8MAN FOOTBALL – WEEK 10 PREVIEW

With all of the conference titles having been decided over the last few weeks, the final weekend of the regular season in eight-man will see teams either trying to improve their postseason seeding profile or just trying to even make the field. There will still be plenty of drama around the state.
One thing that is fairly certain is that last season’s finalists, #1 Sedgwick County (2^nd RPI) and #2 West Grand (1^st RPI) are in line to be the top two seeds this year. Sedgwick County must get past a Merino (19^th RPI) team that ended a three-game losing streak with a 50-8 victory over Byers (25^th RPI) last week. The Rams still have hopes of making the postseason, and an upset of the top-ranked Cougars would almost certainly make that a reality. But, they will have to snap Sedgwick County’s 20-game winning streak inside the Plains division to make that happen.
West Grand’s final hurdle in the regular season is winless Gilpin County (35^th RPI). The Mustangs have outscored opponents 257-66 this season and will visit an Eagles squad that has only scored 58 points all year.  If both West Grand and Sedgwick County finish unbeaten, the separation between the two in the final RPI standings could be infinitesimal.
The only other unbeaten left in the classification is #6 Mancos (4^th RPI), and a victory this week over Dove Creek (15^th RPI) would have the Bluejays in the discussion for the third overall seed. With a division champion currently outside of the top 16 in the RPI, Dove Creek is fighting for its postseason life. The Bulldogs own the final playoff spot but a loss this week coupled with a win by any of the six teams immediately behind them in the standings would likely send the Bulldogs into the winter sports season. The factor that will hurt Mancos when it comes to the seeding process will be strength of schedule, as the Bluejays  are only 28^th in that category.
Third-ranked Hoehne (5^th RPI) is the next highest rated of the conference champions and the Farmers have already received a forfeit from McClave (24^th RPI) as the Cards only have seven healthy players this week. That puts the Farmers in wait and see mode. They have the third highest SOS of the six division champions at 15^th, so they will definitely be in the discussion for that third seed on Sunday.
Pikes Peak Christian (12^th RPI) won the Southern Division and Front Range Christian (22^nd RPI) claimed the Central, but both will have to wait to be brought up for serious consideration on Sunday in the seeding meeting. The Eagles will wrap up the season on Friday against Justice (37^th RPI) which will not help their 35^th ranked SOS, while Front Range Christian will host Swink (32^nd RPI) on Saturday. The Falcons have the 38^th ranked SOS.
Fifth-ranked Rangely (3^rd RPI) and #4 Caliche (6^th RPI) will find themselves on the table rather early in the seeding meeting, should both take care of business this weekend. Neither team has a walk in the park, as Rangely visits Plateau Valley (23^rd RPI) on Saturday and Caliche hosts Haxtun (28^th RPI) on Friday.
Eighth-ranked Akron (7^th RPI) and Fowler (8^th RPI) are both in line to host an opening round game. If the two finish as close together as they are currently, the Grizzlies could get the call for the better seed due to their 28-20 victory over Akron earlier in the season. Fowler has what looks to be the easier route this weekend, visiting Las Animas (33^rd RPI). The Rams will host a very motivated Dayspring Christian squad on Friday.
The Eagles are 16^th in the RPI, which would normally have them in the postseason. However, with Front Range Christian outside of the top 16, they are on the outside, looking in. A victory by Dayspring Christian paired with a loss by Dove Creek and the Eagles would vault over the Bulldogs and possibly into the playoffs.
Vail Christian (9^th RPI) as the third Northwest division team in the standings, would need both West Grand and Rangely to be placed in the bracket before being brought up for consideration. Fortunately for the Saints, those two will be written in ink very early in the day. Still, they find themselves on the bubble for hosting a first round game. A victory at Byers on Friday would help their case.
Seventh-ranked Sargent (10^th RPI) is the second team from the Mountain division in the standings but would need to beat #10 Sanford (13^th RPI) on Friday and have a couple of the teams ahead of them lose to get a first round home game. The first order of business is protecting their home field against a Sanford squad that is just 1-2 the last three weeks after opening the season 5-0.
Despite being ahead of Pikes Peak Christian in the standings, Simla (11^th RPI) will have to wait for the Eagles to be seeded before they can draw consideration. This is because the Cubs lost what served as the Southern division title game to PPC, 20-12. The Cubs have earned a forfeit over Miami-Yoder (39^th RPI) which could drop their strength of schedule enough to allow Pikes Peak Christian to move ahead of them in the final standings.
Ninth-ranked Holly (14^th RPI) has to defeat Springfield (21^st RPI) to hold onto its playoff spot. The Wildcats have been ranked all season, but find themselves just inside the bubble for the postseason. A win over the Longhorns should be enough to lock them into the first round next week, but there are scenarios in which they could still potentially be bumped.
Norwood (17^th RPI), Soroco (18^th RPI), Merino, Custer County (20^th RPI) and Springfield all need help to get into the postseason. Norwood has already completed its regular season, so the Mavericks have no control over their fate at this point. The other four would all need wins and most likely a loss by one team ranked 9-16, possibly even two.