It’s playoff time! The football postseason officially begins this week as the Colorado High School Activities Association released football playoff brackets for Class 5A, 4A, 2A, 1A, 8-man and 6-man.
Postseason games in those classes officially kick off this weekend. The 5A and 4A brackets feature 24 teams while the others have 16-team fields.
The top eight seeds in 5A and 4A received byes to start the playoffs. The 3A postseason bracket will be released next week as the class still has one week of regular season play remaining.
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Class 5A
Defending champion Cherry Creek takes the top spot in the 5A bracket on the strength of a 9-1 regular season. Valor Christian, Ralston Valley, Grandview, Pine Creek, Columbine, Regis Jesuit and Arapahoe all received byes to start their postseasons.
Some intriguing games will take place this weekend as Arvada West heads to Legacy and Eaglecrest travels to Fountain-Fort Carson.
Click here for the full 5A bracket.
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Class 4A
Palmer Ridge’s win over Vista Ridge on Friday solidified the top spot for the Bears. They finished the regular season 10-0 and looking to get back to the state title game for the first time since 2020.
Broomfield, Ponderosa, Loveland, Montrose, Denver South, Heritage and Vista Ridge all received first-round byes.
Longmont at Dakota Ridge and Bear Creek at Windsor are a couple of games to keep an eye on next weekend.
Click here for the full 4A bracket.
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Class 2A
Delta got through its regular season unbeaten and takes the top seed in the 2A field. That’s in part thanks to Elizabeth’s thrilling win over TCA, who had looked like the best team in 2A for most of the season.
Defending champion Eaton gets the No. 2 seed, Florence is No. 3 and TCA fell to No. 4 thanks to the loss to the Cardinals.
Click here for the full 2A bracket.
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Class 1A
Limon is back on top of the 1A field and has looked dominant all year long. The Badgers are hungry for another state title after falling to Centauri in the 2021 championship game. They’ll host No. 16 Flatirons Academy in the first round next weekend.
Strasburg is the No. 2 seed, Wiggins is No. 3 and Buena Vista is the No. 4 seed. Defending champion Centauri makes the field as the No. 7 seed and will face Gunnison at home.
Click here for the full 1A bracket.
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8-Man
It’s no surprise that Haxtun takes the top spot in the 8-man bracket after rolling through its regular season schedule. The Bulldogs will face McClave in the first round.
Dove Creek takes the No. 2 spot on the bracket, Mancos is No. 3 and Simla rounds things out at No. 4.
Click here for the full 8-man bracket.
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6-Man
Like 8-man, there was no mystery as to who would get the No. 1 seed on the 6-man bracket. Stratton has wrecked every opponent it has faced and is the clear favorite to win the state title in a couple weeks. The Eagles start their postseason run at home against Prairie.
Fleming gets the No. 2 seed, Granada comes in at No. 3 and defending champion Cheyenne Wells is the No. 4 seed.
