Yep, high school basketball is already upon us and the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches has released its Pre-Season Polls for boys and girls in all classes. Also, the University Interscholastic League (UIL), which uses the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) for rules has approved a new rule for junior high and high school basketball for the 2023-2024 season. The new rule, according to NFHS is
“Eliminates the one-and-one for common fouls beginning with the seventh team foul in the half and establishes the bonus as two free throws awarded for a common foul beginning with the team’s fifth foul in each quarter and resets the fouls at the end of each quarter.”
The bonus will always now be two shots, and the bonus begins at 5 team fouls per quarter. When another quarter begins, the foul count is erased.
The rationale for this new rule is explained by NFHS, stating this new rule will improve the flow of the game by providing an opportunity for teams to adjust their play by not carrying over fouls from quarters 1 and 3 to quarters 2 and 4 while significantly reducing the opportunity for correctable errors to occur. Also, this will help minimize the risk of injury by eliminating the one-on-one and reducing opportunities for rough play during rebounding opportunities.
Teams in BOLD are from Region I, in Class 1A teams in BOLD are from Region I & II
GIRLS PRE-SEASON RANKINGS
| CLASS 6A | CLASS 5A | CLASS 4A | CLASS 3A | CLASS 2A | CLASS 1A |
| 1. SA Clark | 1. Frisco Liberty | 1. La Vega | 1. Holliday | 1. Lipan | 1. Nazareth |
| 2. Desoto | 2. Lubbock Monterey | 2. Glen Rose | 2. Fairfield | 2. Gruver | 2. Huckabay |
| 3. South Grand Prairie | 3. Amarillo High | 3. Boerne | 3. Winnsboro | 3. Panhandle | 3. Neches |
| 4. Summer Creek | 4. Mansfield Timberview | 4. Fredericksburg | 4. Columbus | 4. Nocona | 4. Irion County |
| 5. SA Brennan | 5. SA Wagner | 5. Stephenville | 5. Tuscola Jim Ned | 5. Martins Mill | 5. Dodd City |
| 6. Duncanville | 6. Lubbock Cooper | 6. Sunnyvale | 6. Mt. Pleasant Chapel Hill | 6. LaPoynor | 6. Slidell |
| 7. Cedar Hill | 7. Fulshear | 7. Levelland | 7. Gunter | 7. Sundown | 7. Claude |
| 8. Steele | 8. Barbers Hill | 8. Frisco Panther Creek | 8. Pottsboro | 8. New Home | 8. Veribest |
| 9. Cypress Springs | 9. Mt. Pleasant | 9. Canyon Randall | 9. Rice | 9. Hearne | 9. D’Hanis |
| 10. Ft. Bend Hightower | 10. Mckinney North | 10. Hardin Jefferson | 10. Wall | 10. Dallardsville Big Sandy | 10. Sands |
| 11. Converse Judson | 11. Colleyville Heritage | 11. Seminole | 11. Lytle | 11. Tenaha | 11. Whiteface |
| 12. Little Elm | 12. Frisco Memorial | 12. Canyon | 12. Mexia | 12. Goldwaithe | 12. Borden County |
| 13. Keller | 13. Buda Hays | 13. Silsbee | 13. Brock | 13. Muenster | 13. Hermleigh |
| 14. Coppell | 14. White Settlement Brewer | 14. Brownsboro | 14. Idalou | 14. Cooper | 14. Roscoe Highland |
| 15. Lewisville Hebron | 15. Pflugerville Hendrickson | 15. Godley | 15. Peaster | 15. Merit Bland | 15. Rocksprings |
| 16. Southlake Carroll | 16. Northwest | 16. Waco Connally | 16. Shallowater | 16. Wellington | 16. Aquilla |
| 17. Houston Memorial | 17. Manvel | 17. Bay City | 17. Bushland | 17. Mason | 17. Gorman |
| 18. CE King | 18. Montgomery Lake Creek | 18. Bridgeport | 18. Edgewood | 18. Windthorst | 18. Throckmorton |
| 19. Vista Ridge | 19. Argyle | 19. Salado | 19. Poth | 19. Chireno | 19. Brookeland |
| 20. Pearland | 20. Mesquite Poteet | 20. Brookshire Royal | 20. Kountze | 20. Skidmore Tynan | 20. Eden |
| 21. Conroe Grand Oaks | 21. Liberty Hill | 21. El Paso Riverside | 21. Aransas Pass | 21. Ropes | 21. Bloomburg |
| 22. North Shore | 22. Amarillo Tascosa | 22. Kaufman | 22. Huntington | 22. Clarendon | 22. Eula |
| 23. SA Johnson | 23. Edinburg Vela | 23. Alvarado | 23. Goliad | 23. Farwell | 23. Lamesa Klondike |
| 24. Clearbrook | 24. Killeen Chaparral | 24. Decatur | 24. Malakoff | 24. Evadale | 24. McMullen County |
| 25. SA Brandeis | 25. Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial | 25. Bishop | 25. Hitchcock | 25. Shiner | 25. Slocum |
BOYS PRE-SEASON RANKINGS
| 1. Duncanville | 1. Lancaster | 1. Faith Family | 1. Hitchcock | 1. Martins Mill | 1. Graford |
| 2. SA Brennan | 2. FB Marshall | 2. Silsbee | 2. Dallas Madison | 2. Reagan County | 2. Jayton |
| 3. North Crowley | 3. Summit | 3. Stafford | 3. Brock | 3. Tolar | 3. Benjamin |
| 4. Bmt United | 4. SA Veterans Memorial | 4. Randall | 4. SA Cole | 4. Schulenburg | 4. Fayetteville |
| 5. Desoto | 5. Dallas Kimball | 5. Houston Washington | 5. Hooks | 5. Timpson | 5. Texline |
| 6. Atascocita | 6. Amarillo | 6. Dallas Carter | 6. Shallowater | 6. Floydada | 6. Gordon |
| 7. Stony Point | 7. Rouse | 7. Boerne | 7. Lorena | 7. North Hopkins | 7. Garden City |
| 8. Plano East | 8. Ellison | 8. Canyon | 8. Poth | 8. Beckville | 8. Abbott |
| 9. Keller | 9. Mansfield Timberview | 9. Anna | 9. Childress | 9. New Home | 9. Nazareth |
| 10. South Grand Prairie | 10. PA Memorial | 10. Waco Connally | 10. Ponder | 10. Evadale | 10. Huckabay |
| 11. Seven Lakes | 11. Dallas White | 11. Estacado | 11. Mexia | 11. Hawkins | 11. Calvert |
| 12. SA Reagan | 12. Manvel | 12. Iowa Colony | 12. City View | 12. Farwell | 12. Dodd City |
| 13. Mansfield Legacy | 13. EP Chapin | 13. Houston Yates | 13. MP Chapel Hill | 13. Sam Rayburn | 13. McMullen County |
| 14. Lake Travis | 14. Red Oak | 14. Aubrey | 14. Lytle | 14. Dallardsville Big Sandy | 14. Slidell |
| 15. Frenship | 15. Boerne Champion | 15. Burkburnett | 15. Tatum | 15. LaPoynor | 15. Brookeland |
| 16. Pearland Dawson | 16. Frisco Memorial | 16. Hamshire Fannett | 16. Aransas Pass | 16. Poolville | 16. Perrin Whitt |
| 17. Austin Westlake | 17. Burleson Centennial | 17. Eastern Hills | 17. Kountze | 17. Wellington | 17. Knox City |
| 18. Allen | 18. Frisco Liberty | 18. Sulphur Springs | 18. London | 18. Thorndale | 18. Happy |
| 19. Summer Creek | 19. Colleyville Heritage | 19. Sinton | 19. Vernon | 19. Shelbyville | 19. Buena Vista |
| 20. Harker Heights | 20. Pflugerville Connally | 20. Krum | 20. Orangefield | 20. Lipan | 20. Rocksprings |
| 21. Highland Park | 21. CC Veterans Memorial | 21. Somerset | 21. Holliday | 21. Port Aransas | 21. Silverton |
| 22. SA Warren | 22. Newman Smith | 22. Hirschi | 22. Mineola | 22. Grapeland | 22. Rankin |
| 23. Waxahachie | 23. Brewer | 23. Dallas Pinkston | 23. East Chambers | 23. Mumford | 23. Wildorado |
| 24. Shadow Creek | 24. Houston Madison | 24. Pleasanton | 24. San Diego | 24. Albany | 24. Irion County |
| 25. Cy Falls | 25. CC Miller | 25. Center | 25. Crockett | 25. Lee Academy | 25. San Perlita |
