For the past few weeks, Colorado Preps has laid out consensus football rankings and now we take the next step in using them to project playoff pairings across the state.  Below are preliminary projections for Classes 3A, 4A and 5A.

Please remember that league champions earn automatic bids into the bracket with the remaining slots filled by RPI.  Once the qualifiers are determined, then the consensus rankings come into play for the seed order.  For this round of projections, Colorado Preps simply lays out the bracket in seed order and then notes where changes could occur due to conference conflicts and travel distances.

Pairings are presented in bracket order.  They are different from the first set of brackets we issued as we confused RPI and consensus rankings in all three classifications.  That’s been corrected.

 

CLASS 3A

#1 Roosevelt vs #16 Steamboat Springs

#8 Evergreen vs #9 Palisade

#4 Mead vs #13 Eagle Valley

#5 Frederick vs #12 Discovery Canyon

#3 Fort Morgan vs #14 Northridge

#2 Lutheran vs #15 Pueblo Central

#6 Durango vs #11 Pueblo East

#7 Holy Family vs #10 Pueblo South

NOTES:   These pairings are corrected from an earlier version where I confused RPI with Consensus rankings.  The above bracket would likely be the setup if the pairings were released this week.  Travel concerns are not there and there is only one conflict of conference teams pairing up in round one; Fort Morgan vs Northridge.  Northridge and Eagle Valley could be flipped to fix that “problem” or the Grizzlies could also be exchanged with Pueblo Central.

 

CLASS 4A

First Round Byes

#1 Montrose

#2 Pine Creek

#3 Dakota Ridge

#4 Palmer Ridge

#5 Erie

#6 Loveland

#7 Ponderosa

#8 Vista Ridge

First Round Games

#9 Golden vs #24 Brighton

#10 Chatfield vs #23 Vista Peak

#11 Fountain Fort Carson vs #22 Skyline

#12 Pueblo West vs #21 Falcon

#13 Bear Creek vs #20 Broomfield

#14 Fruita Monument vs #19 Aurora Central

#15 Denver South vs #18 Longmont

#16 Mesa Ridge vs #17 Windsor

NOTES:  Again this bracket is changed as we again confused RPI with the consensus rankings.  The layout is again solid as the bracket is void of conference pairings in round one and travel will not be a concern in this division.

 

CLASS 5A

First Round Byes

#1 Valor Christian

#2 Cherry Creek

#3 Legend

#4 Ralston Valley

#5 Grandview

#6 Arvada West

#7 Columbine

#8 Regis

First Round Games

#9 Arapahoe vs #24 Far Northeast

#10 ThunderRidge vs #23 Fairview

#11 Pomona vs #22 Rocky Mountain

#12 Smoky Hill vs #21 Chaparral

#13 Cherokee Trail vs #20 Lakewood

#14 Mountain Vista vs #19 Fort Collins

#15 Castle View vs #18 Legacy

#16 Mullen vs #17 Douglas County

NOTES:  A corrected bracket for the big school ranks as well as we again used RPI to seed teams instead of the consensus rankings.  In these pairings,Fossil Ridge would be the hard luck team.  The Sabercats are currently 24th in RPI but would be bumped by Far Northeast as the league champion from the Metro 2.  Only the champion from that conference gets in and even though the Warriors are not in the top 30 of RPI, they would still earn a berth and move Fossil Ridge out of the bracket.  The Metro 1 also gets just one bid in the playoff format this year but Fort Collins is the conference leader right now and they sit 13th in RPI and would be safely in this week.  Travel is not an issue with Class 5A as the teams are congregated along I-25 and the first round bracket does not include any conference pairings.