Here are some quick highlights of this year’s quarterfinal round, which will pare down remaining teams from 40 to 20 by the end of it all:
Consistency: Natrona is in the playoffs for the 33rd consecutive year, Cokeville for the 32nd consecutive year, Big Horn for the 26th, Douglas for the 23rd, Sheridan for the 17th, Kaycee, Snake River and Star Valley for the 16th. Rocky Mountain is out of the playoffs for the first time in 12 years.
Streak breakers: Greybull and Saratoga are both breaking three-year streaks of missing the playoffs. They’re both in the 1A nine-man bracket.
Welcome home: Riverside is hosting a playoff game for the first time since 2011, while Newcastle is hosting a playoff game for the first time since 2014. Every other playoff game host this season hosted the playoffs in either 2023 or 2022.
Underdogs: Laramie hasn’t won a playoff game in 23 years, Lander in 20. They’ve both drawn defending state champions in the first round, with Laramie facing Sheridan, winners of 40 consecutive games, in 4A, while Lander plays Star Valley, which enters the playoffs on an 18-game winning streak of its own, in 3A.
Nice to meet you: Four games in this year’s playoffs match up programs who have never played each other: Evanston/Douglas in 3A; Cokeville/Newcastle and Worland/Big Horn in 2A; and Greybull/Pine Bluffs in 1A-9. These kinds of games are always so cool to see.
Bus time: Shortest first-round matchup: 3.5 miles, Kelly Walsh to Natrona. Longest first-round matchup: 492 miles, Cokeville to Newcastle (or, 140.57 Kelly-Walsh-to-Natronas). Average first-round matchup distance, one way: 283 miles. Number of games (out of 20) where two schools are 300 or more miles apart, one way: 10, including four games where schools are more than 400 miles apart.
(Subjectively chosen by me as yeah I’d pay to watch these) best games of the week: Evanston at Douglas in 3A (evenly matched on paper in a first-time matchup); Powell at Riverton in 3A (rematch of a 7-0 Wolverine victory in Zero Week); Cokeville at Newcastle in 2A (another first-time matchup between two teams with high hopes); Saratoga at Shoshoni in 1A-9 (two teams that have made big progress from 2023 to 2024 and want to keep that good mojo going).
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It’s kind of odd to me that 20 teams’ seasons will end this weekend. Feels like we just got started. Regardless, here are the 20 teams I think will win this week, indicated in bold, and the 20 other teams that are ready to create mincemeat of workplace brackets statewide. Y’all do Wyoming high school football bracket challenges in YOUR workplace, don’t you? Why wait until March? Just don’t bet money. These are kids, and this is fun.
Friday
Class 4A
(8) Laramie at (1) Sheridan
(5) Kelly Walsh at (4) Natrona
(7) Rock Springs at (2) Campbell County
(6) Thunder Basin at (3) Cheyenne East
Class 3A
(4W) Evanston at (1E) Douglas
(3E) Torrington at (2W) Cody
(4E) Lander at (1W) Star Valley
(3W) Powell at (2E) Riverton
Class 2A
(4E) Wheatland at (1W) Mountain View
(3W) Cokeville at (2E) Newcastle
(4W) Worland at (1E) Big Horn
(3E) Burns at (2W) Lovell
Class 1A nine-man
(4W) Wind River at (1E) Lingle
(4E) Saratoga at (1W) Shoshoni
(3W) Greybull at (2E) Pine Bluffs
Class 1A six-man
(4N) Meeteetse at (1S) Snake River
(3S) Dubois at (2N) Riverside
(4S) Farson at (1N) Burlington
(3N) Kaycee at (2S) Encampment
Saturday
Class 1A nine-man
(3E) Southeast at (2W) Big Piney
For a full schedule including kickoff times, click here.
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Here are the results of my picks from last week and this season:
Last week: 26-4 (87 percent). This season: 212-51 (81 percent).
Are you ready for some postseason football? Who you got going all the way? Leave a comment here, or hit me up on the Facebook page or on Twitter.
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–patrick