Our latest post-season predictions for 1A boys’ basketball include some changes in both our projections of district qualifiers and RPI standings.  For our purposes, we use the RPI standings from the morning of February 4th.
We begin with our thoughts on the district champions and remaining qualifiers.  District’s 1 and 7 each advance their top two qualifiers while the remaining tournaments send their top three to regionals.  Our picks, in order, for district finish.

  • District 1: DeBeque & Ouray
  • District 2: Cheraw, Kit Carson, McClave
  • District 3: Walsh, Wiley, Springfield
  • District 4: Peetz, Prairie, Longmont Christian
  • District 5: Haxtun, Arickaree/Woodlin, Otis
  • District 6: Sangre De Cristo, Creede, Sierra Grande
  • District 7: Evangelical Christian, Genoa Hugo
  • District 8: Cornerstone Christian, Mile High Academy, Front Range Baptist

 
With these predictions, the Region One bracket in easy to set up as the champions from Districts 1 and 7 cross-bracket to play the runner-up teams from those same tournaments.  The games will be played March 2nd in Glenwood Springs with both winners earning a trip to the state tournament.
Region 1 — Glenwood Springs
DeBeque vs Genoa Hugo
Evangelical Christian vs Ouray
 
For Region Two, the bracket is setup directly through RPI standings with possible movement of lower seeds to avoid district pairings in round one.  With RPI standings from February 4th, that conflict is not an issue as the pairings lay out nicely.  One quirk that may change; the top three seeds as District 8 currently holds down those spots.  Mile High Academy is #1 with Cornerstone Christian #2 and Front Range Baptist #3.  Those three teams earn first round byes and on Saturday meet winners from first round games the day before.  All three winners from Saturday advance to the state tournament.
Region 2 — Northeastern Junior College
#4 Peetz vs #9 Otis — winner vs #1 Mile High Academy
#5 Arickaree/Woodlin vs #8 Prairie — winner vs #2 Cornerstone Christian
#6 Haxtun vs #7 Longmont Christian — winner vs #3 Front Range Baptist
 
A third different seeding format is utilized in Region Three as the district champions all earn first round byes and are seeded one through three based on RPI.  A second criteria is the prevention of two teams from the same district in the same three-team pod.  So each pod will consist of one team apiece from Districts 2, 3 and 6.  The format allows one district to possibly grab all three state tournament bids. First round games are Friday March 1st with winners advancing to championship games on March 2nd.  Both rounds are set for La Junta HS and all winners on Saturday advance to the state tournament.
Region 3 — La Junta High School
#4 Springfield vs #9 Sierra Grande — winner vs #3 Cheraw
#5 Kit Carson vs #8 Creede — winner vs #2 Walsh
#6 McClave vs #7 Wiley — winner vs #1 Sangre De Cristo
 
Colorado Preps will also predict state tournament qualifiers in Classes 1A, 2A and 3A later Monday. It will be presented in our newest podcast and will be available through the website.