Official playoff standings and post-season brackets are set for release by CHSAA on Sunday but Colorado Preps as always takes a shot at projecting the brackets.  Below is our look at Classes 2A, 1A, 8man and 6man.  We project the pairing based on the playoff standings released last Tuesday and results from over the weekend.

Each division starts with projected seeds followed by a breakdown of why we place in that order and then a list of projected first round pairings.

Only eight teams qualify for the postseason in each bracket this year and those selections are based on combined vote totals from RPI, Packard, MaxPreps and the coaches’ poll.  All will be updated and presented before official brackets are released by the football committee.

 

CLASS 2A

  1. Resurrection Christian
  2. Sterling
  3. Platte Valley
  4. Pagosa Springs
  5. Eaton
  6. Moffat County
  7. Delta
  8. Lamar

NOTES:  Platte Valley’s wild win over Eaton on Saturday pushed the Broncos into the third spot in our bracket.  They trailed Pagosa Springs by just .003 points before the weekend and with the Pirates not having a game, Platte Valley may have moved ahead of them.  Moving them to third could also prevent a rematch with the Reds in the first round as our bracket has Eaton staying at fifth.  They were .091 ahead of Moffat County before the contest and likely will stay head of the Bulldogs in the final seeds.

Projected First Round

#1 Resurrection Christian vs #8 Lamar

#4 Pagosa Springs vs #5 Eaton

#3 Platte Valley vs #6 Moffat County

#2 Sterling vs #7 Delta

 

CLASS 1A

  1. Limon
  2. Strasburg
  3. Florence
  4. Hotchkiss
  5. Centauri
  6. Wray
  7. Meeker
  8. Holyoke

NOTES:  Spots three through six can go in any direction but we’re guessing the committee will reward the unbeaten teams and move them ahead of Wray which may be higher in the overall playoff standings.  Our current setup though could be different just to avoid placing Wray vs Florence in the first round for the third straight years.  Limon and Strasburg seem locked into the top spots while we believe Holyoke earned the 8th spot by beating Rye on Saturday.  The Dragons were ahead of Highland to begin the week and since both teams won impressively, the order will likely remain the same.  That would put Holyoke into the bracket ahead of Highland.  Meeker and Holyoke could also be flipped in the seed order to avoid a conference pairing of Limon-Holyoke in the first round but since those clubs did not meet in the regular season, the committee may leave the matchup in place.

Projected First Round Pairings

#1 Limon vs #8 Holyoke

#4 Hotchkiss vs #5 Centauri

#3 Florence vs #6 Wray

#2 Strasburg vs #7 Meeker

 

EIGHT MAN

  1. Sedgwick County
  2. Fowler
  3. Sanford
  4. Rangely
  5. Dove Creek
  6. Merino
  7. Mancos
  8. Simla

NOTES:  Sedgwick County will easily nab the top overall seed but the order behind them could go in any direction.  Spots two and three could easily be flipped but that won’t make much difference in the overall bracket.  Wins will still put them together for a semifinal matchup.  Rangely and Dove Creek could also be flipped but we rewarded Rangely with the home game since they went through a six-game regular season unbeaten.  The eighth spot is a tossup between Simla and Crowley County.  Crowley County had the edge before games started over the weekend but we chose Simla since they have moved past the Chargers by beating Dolores Huerta on Friday.  The Chargers had their game with Wiley cancelled.

Projected First Round Pairings

#1 Sedgwick County vs #8 Simla

#4 Rangely vs #5 Dove Creek

#3 Sanford vs #6 Merino

#2 Fowler vs #7 Mancos

 

SIX MAN

  1. Fleming
  2. Stratton/Liberty
  3. Cheyenne Wells
  4. Prairie
  5. Eads
  6. Granada
  7. Briggsdale
  8. Kit Carson (correction – see below)

NOTES:   We believe this is a good seed for the division and it’s designed to avoid conference pairings in the opening round.  Fleming, Stratton/Liberty and Cheyenne Wells are the easy picks in spots one through three as they’re unbeaten on the season overall.  The fourth spot is where it gets difficult as both Prairie and Granada could lay claim to that position and host a first round game.  We moved Prairie up to fourth basically on a coin flip and then dropped Granada to sixth so Eads and Cheyenne Wells would not pair up in the quarterfinals.  Those two conference rivals played just two weeks ago.  But an argument could be made to have Granada in the fourth spot and drop Prairie to fifth and end up with the same first round result. Briggsdale won a key game over North Park to get into the bracket.

CORRECTION:  In our first round of picks, we had Mountain Valley beating Sierra Grande but the Panthers actually won that game which would knock the Indians out of the playoff picture.  As a result, we move Kit Carson into the pairings following their win over Hi Plains on the final weekend.  Genoa Hugo and Cheraw remain in contention as well.

Projected First Round Pairings

#1 Fleming vs #8 Kit Carson

#4 Prairie vs #5 Eads

#3 Cheyenne Wells vs #6 Granada

#2 Stratton/Liberty vs #7 Briggsdale