With the playoff field in Class 5A chopped from 24 to just eight teams, qualifying for the bracket will be even more difficult this year. And while the Centennial and Jeffco leagues have long dominated big school football, a change in format this year could limit how many teams those conferences qualify. There are fewer cross over games and fewer chances for the Centennial and Jeffco to flex their muscle in non-league activity.
Regardless of format change, many of the same dominant teams are expected to make the field and push for the state championship. Cherry Creek is the defending state champion and the Bruins are again favored to win the championship. They’re one of our three locks on teams that will qualify for the post-season.
- Cherry Creek
- Pomona
- Valor Christian
Cherry Creek is favored to win the Centennial with Pomona and Valor Christian our picks in the Jeffco and Douglas County conferences respectively. Pomona has the most returnees of the contenders in the Jeffco plus they’ll benefit from a strong schedule. Valor Christian is expected to run the table through their conference and that will get them into the bracket.
That leaves five available spots and even though league champs are not guaranteed a playoff berth we still believe the top clubs from the North and South will get in. Our favorites there are Fairview and Legend. Fairview could get pushed by a solid Legacy club and Legend will see some push from the likes of Regis and Highlands but we like both clubs to get in.
- Fairview
- Legend
The runner-up clubs in the Centennial and Jeffco leagues should also earn spots in the eight-team field. Several challengers in both races but we feel the runner-up spot in each league will be determined by head-to-head matchups. Cherokee Trail-Grandview collide in the Centennial and Ralston Valley meets Columbine in the Jeffco with both games now set for November 6th. Our predicted winners are below:
- Ralston Valley
- Cherokee Trail
If Ralston Valley falls short against Columbine, they could get a boost in RPI as their non-conference game is against defending 4A state champion Pine Creek. That’s a nice boost compared to non-conference games for other contenders as Grandview meets Fossil Ridge; Cherokee Trail goes up against Rocky Mountain and Columbine faces Rock Canyon.
We are down to just one remaining playoff berth. And that probably goes to either Grandview or Columbine based on tradition and the coaches poll. Those clubs will get plenty of respect compared to many other challengers in that set of rankings which again factor into the playoff field.
It’s difficult to picture the 5A playoffs without either Grandview or Columbine but one club could easily be left out. Our pick between the two to advance is Grandview as they seem to return a few more key players from a year ago when comparing rosters on paper.
So that leaves our eight playoff selections in Class 5A below and they’re listed in alphabetical order:
- Cherry Creek
- Cherokee Trail
- Fairview
- Grandview
- Legend
- Pomona
- Ralston Valley
- Valor Christian
We will make projections on a regular basis throughout the regular season so our projections will likely change throughout the six week stretch. Playoff clubs this year are selected through a formula that combines RPI with polls from Packard, MaxPreps and CHSAA. Many other clubs could challenge including Legacy, Regis, Eaglecrest, Castle View and ThunderRidge.
