Since Wyoming went back to conference play for its schools in 2005, the state has had 97 conference champions.
Of those 97, the winners of only 10 survived a conference loss to win a conference championship.
With the notable exception of Class 4A’s “conference” regular-season championship, those titles have always been shared. The conference champions since 2005 who won the league title with a conference loss were:
2006 2A Southeast: Burns, Southeast share at 2-1
2007 5A South: Cheyenne East, Cheyenne Central share at 4-1
2007 2A East: Sundance, Saratoga, Lusk share at 4-1
2009 4A: Sheridan 8-1
2009 3A West: Cody, Star Valley, Worland share at 4-1
2009 1A 11-man East: Southeast, Lingle share at 6-1
2010 4A: Natrona 8-1
2010 2A West: Lovell, Greybull, Lyman share at 6-1
2011 2A East: Glenrock, Newcastle share at 5-1
2014 1A six-man West: Dubois, Snake River share at 4-1
As you can see, only once in the past three seasons has a conference champion not gone undefeated in conference play. However, already this year, we know at least one conference champ will hoist a crown with at least one conference loss.
That champion will come from the Class 1A six-man East Conference. Each one of the seven schools in that conference already has a conference loss. Four of those schools — Guernsey-Sunrise, Kaycee, Hulett and NSI — start the week with one conference loss apiece.
The rotation works like this: Guernsey beat Kaycee; Kaycee beat Hulett; Hulett beat NSI; NSI beat Guernsey.
One way or another, the top of the 1A six-man East will sort itself out this week as Kaycee travels to NSI and Guernsey-Sunrise goes to Hulett.
Adding to the urgency this week: None of the top four teams in the conference will play each other after this week.
With the road teams at 3-1 in league play and the home teams at 2-1, some sense has to rise out of the confusion.
Either way, the team(s) that win the conference will be able to claim something that roughly only 10 percent of Wyoming conference champs can claim the past decade: They survived a conference loss to win their conference title.
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Meanwhile, no team in the state in any conference can win its conference with a victory this week. Gillette is the only team in Wyoming that could wrap up a regular-season title this week, but the Camels would need to beat Rock Springs and both Sheridan (playing at Cheyenne Central) and Natrona (hosting Cheyenne South) would have to lose for that to happen.
However, Meeteetse in the 1A six-man West Conference has already wrapped up the conference championship with three weeks left in the regular season. The undefeated Longhorns end conference play this week against winless St. Stephens, and then finish the regular season with a date against the Worland JV in Week 7 and a nonconference showdown against Guernsey-Sunrise in Week 8. The Longhorns own tiebreakers over any teams they might tie with in the unlikely event that St. Stephens pulls the biggest upset in Wyoming football history this week, making the final three weeks of the regular season one long postseason preparation party for the top-ranked Longhorns.
Conversely, some teams may be eliminated from postseason contention with losses today. That makes pretty much every game a big game this week. However, some are bigger than others:
Worland-Powell might be the most intriguing matchup of the week. Was Worland’s 10-7 victory against Cody last week a harbinger or an aberration? Either way, Todd Weber’s squad notched an important victory against Cody, one of those on which a coach can build a program. …
It’s hard to imagine a team with more confidence than Rock Springs. The Tigers have proven they can play with 4A’s best teams (hanging tough two weeks ago vs. Sheridan) and can win games even when they’re struggling (last week vs. Evanston). Tiger Stadium will be nuts on Friday when No. 1 Gillette makes its visit. …
Two weeks ago, who would have pictured that Jackson would be 2-0 in 3A West Conference play — and defending state champion Cody would be 0-2? They’ll face each other Friday in Park County. …
The last (and only) time Riverside beat Cokeville was 1992. Since joining the same conference in 2009, the Panthers have beaten the Rebels 49-6, 61-6, 48-0, 55-7, 54-8 and by forfeit. But on Friday, Riverside starts the game with a conference record of 4-0, while Cokeville is 3-1. The Rebels could push aside several years’ worth of frustration if they can somehow keep the momentum going in Lincoln County. …
I don’t know why I keep thinking about the only 2A nonconference game this week, Thermopolis playing at Lovell. I’ve been waiting for Thermop to bust through all season, and even though the Bobcats lost last week, the second half of that loss — where Thermopolis came back from down 26-0 only to lose 26-24 — might be a jumpstart to their season. The Bulldogs better be careful. …
The two most difficult games of the week to pick? Southeast-Tongue River and Lyman-Big Piney. And when it’s all said and done, both these games might be for playoff spots. …
On to this week’s picks. I’ve noted my selections below by denoting the team I think will win the game in bold type. Even if I didn’t tell you, I think you’d be able to figure that out:
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
Douglas at Rawlins
Jackson at Cody
Lander at Torrington
Riverton at Buffalo
Star Valley at Green River
Worland at Powell
Class 2A
Big Horn at Burns
Glenrock at Newcastle
Greybull at Pinedale
Lyman at Big Piney
Mountain View at Kemmerer
Thermopolis at Lovell
Wright at Wheatland
Class 1A 11-man
Lusk at Lingle
Riverside at Cokeville
Tongue River at Southeast
Upton-Sundance at Pine Bluffs
Wind River at Shoshoni
Class 1A six-man
Kaycee at NSI
St. Stephens at Meeteetse
Ten Sleep at Farson
Saturday
Class 1A six-man
Dubois at Snake River
Guernsey-Sunrise at Hulett
Midwest at Hanna
Interclass
Gillette JV at Moorcroft
Open: Saratoga, Rock River, Burlington, Wyoming Indian, Rocky Mountain. Saratoga won by forfeit over Burlington, while Rocky Mountain notches a victory against Wyoming Indian via forfeit, as well.
For a full schedule including start times, click here.
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Ya boys Tad and Homer have their picks this week, too. And I better watch out. Tad actually won the weekly picks last week, topping both his brother Homer AND me:
The picks
Tad: Sheridan over Cheyenne Central; Riverton over Buffalo; Star Valley over Green River; Worland over Powell; Big Horn over Burns; Greybull over Pinedale; Wind River over Shoshoni; Guernsey-Sunrise over Hulett; Kaycee over Normative Services; Meeteetse over St. Stephens; Ten Sleep over Farson.
Homer: Cheyenne Central over Sheridan; Buffalo over Riverton; Green River over Star Valley; Powell over Worland; Burns over Big Horn; Pinedale over Greybull; Shoshoni over Wind River; Hulett over Guernsey-Sunrise; Normative Services over Kaycee; St. Stephens over Meeteetse; Farson over Ten Sleep.
Both: Laramie over Cheyenne East; Natrona over Cheyenne South; Gillette over Rock Springs; Evanston over Kelly Walsh; Douglas over Rawlins; Cody over Jackson; Lander over Torrington; Glenrock over Newcastle; Big Piney over Lyman; Mountain View over Kemmerer; Thermopolis over Lovell; Wheatland over Wright; Lusk over Lingle; Cokeville over Riverside; Southeast over Tongue River; Upton-Sundance over Pine Bluffs; Dubois over Snake River; Hanna over Midwest.
The records
Class 4A
Cheyenne East at Laramie (Laramie 33-25 overall, Laramie 17-11 at this location)
Cheyenne South at Natrona (Natrona 4-0 overall, Natrona 2-0 at this location)
Gillette at Rock Springs (Gillette 15-5 overall, Gillette 6-4 at this location)
Kelly Walsh at Evanston (Evanston 11-7 overall, tie 3-3 at this location)
Sheridan at Cheyenne Central (Sheridan 39-27-1 overall, Central 16-14 at this location)
Class 3A
Douglas at Rawlins (Douglas 23-9 overall, Douglas 11-4 at this location)
Jackson at Cody (Cody 17-6 overall, Cody 9-1 at this location)
Lander at Torrington (Lander 4-1 overall, Lander 2-0 at this location)
Riverton at Buffalo (Riverton 8-7 overall, tie 4-4 at this location)
Star Valley at Green River (Star Valley 35-31-5 overall, Green River 18-13-3 at this location)
Worland at Powell (Worland 39-33 overall, tie 19-19 at this location)
Class 2A
Big Horn at Burns (Big Horn 6-3 overall, Burns 3-2 at this location)
Glenrock at Newcastle (Glenrock 23-18 overall, Glenrock 10-9 at this location)
Greybull at Pinedale (Greybull 5-3 overall, Pinedale 3-1 at this location)
Lyman at Big Piney (Big Piney 45-34-1 overall, Big Piney 25-15 at this location)
Mountain View at Kemmerer (Mountain View 20-16 overall, Mountain View 14-5 at this location)
Thermopolis at Lovell (Thermopolis 42-34 overall, Thermopolis 19-17 at this location)
Wright at Wheatland (Wheatland 4-0 overall, Wheatland 2-0 at this location)
Class 1A 11-man
Burlington at Saratoga (Burlington 5-0 overall, Burlington 2-0 at this location) (Burlington has forfeited this game, but it’s still fun to look at the records)
Lusk at Lingle (Lusk 43-10-3 overall, Lusk 19-5 at this location)
Riverside at Cokeville (Cokeville 11-1 overall, Cokeville 5-0 at this location)
Tongue River at Southeast (tie 1-1 overall, Southeast 1-0 at this location)
Upton-Sundance at Pine Bluffs (Upton-Sundance 3-0 overall, Upton-Sundance 1-0 at this location)
Wind River at Shoshoni (Wind River 27-22 overall, tie 12-12 at this location)
Wyoming Indian at Rocky Mountain (Rocky Mountain 19-2 overall, Rocky Mountain 9-1 at this location) (again, Wyoming Indian has already forfeited this game, but records are fun to look at anyway)
Class 1A six-man
Dubois at Snake River (Dubois 4-2 overall, Dubois 2-0 at this location)
Guernsey-Sunrise at Hulett (Guernsey-Sunrise 5-4 overall, Hulett 3-1 at this location)
Kaycee at NSI (Kaycee 2-0 overall, first at this location)
Midwest at Hanna (Hanna 9-6 overall, Hanna 4-3 at this location)
St. Stephens at Meeteetse (tie 4-4 overall, St. Stephens 3-1 at this location)
Ten Sleep at Farson (Ten Sleep 5-4 overall, tie 2-2 at this location)
Weekly reminder: Tad picks the series leader; Homer picks the location leader; when a series is tied, both Tad and Homer pick the home team.
Last week’s records: Patrick, 24-8 (75 percent); Tad, 27-5 (84 percent); Homer, 22-10 (69 percent).
Season records: Patrick, 134-34 (80 percent); Tad, 112-56 (67 percent); Homer, 93-75 (55 percent).
For about 90 percent of teams, Week 6 represents either a time to survive, a time to maintain or a time to rise. So who’s set to do that? Leave a comment and let me know where my picks went awry, or what picks you think I got right!
–patrick