Since there are only a couple of games in the 2A division today we won’t see a whole lot of movement in the RPI standings before official pairings come out. The main game of interest is University-Academy as the Bulldogs are 20th in RPI and hoping to climb into the top 16 but their result will also impact the RPI numbers of league rivals Berthoud and Eaton.
League champions earn automatic playoff berths but must finish in the top 10 of RPI to host a first round game. All seven league champs are currently in the top 10 so that won’t be much of a factor in the seeding except for Kent Denver. The Sun Devils are 9th in RPI (as of this writing) and could be paired up with another league champion in the first round. If that happens, Kent may have to travel but if they meet up with a non-league champion, Kent will host as the lower seed.
The seeding process is the same as with eight-man and Class 1A where conference champions are placed on the board first and a number one team is selected from there. Then the runner-up team of the conference from the #1 seed is placed on the board and a number two seed is picked. The process remains in place until all 16-teams are seeded.
Criteria remains common with RPI, strength of schedule, common opponents and head-to-head results are in place.
If we go straight RPI along with conference finish, our starting bracket is this.
#1 Bayfield vs #16 Alamosa
#8 Faith Christian vs #9 Kent Denver
#4 Salida vs #13 Eaton
#5 Platte Valley vs #12 Berthoud
#3 La Junta vs #14 D’Evelyn
#6 Rifle vs #11 Aspen
#2 Resurrection Christian vs #15 Montezuma Cortez
#7 Basalt vs #10 Delta
This is far from the finished product as you have Kent Denver below Faith Christian and that likely won’t happen because the Sun Devils beat the Eagles head-to-head. There are also several conference rematches between Bayfield-Alamosa, Rifle-Aspen and Basalt-Delta.
So, in our second bracket, we jump Kent Denver all the way to seventh; ahead of Faith Christian and even up one spot from Basalt. We credit the Sun Devils with winning a league championship over Basalt even though the Longhorns have the advantage in RPI and strength of schedule. Our bracket also drops D’Evelyn from 14th to 16th to alleviate conference pairings with Bayfield and exchange Berthoud and Aspen at #11 and 12.
#1 Bayfield vs #16 D’Evelyn
#8 Basalt vs #9 Faith Christian
#4 Salida vs #13 Eaton
#5 Platte Valley vs #12 Aspen
#3 La Junta vs #14 Montezuma Cortez
#6 Rifle vs #11 Berthoud
#2 Resurrection Christian vs #15 Alamosa
#7 Kent Denver vs #10 Delta
Under the seeding process, Faith Christian would host the 8-9 game as the conference champion over Basalt. Montezuma Cortez would also have lesser travel to La Junta than Resurrection Christian but D’Evelyn would have more miles to get to Bayfield so that cancels out the travel concerns. One area of fix, could be exchanging Aspen-Eaton at numbers 12-13 to keep those clubs closer to home.
So with all the details in mind, we will publish a different look at the pairings that keeps Basalt in the 7th spot according to RPI and then moves teams all around for travel purposes.
#1 Bayfield vs #16 D’Evelyn
#8 Kent Denver vs #9 Delta
#4 Salida vs #13 Aspen
#5 Platte Valley vs #12 Eaton
#3 La Junta vs #14 Montezuma Cortez
#6 Rifle vs #11 Berthoud
#2 Resurrection Christian vs #15 Alamosa
#7 Basalt vs #10 Faith Christian
Faith Christian would still host even as the #10 seed as the Eagles won a league title and are eighth in the current RPI standings.
A couple of other issues involve league placement. The top two teams from the IML are both in the top half while the top two clubs from the Western Slope are in the bottom half. The highest two seeds from the Patriot West are also together in the lower half. Committees in the past have split up the top two finishers from the same league.
This will be one of the more difficult brackets to lay out because two leagues dominate the pairings with the Western Slope and Intermountain leagues currently having four bids apiece. That combination makes it difficult to avoid league pairings in round one and this may be the year we see a matchup of league rivals in the opening round.
