Maybe the trickiest bracket to lay out ahead of time involves Class 2A boys’ basketball.  RPI standings are very close and many of the teams have similar resumes.  One can make a case for many teams to be in many different spots but we’ll rely a bit more on RPI here than maybe in other brackets.  RPI will play a major role but as mentioned in other stories, the committee has the ability to use head-to-head results, common opponents and previous district results to move teams.
Our bracket is for projections only as the official pairings will be released by CHSAA on Sunday.  RPI standings could change before then as they’ve not been finalized at this point.  But we’ll use numbers from the standings posted at 3:15pm on Saturday.  The standings have all the games included but many of them finished past 3:15pm so we’re not sure if they’re officially counted.
The discussion of placement could involve spots number one and two.  Holly is unbeaten and has a nice edge on Yuma for the top spot in RPI.  But Yuma is unbeaten against Colorado schools and has played a stronger schedule according to the percentages.  Still we don’t believe the committee will move a number one team out of the top spot when they lead in RPI.  So Holly is #1 in our bracket with Yuma #2.
Another tight race is for third and fourth between Fowler and Highland.  They’re basically tied for the third spot in RPI but if the numbers are stretched out past three decimals, the Grizzlies have the slight edge.  Highland though has a better overall record and is unbeaten against 2A schools as the Huskies only loss is against 3A Frontier Academy.  Fowler also has two losses to 3A rivals (Colorado Springs Christian and La Junta) and has dropped two games with Holly.
We’ll keep Fowler at #3 with Highland #4.  We can see the teams reversed based on overall record but we also believe the committee will try to keep Holly and Fowler on opposite sides of the bracket since they’re in the same conference and district.  If Holly and Yuma are reversed at 1-2, then we also believe Highland will bump to #3 based on the same reasoning.
Limon, Byers and Denver Christian are in a tight battle for spots 5-7 and head-to-head results could impact placement.  Limon lost to both clubs in regular season but avenged both games in the district tournament.  And since district games are likely given more value by the committee, we have Limon in at number five.  Then we move Denver Christian ahead of Byers since the Thunder won the head-to-head matchup.  That leaves Mancos at number eight.
 

  • #1 Holly (24-0) vs #8 Mancos (17-6)
  • #4 Highland (23-1) vs #5 Limon (19-4)
  • #3 Fowler (20-4) vs #6 Denver Christian (16-6)
  • #2 Yuma (21-2) vs #7 Byers (17-6)

 
If the top four seeds are moved around as we suggested is possible, then the bracket could also appear in this order.  Denver Christian and Limon would be flipped as well in spots five and six to avoid a first round league matchup between Denver Christian and Highland.  This bracket also avoids a tournament rematch between Yuma and Byers in the first round.  Those two met in a great semifinal a year ago.

  • #1 Yuma (21-2) vs #8 Mancos (17-6)
  • #4 Fowler (20-4) vs #5 Denver Christian (16-6)
  • #3 Highland (23-2) vs #6 Limon (19-4)
  • #2 Holly (24-0) vs #7 Byers (17-6)

 
Two brackets but we like the first option better and believe the committee will go that route.  Again, these pairings are the opinion of Colorado Preps as the official brackets are set for release on Sunday.  We may make alterations to the bracket if the RPI standings change dramatically later tonight or tomorrow morning.