July 15 marks 36 days until the official start of the high school football season, with the AHSAA allowing the first competitions to be played Thursday, Aug. 20.
Hoover will open the season in 37 days, as the Bucs take on Muscle Shoals in the season opener Friday, Aug. 21.
As kickoff approaches over the next several weeks, Hoover Sun and Under the Lights will count down the days until the opening kick.
Hoover will look to continue one of the longest playoff streaks in the state this fall, as the Bucs have qualified for the state playoffs for each of the past 26 seasons, dating back to 2000. In that time, Hoover has established itself as one of the premier football programs in the state and across the country.
Over those 26 years, Hoover has won 11 state championships, the last of which came in 2017. In six of the next seven years, the Bucs were upended in the state semifinals.
Hoover will look to make its annual trip to the playoffs once again, with hopes of making another deep run. The Bucs are in a new-look Class 6A, Region 3, after the AHSAA split public and private schools and eliminated 7A. The state's largest classification will also have a new playoff format, in which 24 of the 32 teams in 6A qualify for the playoffs. Hoover will only need to be one of the top six in the eight-team region to make the postseason.
