Our next round of playoff projections is focused on Class 1A boys as teams there begin the postseason run next week.  As we did with the girls bracket, Colorado Preps project the district qualifiers from the eight tournaments and then places them in the regional bracket.  Fans are in for a tremendous three-week run as several clubs have a legitimate chance at winning the state championship.

 

WESTERN REGIONAL

Cutting Districts 1 and 8 down to just two qualifiers each will be a difficult task.  We can see Caprock Academy, Dove Creek and Ouray having a nice battle the two available spots from the west and while Belleview Christian and Denver Jewish Day finished 1-2 in the 5280, Denver Waldorf and Flatirons Academy could also push for the two available slots.

So we will go with final conference standings in the 5280 giving us Belleview Christian as the district champion and Denver Jewish Day as the runner-up.  For District 1, Caprock Academy has two wins over Ouray so let’s get them into the number one spot.  Ouray and Dove Creek split two conference matchups including one overtime affair.  Ouray has the slightly better point differential in those games and sits a few spots higher in RPI so we will go with the Trojans as the number two pick.

If those scenarios pan out here are the regional finals and winners from each game advance to the state bracket.

  • Belleview Christian vs Ouray
  • Caprock Academy vs Denver Jewish Day

 

NORTHEAST REGIONAL

Nine teams advance to the bracket with three apiece coming from Districts, 4, 5 and 7.  These teams, according to the CHSAA Basketball bulletin will be then seeded by RPI and placed in three team pods avoiding district matchups on the opening day.  The top three seeds will earn a bye and face a winner from the previous day.  Winners from the three games on day two of the regional will earn a trip to the state tournament in Greeley.

For District 4, it should be a great tournament with Haxtun, Briggsdale and Merino the three teams we pick to advance.  We use head-to-head in putting Haxtun at the top since the Bulldogs have beaten both Briggsdale and Merino.  The Falcons get the nod over the Rams in the race for second and third since the Falcons have the better record and higher RPI.  All three will be tough outs in regionals.

District 5 involves the mix of the YWKC and Union Pacific teams.  Idalia won the YWKC so they’re the pick at number one with Stratton the choice at number two as they earned the top 1A finish in the Union Pacific.  Third place will be a nice battle between Genoa Hugo and Otis but we go with the Pirates as the Union Pacific is probably a deeper and better league than the YWKC this year.

In District 7, Simla and Evangelical Christian play later this week and that could be a preview of a district semifinal or championship game.   Hanover has a win over Simla and played well against ECA so the Hornets remain in the title mix as well.  All three teams should advance to regionals and we use the order of ECA, Hanover and Simla based on conference finish.  That involves an ECA win over Simla this week.

Using RPI from Monday February 14th before games open that night, the teams would be seeded in this order.

  1. Evangelical Christian
  2. Briggsdale
  3. Haxtun
  4. Merino
  5. Simla
  6. Hanover
  7. Genoa Hugo
  8. Idalia
  9. Stratton

Using those standings, the regional pods would shape up in this manner.  Again, the three winners from day two would advance to the state quarterfinals.

  • #4 Merino vs #9 Stratton – winner plays #3 Haxtun
  • #5 Simla vs #8 Idalia – winner plays #2 Briggsdale
  • #6 Hanover vs #7 Genoa Hugo – winner plays #1 Evangelical Christian

 

SOUTHEAST REGIONAL

Nine teams advance to the bracket with three apiece coming from Districts, 2, 3 and 6.  These teams, according to the CHSAA Basketball bulletin will be then seeded by RPI and placed in three team pods avoiding district rematches in the first round.  The top three seeds will earn a bye and face a winner from the previous day.  Winners from the three games on day two of the regional will earn a trip to the state tournament in Greeley.

For District 2, the three qualifiers will be Granada, McClave and Wiley but projecting the order will be difficult.  All three remain unbeaten in conference play and the three head-to-head matchups set for later this week will determine the seed order.  And that will impact the district and regional seeding as RPI could change dramatically for the Bobcats, Cardinals and Panthers.

For District 3, we used RPI to break the tie between Springfield and Kim/Branson place them 1-2 in the bracket.  They play on Friday to determine the league champion and top district seed.  Primero is our pick to end up third as they won the Fishers Peak championship by beating La Veta last week.

In District 6, Sierra Grande should land the district championship.  Right now, Creede is the number two pick but Cotopaxi and Centennial will also get involved for the runner-up spot and one them should end up no worse than third.  We’ll get a better read on Cotopaxi this week as they play both Centennial and Creede.  Right now, we have the Pirates in at number three.

Using RPI from Monday February 14th before games open that night, the teams would be seeded in this order.

  1. Granada
  2. Sierra Grande
  3. McClave
  4. Wiley
  5. Springfield
  6. Kim/Branson
  7. Cotopaxi
  8. Primero
  9. Creede

Using those standings, the regional pods would shape up in this manner.  Again, the three winners from day two would advance to the state quarterfinals.

  • #4 Wiley vs #9 Creede – winner plays #3 McClave
  • #5 Springfield vs #8 Primero – winner plays #2 Sierra Grande
  • #6 Kim/Branson vs #7 Cotopaxi – winner plays #1 Granada

 

Please note that the eight regional champions will then be reseeded for the state tournament.  RPI standings will be the dominant data point for seeding but head-to-head matchups could come into play along with district/conference finishes.