We take our first look at projecting regional tournament pairings for 2A boys basketball.  As in the past, there are eight district tournaments and all but two send their top four teams into the regional tournament.  The exceptions are Districts 3 and 5 which send three and five teams into the next round.
District champions earn the right to host regional events.  Based on current standings and head-to-head results, the list below represents our picks for district champions.  They’re listed in order from District 1 through 8.
District Champions

  1. Sanford
  2. Yuma
  3. Ignacio
  4. Denver Christian
  5. Vail Christian
  6. Fowler
  7. Highland
  8. Peyton

Once the district champs are determined, they’re then placed in the regional bracket based on RPI standings.  Using the numbers from Wednesday February 5th, the champions would be seeded in this order.
RPI Standings

  1. Highland
  2. Sanford
  3. Ignacio
  4. Denver Christian
  5. Vail Christian
  6. Yuma
  7. Fowler
  8. Peyton

Then the next step is to determine which clubs will also qualify from the district round.  Again Districts 3 and 5 send three and five teams into regionals while all remaining districts send their top four.  Our selections look like this.
Other Qualifiers

  • District 1: Crested Butte, Center, Del Norte
  • District 2: Sedgwick County, Wray, Wiggins
  • District 3: Mancos, Telluride
  • District 4: Limon, Burlington, Byers
  • District 5: Meeker, Paonia, Plateau Valley, Rangely
  • District 6: Holly, Crowley County, Hoehne
  • District 7: Dayspring Christian, Dawson, Heritage Christian
  • District 8: Dolores Huerta, Thomas MacLaren, Colorado Springs School

 
Once again the qualifiers are then placed in order by RPI standings in spots 9-32.  Some clubs on the bottom end of the seed order (25-32) could be moved for geography purposes.  And teams could be moved up or down to avoid a district pairing in the first round.  The seed order for the remaining qualifiers shapes up in this order.
 
Remaining Qualifiers

  1. Limon (#2 overall)
  2. Mancos (#4 overall)
  3. Sedgwick County
  4. Crested Butte
  5. Holly
  6. Heritage Christian
  7. Dawson
  8. Wray
  9. Dayspring Christian
  10. Center
  11. Crowley County
  12. Dolores Huerta
  13. Wiggins
  14. Hoehne
  15. Byers
  16. Meeker
  17. Burlington
  18. Thomas MacLaren
  19. Telluride
  20. Colorado Springs School
  21. Plateau Valley
  22. Paonia
  23. Del Norte
  24. Rangely

 
And with the seeds in order from 1 through 32, we can now lay out the bracket.  We leave teams in order based on seed with a quick note on which teams could be moved.
 
REGION ONE

#1 Highland
#32 Rangely
#16 Wray
#17 Dayspring Christian

REGION TWO

#2 Sanford
#31 Del Norte (would be moved)
#15 Dawson
#18 Center

REGION THREE

#3  Ignacio
#30  Paonia
#14  Heritage Christian
#19  Crowley County

REGION FOUR

#4  Denver Christian
#29  Plateau Valley
#13  Holly
#20  Dolores Huerta

REGION FIVE

#5  Vail Christian
#28  Colorado Springs School
#12  Crested Butte
#21  Wiggins

REGION SIX

#6  Yuma
#27  Telluride (would be moved)
#11  Sedgwick County
#22  Hoehne

REGION SEVEN

#7  Fowler
#26  Thomas MacLaren
#10  Mancos
#23  Byers

REGION EIGHT

#8  Peyton
#25  Burlington
#9  Limon
#24  Meeker

 
Telluride would most likely be moved for travel and possibly be exchanged with Colorado Springs School in the bracket.  That would shorten travel for both clubs.  Del Norte would also be moved to avoid a first round pairing with Sanford.  Most likely the move would entail flipping spots with Paonia.