Wyoming football playoff scenarios entering Week 8

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Here is a PRELIMINARY look at potential playoff scenarios entering Week 8.

(Monday update: Class 3A West has been updated to reflect my mistake: Worland is not out of the running yet. // Saturday updates: Class 4A, Class 2A West and Class 1A six-man updates are complete!)

The Week 8 schedule is here.

Class 4A
Gillette: In. No. 1 seed with victory. No. 2 seed with loss.
Cheyenne East: In. No. 1 seed with victory. No. 2 seed with loss and Sheridan loss. No. 3 seed with loss and Sheridan victory.
Sheridan: In. No. 2 seed with victory and East loss. No. 3 seed with victory and East victory. No. 3 seed with loss and Kelly Walsh victory. No. 3 seed with loss, Kelly Walsh loss and Natrona loss. No. 4 seed with loss, Kelly Walsh loss and Natrona victory.
Kelly Walsh: In. No. 4 seed with victory. No. 4 seed with loss and Natrona loss. No. 5 seed with loss and Natrona victory.
Natrona: In. No. 3 seed with victory, Sheridan loss and Kelly Walsh loss. No. 4 seed with victory, Sheridan victory and Kelly Walsh loss. No. 5 seed with victory and Kelly Walsh victory. No. 5 seed with loss.
Cheyenne Central: In. No. 6 seed with victory. No. 7 seed with loss.
Evanston: Neither in nor out. No. 6 seed with victory. Potential for 7 seed, 8 seed or out with loss.
Laramie: Neither in nor out. No. 7 seed with victory and Evanston loss. No. 8 seed with Evanston victory. No. 8 seed with loss and Rock Springs loss. Out with loss, Central loss and Rock Springs victory.
Rock Springs: Neither in nor out. Potential for 7 seed, 8 seed or out with victory. Out with loss. Out with Evanston victory.
Cheyenne South: Neither in nor out. No. 7 seed with victory, Laramie and Evanston losses and Rock Springs victory. No. 8 seed with victory, Laramie victory, Rock Springs victory and Central victory. Out with Evanston victory.
Note: In all cases where Evanston beats Central, Evanston will be No. 6, Central will be No. 7 and Laramie will be No. 8. Here are the seedings if Central beats Evanston:

Central Beats Evanston CC Eva Lar RS CS
South W, Lar W, RS W 6 out 7 out 8
South W, Lar W, RS L 6 8 7 out out
South W, Lar L, RS W 6 out out 8 7
South L, Lar W, RS W 6 out 7 8 out
South L, Lar L, RS W 6 8 out 7 out
South L, Lar W, RS L 6 8 7 out out
South W, Lar L, RS L 6 7 8 out out
South L, Lar L, RS L 6 7 8 out out

Class 3A East
Douglas: In. No. 1 seed.
Riverton: In. No. 2 seed with victory. No. 3 seed with loss.
Lander: In. No. 2 seed with victory. No. 3 seed with loss.
Torrington: In. No. 4 seed.
Rawlins, Buffalo: Out.

Class 3A West (updated 10-21)
Powell: In. No. 1 seed.
Star Valley: In. No. 2 seed with victory. No. 3 seed with loss and Cody loss. Tie for 2-3-4 spots (and coin flip to break) with loss and Cody victory.
Jackson: Neither in nor out. No. 2 seed with victory and Cody loss. Tie for 2-3-4 spots (and coin flip to break) with victory and Cody victory. No. 4 seed with loss and Cody victory. Tie for 3-4-5 spots (and playoff to break) with loss and Cody loss.
Cody: Neither in nor out. No. 3 seed with victory and Star Valley victory. Tie for 2-3-4 spots (and coin flip to break) with victory and Star Valley loss. Tie for 3-4-5- spots (and playoff to break) with loss and Star Valley victory. Eliminated with loss and Star Valley loss.
Worland: Neither in nor out. No. 4 seed with victory and Jackson victory. Tie for 3-4-5 spots (and playoff to break) with victory and Jackson loss. Eliminated with loss.
Green River: Out.

Class 2A East
Burns: In. No. 1 seed.
Big Horn: In. No. 2 seed.
Wheatland: In. No. 3 seed with victory. No. 4 seed with loss.
Newcastle: In. No. 3 seed with victory. No. 4 seed with loss.
Glenrock, Tongue River, Moorcroft, Wright: Out.

Class 2A West
Lovell: In. No. 1 seed.
Mountain View: In. No. 2 seed with victory or Lyman loss. No. 3 seed with loss and Lyman victory.
Thermopolis: Neither in nor out. No. 4 seed with victory and Lyman victory. Three-way playoff participant with victory and Greybull victory. Eliminated with loss.
Lyman: Neither in nor out. No. 2 seed with victory and Mountain View loss. No. 3 seed with victory and Mountain View victory. No. 4 seed with loss and Thermopolis loss. Three-way playoff participant with loss and Thermopolis victory.
Greybull: Neither in nor out. No. 3 seed with victory and Thermopolis loss. Three-way playoff participant with victory and Thermopolis victory. Eliminated with loss.
Big Piney: Neither in nor out. No. 4 seed with victory, Pinedale victory and Lyman victory only. Eliminated in all other scenarios.
Pinedale: Neither in nor out. No. 4 seed with victory, Lovell victory and Lyman victory only. Eliminated in all other scenarios.
Kemmerer: Out.

Lyman beats Greybull Lym MV The Gre BP Pin
BP W, MV W, The W 3 2 4 out out out
BP W, MV W, The L 3 2 out out 4 out
BP W, MV L, The W 2 3 4 out out out
BP L, MV W, The W 3 2 4 out out out
BP W, MV L, The L 2 3 out out 4 out
BP L, MV W, The L 3 2 out out out 4
BP L, MV L, The W 2 3 4 out out out
BP L, MV L, The L 2 3 out out out 4
Greybull beats Lyman
BP W, MV W, The W 345 2 345 345 out out
BP W, MV W, The L 4 2 out 3 out out
BP W, MV L, The W 345 2 345 345 out out
BP L, MV W, The W 345 2 345 345 out out
BP W, MV L, The L 4 2 out 3 out out
BP L, MV W, The L 4 2 out 3 out out
BP L, MV L, The W 345 2 345 345 out out
BP L, MV L, The L 4 2 out 3 out out

Class 1A 11-man East
Lusk: In. No. 1 seed.
Southeast: In. No. 2 seed with victory. No. 3 seed with loss.
Lingle: In. No. 2 seed with victory. No. 3 seed with loss.
Upton-Sundance: Neither in nor out. No. 4 seed with victory. Out with loss.
Pine Bluffs: Neither in nor out. No. 4 seed with victory. Out with loss.

Class 1A 11-man West
Cokeville: In. No. 1 seed.
Rocky Mountain: In. No. 2 seed.
Shoshoni: Neither in nor out. No. 3 seed with victory and Riverside loss. No. 4 seed with Riverside victory. Tie for 3-4-5 spots (and playoff to break) with loss and Riverside loss.
Riverside: Neither in nor out. No. 3 seed with victory. Tie for 3-4-5 spots (and playoff to break) with loss and Shoshoni loss. Out with loss and Shoshoni victory.
Burlington: Neither in nor out. No. 4 seed with victory and Shoshoni victory. Tie for 3-4-5 spots (and playoff to break) with victory and Shoshoni loss. Out with loss.
Wind River: Out.

Class 1A six-man East
Midwest: In. No. 1 seed.
Kaycee: In. No. 2 seed with victory. No. 3 seed with loss and Hulett loss. No. 4 seed with loss and Hulett victory.
Guernsey-Sunrise: In. No. 2 seed with victory. No. 3 seed with loss and Hulett loss. No. 4 seed with loss and Hulett victory.
Hulett: Neither in nor out. No. 3 seed with victory. Out with loss.
Saratoga: Neither in nor out. No. 4 seed with victory and Hulett loss. Out with loss or Hulett victory.
Hanna: Neither in nor out. No. 4 seed with victory and Hulett loss. Out with loss or Hulett victory.
NSI: Out.

Class 1A six-man West
Meeteetse: In. No. 1 seed.
Dubois: In. No. 2 seed.
Snake River: In. No. 3 seed with victory or Farson loss. No. 4 seed with loss and Farson victory.
Farson: In. No. 3 seed with victory and Snake River loss. No. 4 seed with loss or Snake River victory.
Wyoming Indian, Ten Sleep, St. Stephens: Out.

–patrick

Week 7 picks: Don’t count out Southeast

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Normally, Week 8 provides Wyoming football fans with the most postseason drama.

This year, though, we’ll get a lot more questions answered in Week 7.

We enter the weekend with the possibility that EVERY conference championship could be decided by the end of Friday’s games.

One conference champion has already been decided, as Lovell wrapped up the 2A West title last week with a victory and some help.

Of the remaining eight conferences, six of them can be won on Friday with nothing more than a victory. Two other conference titles can be wrapped up with the right set of circumstances.

Here’s how the conference title races break down:

4A: Gillette can win the conference title with a victory and a Cheyenne East loss.

3A East: Douglas can win the conference title with a victory; Riverton can with the title with a victory and a Lander loss.

3A West: Powell can win the conference title with a victory.

2A East: Burns can win the conference title with a victory.

2A West: Lovell has already won the conference title.

1A 11-man East: Lusk can win the conference title with a victory; Southeast can win the title with a victory and a Lingle loss.

1A 11-man West: Cokeville can with the conference title with a victory and a Shoshoni loss.

1A six-man East: Midwest can win the title with a victory.

1A six-man West: Meeteetse can win the title with a victory.

+++

Of course, all the teams highlighted here play in important games this week. Of these, though, one game keeps drawing my attention: Lusk at Southeast. This should not be a surprise to anyone… These two programs have been among the most consistent, successful programs in the state the past few years, and they played each other for the state title last season.

This year, Lusk is undefeated, coming in 6-0. And Southeast is 3-3, in danger of its first losing season since 1996.

Anyone who claims Southeast is out of the running, though, has a memory that’s much too short for my liking. All we have to do is look back to last year.

Lusk, if you’ll remember, was undefeated until losing to Southeast in the title game, while Southeast struggled to a 5-3 regular season (6-2, but with a forfeit) before catching fire in the playoffs. Remember, Lusk beat Southeast in the regular season last year, too.

Oddly enough, the 2013 season is shaping up a lot like 2012 for these two teams. Lusk’s still unbeaten; Southeast has some losses.

But to doubt Southeast is to reject every historical precedent we’ve seen.

Despite the 3-3 record, I still have the Cyclones ranked third in my Class 1A 11-man poll (behind my No. 1 Cokeville and my No. 2 Lusk). Southeast’s losses are to Burns, Cokeville and the Natrona sophomores; the Cyclones’ victories are against struggling Pine Bluffs and Wind River, but also 21-6 against an Upton-Sundance squad that I think is one of the best in the classification this year.

The Cyclones have made it to the state title game six of the past seven years. Even with the losses, and even with a .500 record — and even if the Cyclones lose to Lusk on Friday — it’s silly to count out the blue and white.

A victory against Lusk would all but give Southeast the conference crown and home-field advantage in the playoffs (although Lingle still has something to say about that).

Lusk, though, is the favorite, and I’m picking the Tigers to win. Lusk has notched five shutouts in a row entering Friday’s game. The Tigers’ demonstrated prowess on both sides of the ball should have them in great position to reach Laramie for the third time in four years.

The easy pick (and, let’s admit it, my pick) for the 1A 11-man title game is Lusk-Cokeville. The only problem with that pick is that Southeast will make the playoffs. And you never count out Southeast.

Ever.

+++

Best of the rest: All of the games involving potential conference championship clinchers are on my radar, obviously: Cody-Powell, Douglas-Riverton, Wheatland-Burns, Burlington-Cokeville, Kaycee-Midwest, Meeteetse-St. Stephens. On paper, most of them look like lopsided matchups. If more than two of these are close games, I’ll be happy. … The Wheatland-Burns game lost some of its luster when the Bulldogs lost last week, but this one can still be memorable; it means just as much in the conference championship race as we figured it might a week ago at this time. … Cheyenne South’s best chance to break its losing streak may come Friday at home against Rock Springs. The Bison end the season with a road trip to Sheridan, so it may be now or next year for South to finally pull out a victory. … Torrington hasn’t beaten Buffalo since 1992. That streak may end this week, after 21 years and nine games between them. … The messy 2A West gets even messier this week; two of the three teams tied for second (Mountain View and Thermopolis) play each other in what might be the most important game of the season for both teams. I already fear figuring out the playoff scenarios for that conference next week. … Speaking of messy playoff races, a postseason spot may be on the line Saturday when Saratoga hits the road to face Guernsey. That game has been the toughest of the week to pick. The 1A six-man East Conference has been fun to follow this year; it’ll be interesting to see if that regular-season big-game gamut pays off in the postseason for East squads.

Quick look back at last week: Why isn’t Jackson’s 64-48 victory over Green River getting more attention? I mean, 112 combined points? That’s the most in one 11-man game since 1930 (when Cheyenne High combined with University Prep for 119 points, as the Indians unceremoniously dumped the Buckaroos 113-6). And it’s tied for the fifth-most EVER in state history in an 11-man game. Has six-man desensitized us to basketball-worthy scores? Anyway…

On to the Week 7 picks. Teams I think will win are in bold, because if I underlined them you’d try to click on them.

Friday
Class 4A
Cheyenne Central at Kelly Walsh
Evanston at Cheyenne East
Laramie at Gillette
Natrona at Sheridan
Rock Springs at Cheyenne South
Class 3A
Cody at Powell
Douglas at Riverton
Green River at Star Valley
Jackson at Worland
Lander at Rawlins
Torrington at Buffalo
Class 2A
Big Piney at Greybull
Glenrock at Wright
Kemmerer at Lovell
Lyman at Pinedale
Moorcroft at Big Horn
Mountain View at Thermopolis
Tongue River at Newcastle
Wheatland at Burns
Class 1A 11-man
Burlington at Cokeville
Lingle at Upton-Sundance (at Upton)
Lusk at Southeast
Rocky Mountain at Shoshoni
Wind River at Riverside
Class 1A six-man
Hulett at Hanna
Kaycee at Midwest
Meeteetse at St. Stephens
Wyoming Indian at Farson
Saturday
Class 1A six-man
Dubois at Snake River
Saratoga at Guernsey-Sunrise
Ten Sleep at Normative Services
Interclass
Natrona sophs at Pine Bluffs

For a full schedule including kick times, check out the 2013 schedule and results page.

Last week: 24-8 (75 percent). This season: 166-38 (81 percent).

So… You know how we do this by now. You disagree with my picks and tell me why I’m wrong, I soberly nod in agreement, everybody happy! Do your part in this interaction and comment below.

–patrick

NEW dream Wyoming high school football schedule for 2014

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Since I wrote this post back in May, we’ve learned some new facts about Wyoming’s high school football landscape for 2014 and 2015.

We learned Moorcroft and Tongue River were moving to 1A 11-man. We learned Wyoming Indian and Saratoga were leaving six-man for 11-man. We learned Upton and Sundance are going to keep their co-op. We learned Lingle and Cokeville, despite having six-man enrollments, were going to play 11-man football. And we learned conference alignments.

So I knew I had to build a new dream schedule to fit the new conference alignments to update the one I made in May.

The schedule, though, couldn’t be just a nonconference schedule. The schedule had to be a full-on, eight-week, complete schedule, with home and road dates. Building the schedule any other way would leave it full of holes and bye weeks I couldn’t otherwise fix.

I built schedules as much as I could like the WHSAA, meaning I considered geography and competitive equity as much as I could in my decisions. I also did everything in my power to avoid schedules that would give teams either three consecutive home games or three consecutive road games. But I didn’t deal with some things the WHSAA does (see the end of this post for more on that).

Below, you’ll also see something called a JOB week. JOB stands for junior-varsity, out-of-state or bye week. Maybe it’s also my subconscious telling schools they got “jobbed” by me that week for leaving it open… Either way, that week is open for one of those three options: a junior-varsity vs. varsity game, an out-of-state game or a bye. I’ve tried to give most JOB weeks at the 11-man level to schools near state borders to facilitate out-of-state games.

I also didn’t build a 4A schedule. With no changes coming to the big-school division, there is no reason to tear up the schedule that was new this year.

++++++++

Class 3A: I maintained the current conference schedules as much as possible, although I had to change a couple host sites in the West. Otherwise, with the conferences remaining static, the changes came in the nonconference schedule.

3A East
Buffalo: at Cody; vs. Powell; vs. Worland; at Douglas; at Riverton; vs. Lander; at Torrington; vs. Rawlins.
Douglas: at Powell; vs. Worland; at Cody; vs. Buffalo; at Lander; at Rawlins; vs. Riverton; vs. Torrington.
Lander: at Star Valley; vs. Cody; vs. Green River; at Torrington; vs. Douglas; at Buffalo; vs. Rawlins; at Riverton.
Rawlins: at Wheatland; vs. Green River; vs. Jackson; at Riverton; vs. Torrington; vs. Douglas; at Lander; at Buffalo.
Riverton: at Green River; vs. Star Valley; at Powell; vs. Rawlins; vs. Buffalo; at Torrington; at Douglas; vs. Lander.
Torrington: at JOB; at JOB; vs. Wheatland; vs. Lander; at Rawlins; vs. Riverton; vs. Buffalo; at Douglas.

3A West
Cody: vs. Buffalo; at Lander; vs. Douglas; at Green River; vs. Jackson; at Star Valley; vs. Powell; at Worland.
Green River: vs. Riverton; at Rawlins; at Lander; vs. Cody; at Worland; vs. Jackson; vs. Star Valley; at Powell.
Jackson: vs. JOB; at Pinedale; at Rawlins; vs. Powell; at Cody; at Green River; vs. Worland; vs. Star Valley.
Powell: vs. Douglas; at Buffalo; vs. Riverton; at Jackson; at Star Valley; vs. Worland; at Cody; vs. Green River.
Star Valley: vs. Lander; at Riverton; vs. JOB; at Worland; vs. Powell; vs. Cody; at Green River; at Jackson.
Worland: vs. Thermopolis; at Douglas; at Buffalo; vs. Star Valley; vs. Green River; at Powell; at Jackson; vs. Cody.

++++++++

Class 2A: The big scheduling challenge with an odd number of teams came here. Basically, I had three teams every week with byes — one from each 2A conference and one from the 1A 11-man East. I tried to develop a schedule that would allow two of those three teams to play each other, leaving only one team with a JOB week. So what you see in the 2A schedules are Week 1 nonconference games, with the second nonconference game coming at a different week for every team in the conference.

The 2A East, which had 2A West and 1A 11-man East schools to choose from, didn’t end up with any JOB weeks.

I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to looking at who hosted who in 2013; some teams may make the same road trips in 2014 that they did/will this year. However, no schools are making trips for a third consecutive year, near as I can tell…

2A East
Big Horn: at Tongue River; vs. Burns; vs. Glenrock; at Newcastle; at Thermopolis; vs. Wheatland; at Wright; vs. Moorcroft.
Burns: vs. Southeast; at Big Horn; vs. Newcastle; at Glenrock; at Wheatland; vs. Thermopolis; at Lusk; vs. Wright.
Glenrock: at Lyman; vs. Newcastle; at Big Horn; vs. Burns; at Wright; vs. Kemmerer; at Thermopolis; vs. Wheatland.
Newcastle: vs. Lusk; at Glenrock; at Burns; vs. Big Horn; at Lovell; vs. Wright; at Wheatland; vs. Thermopolis.
Thermopolis: at Worland; vs. Wheatland; at Wright; vs. Lyman; vs. Big Horn; at Burns; vs. Glenrock; at Newcastle.
Wheatland: vs. Rawlins; at Thermopolis; at Torrington; vs. Wright; vs. Burns; at Big Horn; vs. Newcastle; at Glenrock.
Wright: at Moorcroft; vs. Upton-Sundance; vs. Thermopolis; at Wheatland; vs. Glenrock; at Newcastle; vs. Big Horn; at Burns.

2A West
Big Piney: vs. Wyoming Indian; at Mountain View; vs. Kemmerer; at Lovell; at Lyman; vs. Greybull; vs. Pinedale; at JOB.
Greybull: at Riverside; vs. Lyman; vs. Tongue River; at Pinedale; vs. Mountain View; at Big Piney; vs. Lovell; at Kemmerer.
Kemmerer: vs. Wind River; at Lovell; at Big Piney; vs. Mountain View; vs. Pinedale; at Glenrock; at Lyman; vs. Greybull.
Lovell: at Rocky Mountain; vs. Kemmerer; at Mountain View; vs. Big Piney; vs. Newcastle; at Pinedale; at Greybull; vs. Lyman.
Lyman: vs. Glenrock; at Greybull; vs. Pinedale; at Thermopolis; vs. Big Piney; at Mountain View; vs. Kemmerer; at Lovell.
Mountain View: at Cokeville; vs. Big Piney; vs. Lovell; at Kemmerer; at Greybull; vs. Lyman; vs. JOB; at Pinedale.
Pinedale: at Shoshoni; vs. Jackson; at Lyman; vs. Greybull; at Kemmerer; vs. Lovell; at Big Piney; vs. Mountain View.

++++++++

Class 1A 11-man: With unbalanced conferences — seven teams in the East, eight in the West — the goal was to do what I could to help out the teams in the East with their nonconference schedules. Some help will be needed from Nebraska, as most of the JOB weeks come for southeast corner schools, and Lingle ended up with a pair of JOB weeks. I considered a Week 6 swap that would have had Lingle playing Glenrock and Kemmerer playing a JOB week, but I couldn’t make the home/road balance work.

Just like I did in 2A, I didn’t consider who hosted who in 2013. But I did consider who hosted in 2012 and 2013 and tried to avoid instances of teams making the same road trip for the third consecutive year. I’m pretty sure I avoided all of those.

1A 11-man East
Lingle: at JOB; vs. Pine Bluffs; vs. Moorcroft; at Lusk; at Upton-Sundance; vs. JOB; at Southeast; vs. Tongue River.
Lusk: at Newcastle; at Moorcroft; vs. Pine Bluffs; vs. Lingle; at Tongue River; at Southeast; vs. Burns; vs. Upton-Sundance.
Moorcroft: vs. Wright; vs. Lusk; at Lingle; at Pine Bluffs; vs. Southeast; vs. Tongue River; at Upton-Sundance; at Big Horn.
Pine Bluffs: vs. Saratoga; at Lingle; at Lusk; vs. Moorcroft; at JOB; vs. Upton-Sundance; at Tongue River; vs. Southeast.
Southeast: at Burns; vs. Tongue River; at Upton-Sundance; vs. JOB; at Moorcroft; vs. Lusk; vs. Lingle; at Pine Bluffs.
Tongue River: vs. Big Horn; at Southeast; at Greybull; vs. Upton-Sundance; vs. Lusk; at Moorcroft; vs. Pine Bluffs; at Lingle.
Upton-Sundance: vs. Burlington; at Wright; vs. Southeast; at Tongue River; vs. Lingle; at Pine Bluffs; vs. Moorcroft; at Lusk.

1A 11-man West
Burlington: at Upton-Sundance; vs. Cokeville; at Riverside; vs. Shoshoni; vs. Wind River; at Saratoga; at Wyoming Indian; vs. Rocky Mountain.
Cokeville: vs. Mountain View; at Burlington; vs. Rocky Mountain; at Saratoga; vs. Wyoming Indian; at Shoshoni; vs. Wind River; at Riverside.
Riverside: vs. Greybull; at Rocky Mountain; vs. Burlington; at Wyoming Indian; vs. Saratoga; at Wind River; at Shoshoni; vs. Cokeville.
Rocky Mountain: vs. Lovell; vs. Riverside; at Cokeville; at Wind River; vs. Shoshoni; vs. Wyoming Indian; at Saratoga; at Burlington.
Saratoga: at Pine Bluffs; vs. Shoshoni; at Wind River; vs. Cokeville; at Riverside; vs. Burlington; vs. Rocky Mountain; at Wyoming Indian.
Shoshoni: vs. Pinedale; at Saratoga; vs. Wyoming Indian; at Burlington; at Rocky Mountain; vs. Cokeville; vs. Riverside; at Wind River.
Wind River: at Kemmerer; at Wyoming Indian; vs. Saratoga; vs. Rocky Mountain; at Burlington; vs. Riverside; at Cokeville; vs. Shoshoni.
Wyoming Indian: at Big Piney; vs. Wind River; at Shoshoni; vs. Riverside; at Cokeville; at Rocky Mountain; vs. Burlington; vs. Saratoga.

++++++++

Class 1A six-man: With 13 programs, one school has a JOB week every week. With a seven-six split, I tried to schedule the one open East team against one of the open West teams each week. The one week all the West schools played each other, the leftover East team (in this case, Midwest) got the JOB week.

This schedule also was not built to avoid two-year repeat trips, but it was built to avoid three-year repeats. Potential for several of those existed in six-man, and the schedule was built with those games as primary concerns.

1A six-man East
Guernsey-Sunrise: at JOB; vs. Hulett; at Kaycee; vs. Meeteetse; vs. Rock River; at NSI; vs. Midwest; at Hanna.
Hanna: at Snake River; vs. Kaycee; at Hulett; at Rock River; vs. Farson; at Midwest; vs. NSI; vs. Guernsey-Sunrise.
Hulett: at Ten Sleep; at Guernsey-Sunrise; vs. Hanna; vs. NSI; at Midwest; vs. Dubois; vs. Rock River; at Kaycee.
Kaycee: at Meeteetse; at Hanna; vs. Guernsey-Sunrise; vs. Midwest; at NSI; at Rock River; vs. St. Stephens; vs. Hulett.
Midwest: at Dubois; vs. Rock River; vs. JOB; at Kaycee; vs. Hulett; vs. Hanna; at Guernsey-Sunrise; at NSI.
NSI: at St. Stephens; vs. Snake River; at Rock River; at Hulett; vs. Kaycee; vs. Guernsey-Sunrise; at Hanna; vs. Midwest.
Rock River: at Farson; at Midwest; vs. NSI; vs. Hanna; at Guernsey-Sunrise; vs. Kaycee; at Hulett; vs. Ten Sleep.

1A six-man West
Dubois: vs. Midwest; at Meeteetse; vs. Farson; at Ten Sleep; vs. JOB; at Hulett; vs. Snake River; at St. Stephens.
Farson: vs. Rock River; at St. Stephens; at Dubois; vs. JOB; at Hanna; at Snake River; vs. Ten Sleep; vs. Meeteetse.
Meeteetse: vs. Kaycee; vs. Dubois; at St. Stephens; at Guernsey-Sunrise; vs. Snake River; at Ten Sleep; vs. JOB; at Farson.
St. Stephens: vs. NSI; at Farson; vs. Meeteetse; at Snake River; vs. Ten Sleep; at JOB; at Kaycee; vs. Dubois.
Snake River: vs. Hanna; at NSI; vs. Ten Sleep; vs. St. Stephens; at Meeteetse; vs. Farson; at Dubois; at JOB.
Ten Sleep: vs. Hulett; vs. JOB; at Snake River; vs. Dubois; at St. Stephens; vs. Meeteetse; at Farson; at Rock River.

So…. what do you think? Would this work? What do you want to see with your school’s schedule when the WHSAA releases the new one in November?

FWIW, going through this process makes you understand much more clearly what the WHSAA has to go through. I didn’t have to deal with out-of-state schedules — the WHSAA can’t just say JOB week, they actually have to go find someone for that school to play that week, which is easier said than done — and I also didn’t have to field any requests from schools like the WHSAA does. What the WHSAA has to do to piece together a schedule is much more difficult than I’ve shown here. I’m always excited to see what the schedule looks like, and this November — with all the changes to the classifications — will be especially interesting.

–patrick

Wyoming Shrine Bowl raises $20,000 for Shrine Hospitals

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The 2013 Wyoming Shrine Bowl all-star football game raised $20,000 for Shrine Hospitals this year.

The game, played for the 40th time, helped raise money for 22 Shrine Hospitals across the country that provide care to children with special health care needs, Executive Director John Cundall said in a release.

The 2014 game will be played on June 14 in Casper.

–patrick

Week 6 picks: A love letter to Class 2A

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Normally, by this point in the season, a classification has established its hierarchy — we have a good idea of who’s at the top of the classification, who’s at the bottom and who’s in the middle.

Not in Class 2A this year.

Nine schools have winning records. Not included in that list are Newcastle and Greybull — Newcastle’s in-state losses have come to schools that are a combined 14-1, while Greybull’s losses have come to schools a combined 16-4.

In a classification where simply qualifying for the playoffs is a challenge, every game is critical.

This week, Class 2A has four standout games: Big Horn at Wheatland and Newcastle at Glenrock in the East, and Lyman at Mountain View and Thermopolis at Lovell in the West.

Every single one of those games could be the game that makes or breaks a season. Can former No. 1 Big Horn give streaking Wheatland its first loss? Will Newcastle fall further behind in the East race, or keep pace by beating the suddenly vulnerable Herders? Will Mountain View’s sudden losing streak continue against its Bridger Valley rival? Can Thermopolis come back from its first loss to beat the undefeated Bulldogs?

All four games have huge postseason implications.

The other four games in 2A could turn out to be just as big, too. But that’s what makes the classification a blast to follow this season.

This year’s 2A parity reminds me a lot of one of my favorite seasons: Class 2A in 2007. That year, every playoff game was decided by eight points or fewer, and Riverside won the state championship by winning games by two points, one point and one point.

I expect something similar in the 2A playoffs this year.

Predictability is boring. Class 2A is anything but.

Other things to watch this week: This may be the most unpredictable week of the year. I struggled with several choices. Look for lots of close games this week. … Star Valley-Cody will be interesting to watch. A Cody victory could add fuel to an already heated rivalry next week, but that also means the Broncs need to be careful of looking ahead. The Braves are way too good for anyone to look past. … Speaking of Lincoln County vs. the BHB, how about the long trip Cokeville has to make to Cowley to play Rocky Mountain? The Panthers and Grizzles are part of a three-way logjam atop the 1A 11-man West standings, and this game will help break it up. … I’ve been really impressed with Torrington’s improvement this year. I’m curious to see how the Trailblazers match up against last year’s 3A East champs, Riverton. … The most underrated game of the week might be Wyoming Indian-Snake River. Neither team has proven contender-worthy yet, but both teams are good enough to take seriously come playoff time. … Seems like kind of an off week in 4A, but don’t overlook Sheridan-Central. How will the Broncs bounce back after a tough loss, and can they rebound on the road against a game Indian squad? … Two teams are guaranteed to pick up their first victories of the season, as two games (Wind River-Burlington and Hanna-NSI) feature winless squads facing off against each other.

Here are this week’s picks. Projected winners in bold; projected spoilers in regular type:

Friday
Class 4A
Cheyenne East at Laramie
Cheyenne South at Natrona
Gillette at Rock Springs
Kelly Walsh at Evanston
Sheridan at Cheyenne Central
Class 3A
Buffalo at Lander
Green River at Jackson
Rawlins at Douglas
Star Valley at Cody
Torrington at Riverton
Worland at Powell
Class 2A
Big Horn at Wheatland
Burns at Moorcroft
Newcastle at Glenrock
Lyman at Mountain View
Pinedale at Big Piney
Thermopolis at Lovell
Wright at Tongue River
Class 1A 11-man
Burlington at Wind River
Cokeville at Rocky Mountain
Pine Bluffs at Lingle
Riverside at Shoshoni
Upton-Sundance at Lusk
Class 1A six-man
Guernsey-Sunrise at Midwest
Hulett at Saratoga
St. Stephens at Dubois
Snake River at Wyoming Indian
Ten Sleep at Farson
Saturday
Class 2A
Greybull at Kemmerer
Class 1A six-man
Hanna at Normative Services
Meeteetse at Kaycee
Interclass
Southeast at Natrona sophs

For a full schedule including kick times, check out the 2013 schedule and results page.

Last week: 26-5 (84 percent). This season: 142-30 (83 percent).

Now I call on you. What games draw your interest this week? What picks do you disagree with? Post a comment below and we can talk, and then later this week we can stop the talk and actually play, which is way better.

–patrick

Shutout streaks: Wyoming teams search for the elusive goose egg

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Buffalo’s 52-0 loss to Douglas in Week 4 was the Bison’s first loss by shutout in 117 games.

Prior to the Bearcats’ blowout victory, the last time Buffalo lost with a goose egg on the scoreboard was in 2001.

Buffalo’s scoring streak ended as the second-longest in state history, a record I track on the streaks page. The Bison’s streak is second only to Cokeville’s ongoing streak that dates back to 1998.

However, one of the records I don’t keep track of is the opposite streak: the time in between shutout victories. So I did some checking, and I found that 10 schools haven’t won by shutout in the past four-plus years.

One program — Cheyenne South — has yet to win a game by shutout.

Meanwhile, two six-man programs with big gaps in their history — St. Stephens, which moved to the varsity level this fall, and Farson, which came back at six-man in 2009 — have big gaps since their last shutout, as well. St. Stephens hasn’t won by shutout since 1965 (oddly enough, in their final game in the first go-round as a varsity program, the Eagles won by shutout, defeating Jackson 24-0). Farson hasn’t won by shutout since 1989. Granted, it’s a lot harder to win by shutout in six-man.

Of active programs that have been around without big gaps in their history, the school that has gone the longest without a shutout is Rawlins. The Outlaws won by shutout in the first game of the new millennium, beating Mountain View 14-0 to start an undefeated championship season in 2000. Since then, though, Rawlins has not notched a shutout.

Laramie has a streak nearly as long; the Plainsmen haven’t won by shutout since the first game of the 2001 season, when they beat Cheyenne Central 34-0.

Other schools with long shutout-less streaks include Riverton (2004), Normative Services, Jackson, Torrington and Wyoming Indian (2007), and Green River (2008).

Two programs, Kaycee and Upton-Sundance, notched their first shutout victories in 2013. Kaycee beat NSI 62-0 in Week 3 for its first shutout W, while the Upton-Sundance co-op beat Burlington 31-0 in Week 4 for its first shutout as the Patriots.

Glenrock, a program with a ton of success, broke a fairly long shutout-less streak this year when it beat Moorcroft 40-0 in Week 2 for the Herders’ first shutout since 2008.

The team that’s gone the longest without being involved in a shutout — neither winning by one nor losing by one — is Torrington. The Trailblazers haven’t been involved in a shutout since losing 49-0 to Powell on Sept. 16, 2011.

The active programs who have currently gone the longest without a shutout victory (with programs that have gaps in their existence noted by an asterisk) include:

*St. Stephens (O29/1965)

*Farson (S8/1989)

Rawlins (S1/2000)

Laramie (A24/2001)

Riverton (O15/2004)

NSI (S21/2007)

Jackson (S28/2007)

Torrington (O5/2007)

Wyoming Indian (O20/2007)

Green River (010/2008)

By year

For comparison, here are the number of shutouts per season back to 1993:

2012: 57
2011: 55
2010: 51
2009: 63
2008: 87
2007: 69
2006: 83
2005: 55
2004: 68
2003: 89
2002: 72
2001: 71
2000: 79
1999: 56
1998: 41
1997: 54
1996: 49
1995: 75
1994: 76
1993: 57

I’m not sure what the takeaway is here, other than we’re seeing fewer shutouts now than we have in a while. Through Week 4 this year, we’ve had 33 shutouts… on pace to be the most since 2008.

–patrick

New coach takes over at midseason for Riverside

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Sam Buck has taken over as head coach for Riverside, the Basin Republican-Rustler reported.

Buck took over for Ted Holmstrom prior to the Rebels’ loss to Lusk last week.

Holmstrom had previously coached at Laramie and Lyman. He was in his first year with the Rebels.

Wyopreps.com reported the change. Riverside AD Shane Schaffner told Wyopreps he could not share the reason why Holmstrom was no longer the coach. A story in the Lusk Herald about the game hinted Holmstrom was fired.

Riverside plays at Cokeville this week.

–patrick

Wyoming’s Week 5 kickoff time changes

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Update: 12:24 p.m. Monday

Hanna and Snake River have canceled their game.

Update: 5:51 p.m. Sunday

Wheatland-Moorcroft moved up to 1:30 p.m. Monday. Midwest-Hulett game moved to Moorcroft and will play after the Wheatland-Moorcroft game is complete.

Tongue River-Burns will not be played. Burns will be given a forfeit victory.

Update: 11:47 a.m. Saturday

The Oil Bowl between Natrona and Kelly Walsh has been moved back an hour to 2 p.m. Saturday.

Update: 11:24 a.m. Saturday

The Riverside-Cokeville game will officially be recorded as a forfeit victory for Cokeville.

Update: 10:28 a.m. Saturday

Friday’s game between Riverside and Cokeville will not be made up.

Update: 10:01 a.m. Saturday

The Energy Bowl between Gillette and Sheridan has been moved from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.

Tongue River and Burns have moved their game to 4 p.m. Monday.

Update: 9:15 a.m. Saturday

The Big Horn-Glenrock game has been rescheduled for 6 p.m. Monday.

Update: 9:02 a.m. Saturday

Kickoff for the Tongue River-Burns game in Burns has been moved to 6 p.m.

The kickoff for the Big Horn-Glenrock game may be pushed back to later today — perhaps 3 or 4 p.m. Watch here for updates.

Update: 8 a.m. Saturday

The Wheatland-Moorcroft game has been moved to 2 p.m. Monday.

The NSI-Guernsey game has been rescheduled for 1 p.m. Monday.

Update: 7:42 a.m. Saturday

Midwest at Hulett has been moved to 4 p.m. Monday.

Update: 8:26 p.m. Friday

Newcastle and Wright have moved their game to 6 p.m. Monday.

The Lusk-Pine Bluffs game has been rescheduled for 2:30 p.m. Monday.

Powell and Star Valley will play at 2 p.m Saturday.

Update: 6:32 p.m. Friday

The Snake River at Hanna game has been moved to 3 p.m. Monday.

Update: 2:47 p.m. Friday

Rocky Mountain and Burlington will play at 1 p.m. Saturday in Burlington.

Update: 2:06 p.m. Friday

The Wyoming Indian-Meeteetse game has moved the kickoff up two hours to 5 p.m., still on Friday.

Upton-Sundance at Southeast has been moved to 2 p.m. Monday.

Update: 1:49 p.m. Friday

The Greybull-Lovell kickoff time has been moved up to 6 p.m., still on Friday.

Update: 11:10 a.m. Friday

The Laramie-Cheyenne South game will move its kickoff up one hour, to 6 p.m. Friday.

Update: 10:52 a.m. Friday

The Newcastle-Wright game will be played at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Update: 10:23 a.m. Friday

Kaycee at Saratoga has been rescheduled for 4 p.m. Monday.

Update: 9:58 a.m. Friday

Worland at Green River has been set for 3 p.m. Saturday.

Lander at Douglas will be played at 2 p.m. Saturday.

The Energy Bowl between Gillette and Sheridan has been scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday.

Rawlins at Torrington has been moved to 4 p.m. Monday.

Update: 8:42 a.m. Friday

Wheatland at Moorcroft football has been rescheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday.

Update: 8:38 a.m. Friday

Rawlins at Torrington has been tentatively rescheduled for 3:30 p.m. Saturday. The game will be played Monday if this time can’t be met.

The Tongue River-Burns game has been pushed back to Saturday; it will be made up at noon.

Update: 8:16 a.m. Friday

Riverton at Buffalo has been rescheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday.

Update: 8:08 a.m. Friday

Rawlins at Torrington has been postponed; no make-up set.

The Energy Bowl between Gillette and Sheridan has been postponed; it’s rescheduled for Saturday, time TBD.

Update: 7:57 a.m. Friday

The Lusk at Pine Bluffs game has been moved to 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

Updates: 7:45 a.m. Friday

Powell at Star Valley has been postponed until Saturday; game time TBD.

The Energy Bowl between Gillette and Sheridan has been postponed; no make-up set yet.

The Newcastle-Wright game has been postponed; no make up set yet.

The Tongue River-Burns game has been pushed back to Saturday; it will be made up at either noon or 1 p.m., according to the Sheridan Press.

Updates: Thursday

The Newcastle at Wright game has been moved to 6 p.m.; it’s still on Friday.

The Big Horn at Glenrock game has been moved to 2 p.m. Saturday.

The Oil Bowl game between Kelly Walsh and Natrona has been moved to 1 p.m. Saturday.

The Upton-Sundance at Southeast game has been rescheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday.

If you know of more games that have been moved, post a comment below or tweet @wyomingfootball. Thanks!

–patrick

Week 5 picks: Why neither Gillette nor Sheridan wants to host the Energy Bowl

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Only two undefeated teams remain in Class 4A football.

They play each other on Friday.

The stakes are bigger than just staying undefeated. Then again, the Energy Bowl always has been more than just another game on the schedule.

When Gillette and Sheridan face off at Camel Stadium on Friday night, the two teams will pick up a rivalry that’s been going strong every year since 1970.

Together, the two Northeast corner rivals have won nearly half of the big-school championships in the past two-plus decades (11 of 23). Of those, Sheridan has seven; Gillette has four.

Often, one team has had to go through the other to find postseason success. Especially the past two years, the rivalry has been accentuated. Gillette and Sheridan have played each other in the state semifinals each of the past two years. In each case, the team that won the Energy Bowl won the playoff rematch.

While the series’ stakes are still high, the regular-season series has taken an odd turn: The past four years, the road team has won the Energy Bowl. This is the longest such streak in series history. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Gillette coach Vic Wilkerson call up Sheridan coach Don Julian and ask to move the game to Sheridan… and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Julian say no.

Usually, we can attribute streaks like that to weird mixes of coincidence and timing. This year, though, with the stakes as high as ever (or at least as high as they can get in the regular season), both teams would love any advantage they can find.

When the game is over, only one undefeated team will remain in Class 4A. While we’ve seen 4A teams overcome a rivalry loss in the regular season to win a state title — Gillette won the state title in 2008 after losing the Energy Bowl — the recent success of both these programs forces some extra meaning onto this game.

And even though “Rivalry Week” is in full force in 4A with both the Oil Bowl and Capital Bowl, the Energy Bowl will be the one everyone in 4A will concentrate on this week.

No matter where it’s played.

+++++

Powell will play against more than just Star Valley on Friday; the Panthers will also play against history. Strange things happen when Powell comes to Afton to play Star Valley. I wrote about this phenomenon a couple years ago; Star Valley almost always beats Powell in Afton, no matter the circumstances. All-time, Powell is 2-15 in Afton, winning only in 1986 and 1999.

The state’s longest active winning streak may have its toughest test to date, and it may have little to do with the home team itself.

+++++

Other games I’d be interested in watching, if I had the chance: The best game in the state might be the six-man showdown between Saratoga and Kaycee. In a tight, competitive East Conference, every victory is valuable, and none more than this one. … BTW, the dividing line in six-man is pretty clear here: The East is 7-0 against the bottom five teams in the West (not counting Midwest’s forfeit loss to Farson) and is 0-3 against Meeteetse and Dubois. … To be a true contender, you’ve gotta win the big ones. Upton-Sundance finds out this week if it’s a contender, as the Patriots travel to Yoder to play Southeast. … The same goes for undefeated Thermopolis, which has its biggest test of the season on Friday when it goes south to face defending 2A champ Lyman. Thermop’s four victories this year are over teams that are a combined 2-14. … Let’s not forget Central-East and Natrona-Kelly Walsh in 4A. Two things tend to happen in rivalry games: weird stuff and blowouts. In-between rarely happens. Get ready for something.

My picks are below, with the teams I have determined to be the most likely teams to win their respective games represented in the boldface type:

Thursday
Class 1A 11-man
Shoshoni at Wind River
Interclass
Lingle at Natrona JV
Friday
Class 4A
Cheyenne East at Cheyenne Central (moved from East)
Evanston at Rock Springs
Laramie at Cheyenne South
Kelly Walsh at Natrona
Sheridan at Gillette
Class 3A
Cody at Jackson
Lander at Douglas
Powell at Star Valley
Rawlins at Torrington
Riverton at Buffalo
Worland at Green River
Class 2A
Big Horn at Glenrock
Kemmerer at Big Piney
Lovell at Greybull
Mountain View at Pinedale
Newcastle at Wright
Thermopolis at Lyman
Tongue River at Burns
Wheatland at Moorcroft
Class 1A 11-man
Lusk at Pine Bluffs
Riverside at Cokeville
Rocky Mountain at Burlington
Upton-Sundance at Southeast
Class 1A six-man
Farson at St. Stephens
Kaycee at Saratoga
Snake River at Hanna
Wyoming Indian at Meeteetse
Saturday
Class 1A six-man
Dubois at Ten Sleep
Midwest at Hulett
Normative Services at Guernsey-Sunrise

For a full schedule including kick times, check out the 2013 schedule and results page.

Last week: 28-4 (88 percent). This season: 116-25 (82 percent).

We’re more than halfway through the regular season. What are you seeing that’s drawing your interest? What game do you want to watch this week? Post some thoughts below and let’s talk about it for a while.

–patrick

Wyoming football conferences set for 2014, 2015 seasons

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The Wyoming High School Activities Association’s board of directors set conference alignments for the 2014 and 2015 football seasons during its first quarterly meeting of the school year on Tuesday.

As reported by the Casper Star-Tribune, the alignments for Class 4A and 3A will be the same but will differ for 2A, 1A 11-man and 1A six-man to incorporate changes brought on by reclassification. New conference alignments will see six schools move: Tongue River and Moorcroft from the 2A East to the 1A 11-man East; Thermopolis from the 2A West to the 2A East; Saratoga from the 1A six-man East to the 1A 11-man West; Wyoming Indian from the 1A six-man West to the 1A 11-man West; and Rock River from sub-varsity to the 1A six-man East.

New conference alignments will be:

Class 2A East: Big Horn, Burns, Glenrock, Newcastle, Thermopolis, Wheatland, Wright.
Class 2A West: Big Piney, Greybull, Kemmerer, Lovell, Lyman, Mountain View, Pinedale.
Class 1A 11-man East: Lingle, Lusk, Moorcroft, Pine Bluffs, Southeast, Tongue River, Upton-Sundance.
Class 1A 11-man West: Burlington, Cokeville, Riverside, Rocky Mountain, Saratoga, Shoshoni, Wind River, Wyoming Indian.
Class 1A six-man East: Guernsey-Sunrise, Hanna, Hulett, Kaycee, Midwest, NSI, Rock River.
Class 1A six-man West: Dubois, Farson, Meeteetse, St. Stephens, Snake River, Ten Sleep.

–patrick