Not very much movement in our list of 2A district tournament qualifiers this week.  There are slight changes in Districts 1, 6 and 7 with the most movement found in District 5.
That’s where we start as Rangely suffered their first league loss of the year (Vail Christian) last week and that result dropped the Panthers into a first-place tie with Paonia and Meeker.  Rangely has already beaten Meeker so we kept them ahead of the Cowboys.  Paonia moves up from fifth to third but they control their own district pairing.  The Eagles face Meeker this week and then close the schedule against Rangely next week.  Wins in both give the Eagles the top district seed.  Vail Christian also bumps up to fourth ahead of Hotchkiss.  The Bulldogs fell to from third to fifth as they lost twice last week and that overcomes a head-to-head win over Paonia in league play.
Cripple Creek joins the top four in District 1.  The Pioneers collected a nice win over South Park and it moved them ahead of the Burros.  Those two and Center will battle for fourth available slot.  Del Norte and Sargent also collide this week.
John Mall is now our fourth pick in District 6 as they scored a one-point win over Swallows Charter last week.  Swallows won the first meeting so those two clubs and an improving Swink program could battle for the fourth available regional berth.  Crowley County, Fowler and Rocky Ford seem solid as the top three.  Crowley County beat Fowler by one point last month so they have the edge at #1 right now but the rematch is set for Friday.
Dawson also joins our top four in District 7.  They beat Union Colony Prep last week to take that spot.  Dawson can move up farther by beating Dayspring Christian on Thursday.  Highland has key league games with Heritage Christian this week and Denver Christian next but neither opponent is in the district so the Huskies have all but clinched the top overall district seed.
Another top game statewide this week is between Limon and Byers in District 4.  That winner should land the top overall seed for the district tournament.  The Badgers also face Calhan on Tuesday and 3A Strasburg on Saturday so their RPI should improve by next week regardless of the outcomes.  Also, this week are key games for positioning between Yuma-Haxtun in District 2 and Telluride-Dolores in District 3.
Here’s a quick list of our qualifiers in each district.
 

DISTRICT 1 DISTRICT 2 DISTRICT 3
#1 Del Norte #1 Yuma #1 Ignacio
#2 Sanford #2 Sedgwick County #2 Dolores
#3 Sargent #3 Haxtun #3 Telluride
#4 Cripple Creek #4 Holyoke
DISTRICT 4 DISTRICT 5 DISTRICT 6
#1 Limon #1 Rangely #1 Crowley County
#2 Byers #2 Meeker #2 Fowler
#3 Denver Christian #3 Paonia #3 Rocky Ford
#4 Burlington #4 Vail Christian #4 John Mall
#5 Hotchkiss
DISTRICT 7 DISTRICT 8  
#1 Highland #1 Calhan
#2 Clear Creek #2 Simla
#3 Dayspring Christian #3 Evangelical Christian
#4 Dawson #4 Ellicott

 
Using the RPI from Monday February 5th, we seed the district champions one through eight.  The number next to their ranking is the current RPI standing.

  1. Crowley County (#1 in RPI)
  2. Limon (#3)
  3. Calhan (#4)
  4. Highland (#5)
  5. Yuma (#6)
  6. Del Norte (#8)
  7. Ignacio (#13)
  8. Rangely (#20)

 
Also using RPI, we seed the rest of the regional tournament qualifiers and we provide RPI standings for each.

  1. Sedgwick County (#2 in RPI)
  2. Byers (#7)
  3. Haxtun (#9)
  4. Simla (#10)
  5. Evangelical Christian (#11)
  6. Fowler (#12)
  7. Paonia (#15)
  8. Clear Creek (#16)
  9. Meeker (#17)
  10. Dayspring Christian (#18)
  11. Vail Christian (#19)
  12. Holyoke (#21)
  13. Dawson (#22)
  14. Ellicott (#24)
  15. Sargent (#27)
  16. Rocky Ford (#28)
  17. Sanford (#30)
  18. Denver Christian (#31)
  19. Hotchkiss (#32)
  20. Dolores (#38)
  21. Burlington (#44)
  22. Telluride (#45)
  23. John Mall (#53)
  24. Cripple Creek (#57)

There are also five teams that are within the top 32 of RPI but will have a major climb to qualify from their respective district tournament.

#14 Merino

#23 Akron

#25 Dolores Huerta

#26 Union Colony Prep

#29 Mancos

 
And to wrap up our projections for the week, we place teams in the bracket.  We produce a true seed and don’t try to move any teams subject to geography.

REGION 1 REGION 2
#1 Crowley County vs #32 Cripple Creek #2 Limon vs #31 John Mall
#16 Clear Creek vs #17 Meeker #15 Paonia vs #18 Dayspring Christian
REGION 3 REGION 4
#3 Calhan vs #30 Telluride #4 Highland vs #29 Burlington
#14 Fowler vs #19 Vail Christian #13 Evangelical Christian vs #20 Holyoke
REGION 5 REGION 6
#5 Yuma vs #28 Dolores #6 Del Norte vs #27 Hotchkiss
#12 Simla vs #21 Dawson #11 Haxtun vs #22 Ellicott
REGION 7 REGION 8
#7 Ignacio vs #26 Denver Christian #8 Rangely vs #25 Sanford
#10 Byers vs #23 Sargent #9 Sedgwick County vs #24 Rocky Ford

 
Notes:  Regional bracket is determined by RPI as district champions earn a top eight seed and then are placed in order by RPI.  The remaining qualifiers are seeded 9-32 but teams slotted 25-32 could be moved for geographical purposes.  In the past, the bracket has been reseeded once regional tournaments are complete but we’re trying to confirm comments from coaches that indicate RPI may not be updated once the regular season ends.  If that’s the case, then the teams will remain in the same seeding order for the state tournament.  WE HAVE NOT CONFIRMED THIS CHANGE.