Edition number two in our weekly series projecting post-season brackets across the state and this update involves the 1A boys’ basketball division. We’ve advanced into the regional tournament this week as we take our picks for district qualifiers and place them in the next round of the playoffs.
The format is different for the three regional tournaments. Region #1 pairs up the top two teams from Districts 1 and 6 into two games with winners of each advancing to the state tournament. Region 2 takes the top three teams from Districts 4, 5 and 8 and places them into three separate three-team pods with the winner of each moving to the state tournament. Seeds are determined by RPI standings at the end of the regular season. Region 3 takes the best three teams from Districts 2, 3 and 7 also groups them together in three three-team pods. Winners of each advance to the state tournament but district champs are guaranteed first round byes and two teams from the same district are not allowed in the same pod.
So Region 1 is relatively easy. We believe DeBeque will win District 1 with Ouray placing second. The district six crown should go to Sangre De Cristo with Primero our pick at number two. That leaves these matchups.
- DeBeque vs Primero
- Sangre De Cristo vs Ouray
Region 2, we make the following selections for teams to qualify. Unlike our first report, we list the teams in district order but it doesn’t matter too much as teams are placed in the bracket based on RPI. For RPI purposes, we use numbers from Wednesday February 5th.
- District 4: Briggsdale, Fleming, Caliche
- District 5: Stratton/Liberty, Idalia, Haxtun
- District 8: Flatirons Academy, Mile High Academy, Denver Waldorf
RPI Standings are in this order:
- Mile High Academy
- Flatirons Academy
- Briggsdale
- Fleming
- Denver Waldorf
- Caliche
- Idalia
- Haxtun
- Stratton/Liberty
With those numbers in mind, the pairings could look like this:
- #4 Fleming vs #9 Stratton/Liberty – winner faces #3 Briggsdale
- #5 Denver Waldorf vs #8 Haxtun – winner faces #2 Flatirons Academy
- #6 Caliche vs #7 Idalia – winner faces #1 Mile High Academy
In looking at Region 3, district finish is important as district champs earn first round byes. Our picks for district champs are below and place them 1-3 through based on RPI standings.
- #1 Kit Carson
- #2 Walsh
- #3 Evangelical Christian
Our picks for second place teams are below and they are also placed in order by RPI.
- #4 Kim/Branson
- #5 Cheyenne Wells
- #6 Edison
Seeing for third place teams is not important as they’re simply placed in the pod to avoid having two teams from the same district in the same bracket.
To layout the bracket, the highest ranked conference champion is paired together with the lowest runner-up seed not in their district. Then the #2 conference champion is placed with the next remaining lowest #2 seed not from their district. Then third place teams are put in pods to avoid district conflicts.
With that in mind, here is our bracket if laid out today.
- Edison vs Springfield – winner to face #1 Kit Carson
- Cheyenne Wells vs Genoa Hugo – winner to face #2 Walsh
- Kim/Branson vs Cheraw – winner to face #3 Evangelical Christian
These are for projections only and do not reflect any official information. Of course, district results will be different and that will result in different pairings. We will look at the bracket again in the same scenario next week.
