2012 Class 3A state champion Christian Academy of Knoxville hoists the trophy

With eight state champions annually crowned in outstanding facilities, the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA) football championships rank among the nation’s very best.

Sponsored by BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, the event is appropriately known as the BlueCross Bowl.

This year’s state championships will be held November 29 through December 1 in Tennessee Tech University’s Tucker Stadium in Cookeville. With a capacity of 16,500, Tucker Stadium offers plenty of seating for the championships’ numerous fervent fans.

The 2014 state championship game schedule follows:

DIVISION II SCHEDULE:

Thursday, November 29 (All times Central Standard Time)

3:00 p.m.        Class A Championship

7:00 p.m.        Class AA Championship

DIVISION I SCHEDULE:

Friday, November 30 (All times Central Standard Time)

11:00 a.m.       Class 1A Championship

3:00 p.m.        Class 3A Championship

7:00 p.m.       Class 5A Championship

Saturday, December 1 (All times Central Standard Time)

11:00 a.m.       Class 2A Championship

3:00 p.m.        Class 4A Championship

7:00 p.m.       Class 6A Championship

The defending 2013 state champions in their respective classifications are as follows:

Division II, Class A – Webb School of Knoxville

Division II, Class AA – Ensworth

Division I, Class 1A – Union City

Division I, Class 2A – Trousdale County

Division I, Class 3A – Alcoa

Division I, Class 4A – Fulton

Division I, Class 5A – Henry County

Division I, Class 6A - Maryville

On the Division I side, during Class 6A’s five-year history, Maryville has been amazingly efficient and effective as it won state titles three times and was runner-up the other two years. Riverdale’s four state titles leads Class 5A, while Maryville tops Class 4A with eight state championships. Alcoa’s three state titles leads Class 3A and is back to defend it in 2014. Alcoa also leads Class 2A with six titles, including five consecutive from 2004 to 2008. In Class 1A, Trousdale County has won the most state championships, with five to its credit.

Among the Division II schools, Ensworth and Montgomery Bell Academy are tied for most state titles in Division II, Class AA with four each. Interestingly, Ensworth won the past four, and as such is a four-time defending state champion entering the 2014 playoffs. The Webb School of Knoxville’s four state titles tops Division II, Class A. With titles in 2012 and 2013, it will seek to extend that to three consecutive this fall.

Overall, Maryville leads the state with 14 state championships, while Alcoa is one behind with 13. Alcoa won a state-record seven consecutive from 2004 to 2010, while Maryville and Ensworth have both won four in a row.

2013 Class 6A champion and overall championship leader Maryville High School.

Among the state championship games records, Bishop Byrne scored 68 points in the title game in 2002; in 2004, Alcoa (594) and Huntingdon (443) combined for 1,037 total yards; St. George’s Omar Williams rushed for 322 yards in 2011; University School of Jackson’s Russ Deloach passed for 364 yards in 2000; and Goodpasture’s Aaron Gillespie had 18 tackles in 2006.

The TSSAA state football championships got their start in 1950, when the Nashville Area Junior Chamber of Commerce established the Clinic Bowl as a Middle Tennessee high school football bowl game benefiting the Vanderbilt Physical Therapy Clinic.

In 1969, the TSSAA state football championships advanced considerably when playoffs were implemented in three classes, with four teams in each advancing into the playoff series. Teams earned their way into the playoffs via a point system, and the playoff attendance during that inaugural year was 23,146.

Three years later, the playoff format expanded to eight teams from each classification, and then in 1977, the playoff format expanded to 16 teams apiece.

In 1982, the TSSAA selected the Clinic Bowl as the host for the Divisions 1A, 2A and 3A state high school football championships. That marked the first time that all three games were played on the same day at the same location.

The playoff field expanded again in 1985, this time to 32 teams from each classification. In 1993, the TSSAA football classification expanded from three classes to five classes, and the state championships expanded to a two-day event for state title games in Classes 1A-5A.

For the first time, the Clinic Bowl was televised in 1994 on network television in Nashville and Memphis.

Three years later, the schools were split into two divisions based on whether or not financial aid was part of the school’s athletic program. Schools offering financial aid were placed in Division II, while the remaining (non-scholarship) schools were placed in Division I. That resulted in the creation of seven championships - five for Division I and two for Division II.

Beginning in 2000, the TSSAA’s seven football championships were played at two sites. The Division I schools played championship games in five classes at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) in Murfreesboro, while Division II schools played title games in two classifications at Vanderbilt in Nashville.

Tucker Stadium, site of the TSSAA’s BlueCross Bowl state football championships

That same year, the Division I Championships were named the BlueCross Bowl and were relocated to MTSU’s Floyd Stadium. Five years later, BlueCross signed on as title sponsor of the Division II Championships (also renamed the BlueCross Bowl) and the games relocated to Floyd Stadium.

In 2007, the BlueCross Bowl Division II Championship reorganized from three classes to two classes, and two years later, the BlueCross Bowl Division I Championship reorganized from five classes to six classes. In addition, the Divisions I and II championships moved to the same weekend at Tennessee Tech University’s Tucker Stadium.

TSSAA Executive Director Bernard Childress

“The BlueCross Bowl is a very special event in the state of Tennessee,” said TSSAA Executive Director Bernard Childress.

The history and tradition of football, and especially high school football, run very deep in our state. There are so many reasons why the event is what it is today. One of the main reasons it is so special is the city of Cookeville, Tennessee Tech University, and the numerous volunteers who put so much hard work and dedication into making it a truly memorable experience for the student-athletes. That is our goal for each event, and we certainly couldn't do it without them.

“TTU’s Tucker Stadium is a great venue for the BlueCross Bowl. It's large enough to accommodate our biggest crowds, and it creates for a great atmosphere for each championship game.”