Miami/South Florida defeated No. 8 New Orleans/South Louisiana
CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHUP: Dallas/Fort Worth vs. Miami/South Florida
🚨SOUTH FLORIDA vs. DFW🚨
— Rivals (@Rivals) April 6, 2025
We continue with the FINAL ROUND of the Sweet 16 of high football talent. YOU DECIDE which city produces the best football players. VOTE NOW pic.twitter.com/ZJARyvc6vf
The Case For South Florida: When it comes to the perception, the numbers and certainly the names, South Florida continues to hold onto its reputation as one of America's truly fertile football hotbeds. Narrowing the production window to the first half of this decade proves more of the same, whether leaning on the names stationed on Saturday's like Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith or those about to enter at the highest level like fellow former five-star and one-time ...
