Two weeks of the regular season are behind us and we continue to see the post-season picture clear up a bit in Classes 3A, 4A and 5A. We place results from the past week into the mix and come up with a fresh look at which teams will head to the playoffs at seasons end.
Only eight teams will qualify for the playoffs in all three divisions and those clubs will be selected based on a formula that combines RPI with the coaches poll and rankings from Packard and MaxPreps. League champions are NOT guaranteed a berth in the bracket.
Projected qualifiers in each of the three classes below are listed in alphabetical order. Photo is provided by Lance Wendt.
CLASS 3A
Some changes on our list heading into week three. Conifer and Discovery Canyon were both playoff entries last week but the Lobos were blanked by Green Mountain (31-0) and the Thunder were blitzed by Lutheran (57-17). As a result, the Lobos and Thunder dropped out of our playoff projections this week.
To replace the duo, we simply put the teams that beat them into the top eight and into our current playoff projections. In doing so, our theory remains the same in Class 3A where we believe the top two teams from each of the four conferences will be invited to the bracket. Lutheran replaces Discovery Canyon in the Colorado and Green Mountain sits in for Conifer in the Western Slope.
A few other teams received strong consideration including Canon City, Pueblo County and Mead. Canon City scored the big win over Pueblo East last week and Pueblo County blew past 2A La Junta. Mead pushed Roosevelt to the end falling to the Riders in overtime (21-20). The Mavericks though could get into the playoff picture as they battle Fort Morgan in a key Northern conference game this week.
Discovery Canyon is in the same situation as Mead but in the Colorado conference. They can climb right back into the discussion by beating Holy Family this week. Evergreen could also be a factor. They lost an early game to Palisade but have their starting quarterback from last year back on the roster and should challenge both Conifer and Green Mountain later in the year.
Pueblo South remains in our playoff bracket as of right now. The Colts haven’t played this year but are scheduled for a return in week three. The Colts cannot miss another week as schools are required to play at least four games to qualify for the playoffs.
- Durango
- Fort Morgan
- Green Mountain
- Holy Family
- Lutheran
- Palisade
- Pueblo South
- Roosevelt
CLASS 4A
For the third consecutive week, our playoff lineup in this division remains unchanged. It’s a good group of teams and seven of them won last week. The exception was Pine Creek as the defending state champions have spent the first two weeks in quarantine. Like Pueblo South in 3A, the Eagles have no margin for error at this point as they must play the final four weeks to stay eligible.
At least three other teams should be on this list but there is simply not room in a reduced eight team field. Broomfield is the defending state runners-up and has started 2-0. Montrose moved to 2-0 with their double-overtime win over Fruita Monument and Pueblo West blanked Air Academy last week to reach 2-0.
Erie could also be tossed into that group as the Tigers have started their first year in 4A at 2-0.
Several 1-1 teams including Brighton, Chatfield, Vista Ridge, Longmont and Fruita Monument will feel pressure to keep winning the rest of the way. Class 4A is a very deep division this year will likely not get into the bracket.
- Dakota Ridge
- Loveland
- Palmer Ridge
- Pine Creek
- Skyline
- Ponderosa
- Fountain Fort Carson
- Windsor
CLASS 5A
It took us until week three but we finally gave in and placed Columbine into the playoff bracket. We pushed the Rebels into the top eight in place of Legend. The Titans are the hard luck team this week as they were removed despite starting the season with two wins. The reasoning is tradition. It appears Columbine and other regular playoff strongholds such as Cherry Creek, Eaglecrest, Grandview, Ralston Valley, Valor Christian and Pomona will continue to receive more attention from the coaches and MaxPreps than clubs such as Legend and Regis. So even if the top three in the Centennial and Jeffco beat up on each other in the regular season, that type of attention could keep them into the playoff bracket.
So that scenario could make this week’s game between Legend and Regis extremely important. Maybe only the winner gets some strong playoff contention at seasons end. The winner should end up with the best record in the South but that may not be enough to gain a post-season invite.
Fairview and Legacy could be in the same situation inside the Front Range. They meet in week four and that winner could finish atop the division and receive playoff consideration. The second place club may be left out of the eight team bracket. Fairview right now is the eighth team in our post-season projections.
Castle View is another club to keep an eye on. They missed week one due to quarantine but opened their season by downing ThunderRidge. But the Sabercats may have to get past Valor Christian in week four to gain enough consideration to make the bracket.
- Cherry Creek
- Columbine
- Eaglecrest
- Fairview
- Grandview
- Pomona
- Ralston Valley
- Valor Christian
