2A League Breakdown and Playoff Predictions

2A League Breakdown

Colorado

This League is all wrapped up and congrats to Kent Denver for winning the league title. They grab the League title and an automatic home game in the first round. They are also fighting with Brush for the #1 overall seed. They play Alameda who is fighting for a wild card berth and looking for a signature victory. Alameda will have a very tough task ahead of them but a loss could essentially knock them out. They are sitting at 16 in wild card points and only .375 ahead of Sheridan. Currently though 16^th in wild card points is not enough to get in. A win will give them a huge boost in victory points, which could jump them up to catch the last team in. Manual is also fighting for a wild card berth and sitting in 15^th place. They cannot afford to lose to Machebeuf. Second place is also wrapped up and that goes to Faith Christian who clinch’s the second automatic berth. I will get more in depth on the playoff picture at the very end.

Alameda vs Kent Denver Machebeuf vs Manual

Denver West vs Faith Christian Denver North vs Ridgeview Academy

Frontier

Congrats to Strasburg on wrapping up the League title by beating Bennett last week. That win clinch’s the home playoff game in the first round. Strasburg is undefeated and also in the Running for a 1, 2, or 3 playoff seed. More than likely will be a 3 seed. Second place goes to Bennett who gets the other automatic berth. The only other team trying to get into the playoffs is Sheridan who is sitting in 17^th place with 55 points. The only nice thing for Sheridan is they play undefeated Strasburg. A win would give them a huge boost in points, but I believe it is too little too late from them to get into the playoffs and don’t think they can get into the playoffs.

Middle Park vs Jefferson Sheridan vs Strasburg

Bennett vs KIPP Collegiate Pinnacle vs Academy

Patriot

Brush locked up the league title by beating Sterling. If Brush can win this weekend they would more than likely lock up the #1 overall seed. Brush does not get an easy game to wrap up the final the regular season they play Eaton who is fighting for a wild card spot. Eaton is in 13^th place and 3 points ahead of Manual who is also fighting for a wild card berth. Eaton can only finish in 4^th place due to head to head against Sterling and Platte Valley, Eaton regardless of the game should get into the playoffs if my math is correct. The big game this week is between Platte Valley and Sterling. The winner will get the automatic berth and the loser will be waiting for the call to see if they get a wild card berth. More than likely both will get in but the automatic berth would be much better than being nervous waiting for the call. Platte Valley sits 7^th and Sterling sits 8^th. I believe Platte Valley will be the favorite to win the game, Platte Valley had a close game vs Brush and Sterling was blown out. Still games are not played on paper and anything can happen. If Sterling wants to pull the upset they will need their Defense to return to their ways. Sterling offense also went cold not meeting there average in either rushing or passing. They were somewhat effective against Brush running for over 120 yds. Platte Valley has not won a game where they have allowed over 20 points. In their 3 losses to all top ranked teams they gave up over 20 and lost. If Platte Valley Defense gets going this could be a long game for Sterling.

Platte Valley vs Sterling University vs Valley

Brush vs Eaton

Tri-Peaks

Lamar locked up the league title by beating La Junta and also the home game in the first round. La Junta also clinch’s second due to head to head over the 3^rd place teams. The big game from last week was St. Mary’s win over Florence. That win more than likely propelled St. Mary’s into the playoffs. Florence is now sitting in 12^th place and only 4 points ahead of Manual, but should still be far enough ahead to get into the playoffs. Lamar will be favored to win and with the win should either get the 4 or 5 seed. I will go into more depth on the playoffs at the end of the article.

Florence vs Lamar Manitou Springs vs St. Mary’s

La Junta vs Trinidad

Western Slope North

This league is still very much up in the air. The league only gets one automatic berth. The race is down to two teams basically, Aspen and Coal Ridge. There can possibly be a third team but Moffat County would need both Aspen and Coal Ridge to lose this weekend (head to head losses to both) and Moffat County would also need to win. Only one team is going to get into the playoffs from this league in 2A. Battle Mountain is fighting for a playoff spot in 3A. Coal Ridge plays Battle Mountain and will not be favored to win. Aspen plays Basalt and will be favored to win. If Coal Ridge loses and Aspen wins then Aspen gets into the playoffs. If Coal Ridge wins, regardless of what Aspen does they clinch due to the fact that Coal Ridge has the head to head over Aspen.

Battle Mountain vs Coal Ridge Aspen vs Basalt

Moffat County vs Roaring Fork

Western Slope South

Gunnison has locked up the league title and home field and is battling for either a 4 or 5 seed. Montezuma-Cortez clinched second and the automatic berth with a tight win over Olathe. Bayfield nearly lost to Alamosa last week but the win is what matters. Bayfield currently sits in 11^th place and with a win this weekend vs Pagosa Springs will get into the playoffs. A loss though and they will be very much on the bubble.

Pagosa Springs vs Bayfield Alamosa vs Montezuma Cortez

Gunnison vs Olathe

Playoff Picture Predictions and Seeding.

A lot is still on the line for some of the wild card teams. I will also post my predictions for Playoff seeds.

Automatic Berths: Kent Denver, Faith Christian, Strasburg, Bennett, Brush, Lamar, La Junta, Gunnison, and Montezuma-Cortez.

There are still Two Automatic Qualifiers to be decided and that would be between Platte Valley and Sterling and Aspen and Coal Ridge. I believe Platte Valley and Aspen will get the Automatic bids.

Wild Card Berths Predictions:

I fully believe regardless of the outcome Platte Valley or Sterling will get in. So there is 1 of the 5 wild card berths the winner gets the automatic berth. The final four wild card berths are basically all wrapped up if my math is correct. The 4 teams that I believe have already locked up berths are St. Mary’s, Bayfield, Florence, and Eaton. I believe if my math is correct Manual and Alameda even with wins this weekend will not end up with enough points I will explain more. St. Mary’s is currently in 10^th and they have an easier match this weekend vs Manitou Springs. So they will grab 1 of the 4 wild card berths. That leave 3 spots left. I did the math to guess the final wild card points of these teams, there is some guessing involved of other team’s final records. Florence and Eaton I believe are in even with a loss there final scores with losses would be Florence with approx. 61.667 points and Eaton with approx. 62 points. That leaves 1 playoff spot left. Bayfield has Rival Pagosa this weekend and should win, but nothing is a given in that rivalry game. Bayfield sits in 11^th place and with the win would give them 72 victory points and the playoff berth in. A lose though and things get really interesting. A loss would give Bayfield approx. 59.111 points. (Of course there is a lot of guessing on how things turn out) This is the only scenario that gives Manual and Alameda a chance at the playoffs. Manual has an easier game of the two. They should get the win which would give them approx. 59.556 points. If Bayfield losses that puts Manual into the playoffs. Alameda on the other hand has a huge game against Kent Denver. If Alameda can pull the upset they will end up with approx. 59.667, which would then jump Manual and Bayfield in points, if Bayfield losses of course. Like I said though, if Bayfield wins we have are field of 16.

Playoff Seeds

Here is my predictions for the First Round of the Playoffs.

1. Brush

Vs.

16. Aspen

8. Faith Christian

Vs.

9. Sterling

5. Lamar

Vs.

12. Eaton

6. Platte Valley