State tournament pairings for Class 2A will be announced on Sunday but we will spend the night and possibly into tomorrow morning projecting how the brackets may lay out.  RPI will play a major role but for the state tournament head to head competition and common opponents can also play a role.  We have yet to see updated RPI standings from CHSAA so please note that our first look at the pairings are “pre-RPI” so we reserve the right to make some changes.
 

GIRLS

We believe the top three seeds will be Limon, Holyoke and Rye.  Most folks will pick Limon as the top seed as they have a win over Holyoke but let’s not forget Rye in the discussion.  The Thunderbolts are the lone unbeaten team in the field and while their schedule lacks a bit, they do have two wins over a Rocky Ford club that posted a win over Limon in December.  Remember that common opponents can be in the discussion.  The gap in RPI though will likely be against Rye so we put them third behind Limon and Holyoke.  But again that’s a good discussion.
Del Norte is our choice as the number four seed as they have a nice RPI advantage over the rest of the field.  They also have three wins over Sanford and split a home-away series with Ignacio.
Wray started the weekend behind Sanford and Ignacio in the RPI but their big win over #3 Meeker on Saturday could be enough to get them past those two clubs.  That’s why we go with the Eagles at number five followed by Ignacio and Sanford.  Ignacio has a win over Del Norte while the Indians dropped three games to the Tigers.  That leaves Holly as the number eight seed.  RPI and ten losses will likely prevent the Wildcats from moving out of the #8 seed.
With that in mind – our first bracket – again pre-RPI looks like this:

  • #1 Limon vs #8 Holly
  • #4 Del Norte vs #5 Wray
  • #3 Rye vs #6 Ignacio
  • #2 Holyoke vs #7 Sanford

 

BOYS

This bracket could go in a bunch of different directions but it’s likely the discussion for the top overall seed is between Highland and Limon.  Yuma and Sanford could also be in the mix but the defending state champions (Yuma) did not win their district tournament and Sanford has four losses compared to a combined three for Highland and Limon.  But three of Sanford’s losses are against 3A teams that made the state tournament (Centauri twice & Alamosa) so their strength of schedule is very good.
Highland is our pick at number one.  The Huskies have not played a strong schedule but they’ve dominated the 2A division this year.  Their only loss is a double-overtime setback to 3A Eaton.  They do have a win over state qualifier Peyton early in the season.
Limon lost early to Ignacio and then split two games with Denver Christian.  They actually have more wins over state tournament teams than Highland as the Badgers topped Fowler, Kit Carson and Merino.  That might be enough to sway the committee and the Badgers probably move into the top spot if they stay ahead of Highland in the RPI.  Yuma and Sanford are in a similar discussion for spots three and four.  We go with Sanford as they’re a district champion and Yuma is not.  Again RPI could sway the decision.
The second four is probably a bit easier as we go with Fowler, Ignacio, Wray and Peyton based on RPI and avoiding district matchups in the opening round.  We also try to keep league and district rivals on opposite sides of the bracket.

  • #1 Highland vs #8 Peyton
  • #4 Yuma vs #5 Fowler
  • #3 Sanford vs #6 Ignacio
  • #2 Limon vs #7 Wray