Since we’re about midway through the district tournament schedule, thought it would be a good time for a refresher course on how next week’s regional tournaments will stack up in Classes 1A, 2A and 3A. This involves a breakdown of how teams qualify, how they are seeded and how RPI will play a role.
Colorado Preps will track regional qualifiers throughout district tournament week and then project brackets once games wrap up on Saturday.
CLASS 1A
Three regionals will take place; the Northeast, the Southeast and the West. The West is the easiest to bracket as the top two finishers from Districts 1 and 8 will cross bracket for two games and the winner of each moves on to the state tournament.
For the Northeast, the top three finishers from Districts 4, 5 and 7 will converge in Brush for a two-day tournament. Teams will be seeded in three team pods and the winners from each bracket/pod will earn a trip to the state tournament. The top three seeds will earn first round byes.
Same scenario in the Southeast where the top three finishers from Districts 2, 3 and 6 will meet up at La Junta HS to determine their three qualifiers.
The Northeast and Southeast regionals will be seeded by RPI with the point of avoiding district matchups in round one. RPI from the end of the season will be used as the standings WILL NOT be updated after districts tournament conclude.
The eight state qualifiers will advance to the state quarterfinals at UNC Greeley with the bracket seeded by the basketball committee this Sunday.
CLASS 2A
There are eight district tournaments being played this week and the top three finishers each advance to the regional tournament. That will generate 24 of the 32 teams in the regional tournament bracket with the remaining eight wildcards determined by RPI. RPI WILL BE updated after the district tournament round and the top eight teams in the RPI that did not qualify through regionals will receive a wildcard bid into the bracket.
For seeding, RPI will again be used. The eight district champions will each host a regional and will be seeded one through eight based on RPI. The remainder of the teams will be seeded by RPI with the goal of avoiding district matchups in round one and geography will also be considered for the lowest eight seeds.
The eight regional tournament winners will advance to the state tournament in Loveland (Events Center) and the bracket WILL BE reseeded prior to the state quarterfinals.
CLASS 3A
Seven districts are being played this week and the top two teams from each automatically advance into the 32-team state tournament bracket. The remaining 18 qualifiers will be selected by RPI and those standings WILL BE updated after district tournaments wrap up.
District champions will earn the right to host the first two rounds IF THEY FINISH IN THE TOP 16 of RPI after the district tournament. Remaining host slots will be filled by the highest ranked team in RPI that did not win a district title.
The 3A seeding committee will meet on Sunday to lay out the 32-team bracket. Again the goal will be to avoid district matchups in the opening round and geography can be considered in placing seeds 25-32 in the bracket. The tournament will be played out from start to finish and the bracket WILL NOT be reseeded prior to the state quarterfinals.
The 3A Great Eight will be played at Hamilton Gym on the University of Denver campus.
