The playoff brackets we missed: 1973

From 1962 to 1967 in all classes, and from 1962 to 1974 in Classes A and B-C, postseason football was shut down in Wyoming. No playoffs, no state championship games, nothing. Only an unsatisfying mythical championship that, in the end, was just opinion. The next several days, wyoming-football.com is taking a look at the title games and playoff brackets we missed out on in the “dead era” of the 1960s and 1970s.

Today, we examine the year 1973.

Class A: Buffalo (8-1) vs. Green River (8-1). After losing to AA Rawlins 7-0 in the season opener, the Bison proved to have a penchant for winning close games and finished league play unbeaten. Green River’s only setback came 6-0 to Kemmerer; the Wolves avenged that loss and won the conference crown by beating the Rangers 14-12 in the final week of the season.
Class B East: Tongue River (9-0) vs. Guernsey-Sunrise (7-2). Tongue River won seven of its nine games by shutout and was the mythical state champion, but Guernsey-Sunrise may have presented a challenge, as the Vikings’ only losses were to Class A schools Wheatland and Glenrock.
Class B West: Byron (9-0) vs. Pinedale (8-2). This game would have pitted two streaky teams. Byron won its final five games of the season by a combined 202-6, while Pinedale lost its first two games of the season to Kemmerer and Big Piney but finished on an 8-0 streak.

–patrick