With 23 games affecting playoff qualification and seeding, Friday night will be busy for Wyoming high school football teams.
All the work may not be done by the end of the last game on Friday, though.
Depending on how this week’s games come out, we could be left hanging Saturday morning waiting on the results of two triangular playoffs and three coin flips — and, just maybe, a WHSAA ruling on how to break a five-team tie.
In all, 23 of the 32 games this weekend could affect playoff seeding: all five 4A games, three of the six 3A games, five of the seven 2A games, six of the seven 1A 11-man games and four of the seven games involving 1A six-man teams.
However, 30 of the 40 playoff spots up for grabs have been claimed. Another 14 schools have already been eliminated from playoff contention, leaving 19 teams chasing the remaining 10 playoff spots.
Even with all that, only the Upton-Sundance/Southeast game provides a “winner in-loser out” scenario. A variety of other teams could qualify with a victory or miss the postseason with a loss, but no other squads in the state face the clear-cut win and in-lose and out dichotomy Upton-Sundance and Southeast have in their game.
All that’s left for some conferences is seeding. The eight squads for the 3A playoffs, for example, are set; what’s not set is seeding. The Rawlins-Torrington game will give clarity to the East seedings — the winner will be No. 3, the loser No. 4 — to go with Douglas’ guaranteed top seed and Riverton’s sealed No. 2 seed. The 3A West is messier, where the four squads of Cody, Powell, Jackson and Star Valley are all in, but seeding won’t be set until after Friday’s games, or later if there ends up being a three-way tie that must be settled by a coin flip.
A similar scenario exists in the 2A East, where Big Horn, Newcastle, Wheatland and Thermopolis are playing for seeding but might need a coin flip to sort it all out. Also, the 1A six-man West’s seeds will be settled on the field on Friday when the Farson-Snake River games settles the conference’s four seeds, one way or another, which will be divvied out to the Pronghorns and Rattlers as well as Dubois and Meeteetse.
That leaves five conferences — 4A, 2A West, 1A 11-man East and West and 1A six-man East — where games can influence not only seeding but qualification, as well. Class 4A is a mess, as a potential five-way tie could happen between Cheyenne Central, Cheyenne South, Evanston, Laramie and Kelly Walsh given the right circumstances. The WHSAA handbook lists no guidelines for breaking a five-team tie.
The 2A West is much simpler: Lovell has the inside track to the conference’s last seed, but Big Piney could sneak in with a victory and a loss by Lovell.
The two 1A 11-man conferences look similar — set in the top halves, messy in the bottom halves. The top two seeds in each conference, with Lusk and Lingle in the East and Cokeville and Rocky Mountain in the West, are already set. The chase for the final two spots in both conferences is among four teams. (Southeast, Moorcroft, Upton-Sundance and Southeast are playing for the final two spots in the East, while the West’s final two spots are also up for grabs among Burlington, Riverside, Shoshoni and Wind River.) The only potential for a triangular playoff, though, is in the West, where if Cokeville, Rocky Mountain and Shoshoni win their respective games, then Burlington, Riverside and Wind River will meet in a triangular for the final playoff spot.
The 1A six-man East Conference also has potential for a triangular playoff, but only if NSI beats Midwest and Hulett beats Rock River. In that circumstance, NSI, Midwest and Hulett would meet in a triangular with one playoff spot available. Midwest has the advantage heading into the final week, needing only to beat NSI to reach the playoffs.
Clear?
Don’t worry if all the scenarios are a little overwhelming. As straightforward as seeding is supposed to be, we may not be done by the time the regular season is done, anyway.
Other stuff for the week:
The toughest games of the week to pick: Laramie/Kelly Walsh, Rawlins/Torrington, Big Piney/Pinedale, Greybull/Lovell, Upton-Sundance/Southeast, Farson/Snake River. Week 8 is loaded with a ton of potential thrillers. In the bulk of these picks, I just went with the home team and called it good. …
Nothing but pride on the line in the Saratoga-Wyoming Indian and the St. Stephens-Ten Sleep games. The four squads have zero combined victories, but they’ve all got the chance to end the season with a victory. …
The best playoff bracket will be Class 3A’s. Just sayin’. …
Here are my picks for the final week of the regular season, with projected winners, as usual, in bold:
Week 8
Thursday
Class 3A
Riverton at Lander
Friday
Class 4A
Cheyenne East at Gillette
Evanston at Cheyenne Central
Laramie at Kelly Walsh
Natrona at Rock Springs
Sheridan at Cheyenne South
Class 3A
Buffalo at Douglas
Cody at Powell
Rawlins at Torrington
Star Valley at Jackson
Worland at Green River
Class 2A
Big Piney at Pinedale
Glenrock at Kemmerer
Greybull at Lovell
Mountain View at Lyman
Newcastle at Thermopolis
Wheatland at Big Horn
Wright at Burns (at Pine Bluffs)
Class 1A 11-man
Burlington at Rocky Mountain
Cokeville at Wind River
Lingle at Moorcroft
Pine Bluffs at Tongue River
Riverside at Shoshoni
Saratoga at Wyoming Indian
Upton-Sundance at Southeast
Class 1A six-man
Farson at Snake River
Guernsey-Sunrise at Meeteetse
Hulett at Rock River
Kaycee at Hanna
NSI at Midwest
Interclass
Dubois at Natrona sophs
Saturday
Class 1A six-man
St. Stephens at Ten Sleep
Open: Lusk.
Last week: 27-5 (84 percent). This season: 193-48 (80 percent).
For a full season schedule, including kickoff times for this week’s games, click here.
The final week of the regular season is here! Are you ready for it? What game strikes you as the biggest of the bunch? Post a comment and let’s chat.
–patrick