There’s only one change in our list of district qualifiers in Class 2A girls’ basketball this week.  That change can be found in District 7 where we moved Lyons up to number three and Dayspring Christian down to fourth.  That’s because Lyons won their head-to-head meeting last week and earned the right to move up.
Otherwise, our entire list of qualifiers is in the same exact same order.  Based on the schedule this week though there could be changes heading into the final week.
Sanford plays both Center and Sargent inside District 1 this week so spots two through four could be altered.  But the Indians won both previous meetings with their local rivals.  Haxtun is at Yuma this Friday and that’s the most important game inside District 4.  Haxtun is coming off a big win over Merino last week that solidified their spot in our top four.
For District 3, Dolores and Telluride tangle for a second time this week.  Dolores won the first game 34-13 and is favored again so we don’t expect the order to change.  The top four in District 4 remains very solid but almost changed when Burlington pushed Limon to double overtime last Saturday.
We kept Vail Christian and Paonia in the same order for District 5.  The Saints trail Paonia in the league standings but have a head to head win over the defending state champions.  The most important there this week is Friday as Paonia heads to Meeker.  Swink took complete control of District 6 by downing Rocky Ford last week.  Rocky Ford and Fowler are now tied for second and they meet next week.  Getting second is important as that club gets a bye to the district semifinals while the third-place team must contend with a quarterfinal contest.
In District 8, Peyton is outside our top four but has a chance to move up as they play Ellicott on Friday and Colorado Springs School next week.  This bracket actually has the best chance of seeing major movement as games between Simla-Ellicott, Simla-Calhan and Calhan-Peyton also remain.
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 Wray #2 Dolores
#3 Sargent #3 Holyoke #3 Telluride
#4 Center #4 Haxtun
DISTRICT 4 DISTRICT 5 DISTRICT 6
#1 Limon #1 Soroco #1 Swink
#2 Denver Christian #2 Rangely #2 Fowler
#3 Burlington #3 Meeker #3 Rocky Ford
#4 Byers #4 Vail Christian #4 Las Animas
#5 Paonia
DISTRICT 7 DISTRICT 8  
#1 Highland #1 Calhan
#2 Clear Creek #2 Simla
#3 Lyons #3 Ellicott
#4 Dayspring Christian #4 Colorado Springs School

 
Using the RPI from Tuesday February 6th, we seed the district champions one through eight.  The number next to their ranking is the current RPI standing.

  1. Yuma (#1)
  2. Swink (#4)
  3. Soroco (#8)
  4. Highland (#10)
  5. Limon (#11)
  6. Calhan (#12)
  7. Del Norte (#13)
  8. Ignacio (#24)

 
Also using RPI, we seed the rest of the regional tournament qualifiers. Again, we list the current RPI standing next to their seed.

  1. Denver Christian (#2 in RPI)
  2. Holyoke (#3)
  3. Rangely (#5)
  4. Wray (#6)
  5. Meeker (#7)
  6. Simla (#9)
  7. Rocky Ford (#14)
  8. Burlington (#15)
  9. Vail Christian (#16)
  10. Haxtun (#17)
  11. Fowler (#18)
  12. Clear Creek (#19)
  13. Colorado Springs School (#20)
  14. Lyons (#23)
  15. Ellicott (#25)
  16. Paonia (#26)
  17. Dayspring Christian (#27)
  18. Sanford (#28)
  19. Sargent (#29)
  20. Las Animas (#39)
  21. Byers (#40)
  22. Dolores (#42)
  23. Center (#51)
  24. Telluride (#57)

 
Several teams in the RPI top 32 may not advance from the district tournament round.

#21 Peyton

#22 Wiggins

#30 Dawson

#31 Merino

#32 Custer County

 
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 or conference pairing.  One change in the bracket below involves Del Norte-Sanford as both clubs are in the Southern Peaks.

REGION 1 REGION 2
#1 Yuma vs #32 Telluride #2 Swink vs #31 Center
#16 Burlington vs #17 Vail Christian #15 Rocky Ford vs #18 Haxtun
REGION 3 REGION 4
#3 Soroco vs #30 Dolores #4 Highland vs #29 Byers
#14 Simla vs #19 Fowler #13 Meeker vs #20 Clear Creek
REGION 5 REGION 6
#5 Limon vs #28 Las Animas #6 Calhan vs #27 Sargent
#12 Wray vs #21 Colorado Springs School #11 Rangely vs #22 Lyons
REGION 7 REGION 8
#7 Del Norte vs #26 Sanford #8 Ignacio vs #25 Dayspring Christian
#10 Holyoke vs #23 Ellicott #9 Denver Christian vs #24 Paonia

 
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.  Please note that the RPI will not be updated through the post-season as a year ago but the state tournament will be reseeded once regionals are complete.  The top regional qualifier in the RPI will face the lowest remaining team and so on.