The 3A West Conference league season is not quite two weeks old.

But, two weeks ago, if you tried to line up this conference through the first two weeks — picking two teams at 2-0, two at 1-1 and two at 0-2 — would you have been right?

Cody at 2-0, I’ll grant you. The Broncs have been one of the West’s favorites all year and haven’t disappointed in the early going, topping Jackson and Lander to share the early league lead.

But did you have Worland at 2-0? The Warriors have been consistently middle-of-the-pack material since going undefeated on their way to winning the 4A title in 2003… since then, they’ve been winning the games they were supposed to win, losing the ones they were supposed to lose, consistently flirting with .500 only to bow out early in the playoffs.

Losses to Billings Central, Mont., Buffalo and Torrington in the first three weeks of the season gave no indication of what the Warriors were brewing. Now, though, after three consecutive victories, this year looks like something different in Washakie County. A victory over winless Wheatland got the Warriors in the win column. And after shutting out Star Valley two weeks ago, the Warriors beat Lander… in Lander… in the Tigers’ homecoming… and are all of a sudden one of 3A’s most intriguing teams at 2-0 in conference play.

The draw for both teams this week are the 1-1 teams. Get those right, did’ja?

Come on — did you really have Star Valley there? Especially after the Braves lost four of their first five games — and lost them all by shutout? No way.

And did you have Powell there? The Panthers lost to Miles City, Mont., the Big Sky State’s defending Class A champions, in Zero Week, but rattled off four victories in a row before last week. They looked like one of the favorites not only in the conference, but across all of 3A.

Until….

Star Valley’s 29-3 victory over Powell last week was the latest twist to the 3A West, a league consistently noted for its parity year in and year out. All of a sudden, with Worland and Star Valley pulling off pseudo-upsets last week, 2009 looks like a return to the parity that has defined this division for generations.

As fate would have it, the top four teams in the league meet up in Week 6. Star Valley heads to Cody, while Worland heads to Powell; both games kick off at 7 p.m.

It’s gut check time.

And despite the league’s apparent parity — and despite last week’s proof that no team in this league is safe on any Friday — I’ll take the two league leaders to win again. Cody and Worland earn my nods for this week.

We know, though, that nothing can be taken for granted. Not in the 3A West, anyway. Star Valley and Powell have no reason to panic for the same reason that Cody and Worland have no reason to feel comfortable.

Here are the rest of my picks. Projected winners are in bold; projected losers are cranking Pantera to motivate themselves to prove me wrong:

Friday
Class 4A
Cheyenne Central at Green River: I had a tough time deciding on this one, but came up with this line of reasoning — the Indians took all their anger out on Gillette last week and don’t have any left for the Wolves. Huh? Whatever. Should be a good game regardless; wouldn’t be surprised to see the Indians win it, even on the road. 6 p.m.
Laramie at Kelly Walsh: The Plainsmen should at least be confident heading to Casper — Laramie beat KW at Harry Geldien Stadium last year. But the loss to Rock Springs looks like it has refocused the Trojans. 7 p.m.
Natrona County at Gillette: This week’s upset special — the Mustangs go to Gillette and win. Why? Because the Mustangs are confident right now. The Camels, after losing 48-14 last week, not so much. Another monkey wrench in the 4A hierarchy. 7 p.m.
Rock Springs at Cheyenne East: Desperation time at Okie Blanchard — the loser has a significantly harder time making the playoffs. 7 p.m.
Sheridan at Evanston: The long trip could translate into a rocky start for the Broncs. It might be close at halftime, but it probably won’t be by the final gun. 7 p.m.
Class 3A
Buffalo at Wheatland: Magic number in this game is five: The Bison have won five in a row against the Bulldogs, and Wheatland is 0-5 this season. Don’t look for either trend to change on Friday. 6 p.m.
Lander at Jackson: This game is critical to the playoff race. The winner keeps pace in the 3A West; the loser will need a ton of help the last two weeks. 7 p.m.
Rawlins at Douglas: The only challenge the Bearcats have this week is avoiding complacency. It’d be easy to put it on cruise control for a couple weeks, but Douglas can’t afford that. 7 p.m.
Torrington at Riverton: Week in and week out, the Trailblazers keep proving they belong near the top of 3A. 7 p.m.
Class 2A
Glenrock at Wright: Can anyone slow down the Herders — other than themselves? 7 p.m.
Lyman at Mountain View: The Bridger Valley Bowl doesn’t quite have the playoff implications that it normally does — but both teams are coming off victories last week, and a loss here would pretty much crush any remaining hope of a postseason berth. 4 p.m.
Moorcroft vs. Big Horn, at Sheridan: How about that 2A East? Six of the eight teams are 2-2 or better in conference play… and this game, between a pair of 2-2 teams, becomes critical in the playoff race because of that. 1 p.m.
Pinedale at Big Piney: How will the Punchers respond to a loss? This is the first week this season that they’ve had to play after losing…. Even though I think Big Piney wins, the intensity of this rivalry should keep the game close. 3 p.m.
Thermopolis at Burns: This game could be the best of them all this week. Burns finally has something clicking on offense and will be dangerous by the playoffs — the type of team no one wants to see at any stage. And with this game at home…. wow. Tough pick. With momentum and home field on their side, I’ll give the Broncs the kiss of death. 7 p.m.
Tongue River at Newcastle: Both teams need a victory here. It might be the best chance for either to avoid a winless season. 7 p.m.
Wyoming Indian at Lovell: The Chiefs have proven they can put up the points. Their problem has been stopping other teams from doing the same. 7 p.m.
Class 1A 11-man
Burlington at Wind River: The only potential problem for the Cougars here could be a glance to Oct. 16…. but Wind River proved last week that its focus is right where it needs to be. 6 p.m.
Cokeville at Dubois: The only potential problem for the Panthers here could be a glance to Oct. 16…. but Cokeville proved last week that its focus is right where it needs to be. 2 p.m.
Hulett at Southeast: This is a huge one out on the eastern edge. Southeast can basically secure a playoff berth with a victory… but Hulett is good, good enough to give the Cyclones a true challenge and maybe even pull off the upset on the road. Potential game of the week material. 7 p.m.
Lusk at Sundance: What has the last two weeks done to the Tigers? Are they more focused and fired up, or are they more distracted and frustrated? This game against the Bulldogs will be telling. 4 p.m.
Normative Services at Lingle: In a word: Ouch. 7 p.m.
Pine Bluffs at Upton: The Hornets have been a hard team to read this season — but it looks like they’re heading in the right direction at the right time of the season. 7 p.m.
Saratoga at Riverside: Don’t look now, but the Rebels are building a ton of momentum. 7 p.m.
Shoshoni at Rocky Mountain: The Grizzlies’ 41-6 loss to Cokeville last week wasn’t all bad. Rocky will surely learn some lessons from it — as the Wranglers will find out this week. 6 p.m.
Class 1A 6-man
Farson at Midwest: The Oilers are priming for next week’s showdown with Guernsey. There won’t be a letup. 7 p.m.
Meeteetse at Hanna: The East is a beast in six-man this year. 2 p.m.

Saturday
Class 2A
Greybull at Kemmerer: The folks in Kemmerer must have had a ton of foresight in scheduling this game for Saturday. It’s a big one. The lead — and likely the conference championship — in the 2A West is at stake. And, given how much both teams love the running game, it might be over in an hour. Get there early. 3 p.m.
Class 1A 6-man
Guernsey at Snake River: I keep waiting for someone to challenge the Vikings’ supremacy…. Maybe the Rattlers can. Maybe. 3 p.m.
Interclass
Natrona frosh-sophs at Kaycee: Speaking of looking ahead: How about next week, Ten Sleep at Kaycee? Mustangs first, though. 3 p.m.

Ten Sleep is off this week.

And I’m spent. So it’s on you now — what potential upsets, blowouts or thrillers do you see coming this week? Where did my picks go astray? Leave a comment below and let me know what you’re thinking.

–patrick

Few conferences have playoff races as clear as the 2A West.

Eight teams — four at 3-0 in league play, four at 0-3.

And this week, with the four 3-0 teams meeting each other, the race will ratchet up several notches.

Kemmerer, Big Piney, Lovell and Greybull are all unbeaten in conference play — in fact, of the four, Kemmerer is the only team that isn’t undefeated this season. Kemmerer (3-1) travels to Big Piney (4-0) for a 4 p.m. game on Friday, while Greybull (5-0) hosts Lovell (4-0) at 7 p.m. Friday.

All four teams took different routes to the same point:

Kemmerer was the one team expected to be here. State champions in 2005 and 2007 and runners-up last year, the Rangers brought a wealth of experience back this season. After losing to defending champion Glenrock to open the season, Kemmerer has won three in a row, all conference games, by the combined score of 176-17.

Lovell was a bit of a question mark entering the season. With a new coach and some key cogs to replace, the Bulldogs have been coolly efficient, beating Wright 21-3, Pinedale 21-0, Lyman 40-23 and Mountain View 20-0 — the team’s first 4-0 start since 1997. However, Lovell’s four opponents this season have a combined record of 1-17.

Greybull is off to a 5-0 start, its best since 1996 when the team went 5-0 on its way to a 7-2 season and a semifinal appearance in the 1A-Division I playoffs. The offense, aside from a 7-6 win over Big Horn, has been scoring more than 30 points per game, and the defense has been good enough to turn those games into big victories.

Big Piney might be the biggest surprise undefeated team in the state. After a 1-7 campaign last season, not much was expected out of the Punchers in 2009. But Big Piney has won every close game, beating Burlington 20-12, Mountain View 21-14 and Lyman 20-7. Toss in a big win over Wyoming Indian, and the Punchers are 4-0 for the first time since 2003.

This week, though, something has to give.

Kemmerer has just been dominant the past three weeks, and I think the Rangers will hand Big Piney their first loss this season.

Meanwhile, the Lovell-Greybull game should be a close, hard-fought game — one that could even go into overtime. That said, it’s hard to doubt the Buffaloes. This is a program that has been building steadily for several years now. A victory Friday could be a defining one for a program that’s seen its share of struggles. I’ll pick the Buffs — I think they’re up to the challenge.

But no matter what happens on Friday, the 2A West is going to be fun to watch for the next four weeks.

The rest of this week’s picks are posted below, with projected winning teams in bold:

Friday
Class 4A
Cheyenne East at Natrona County: The winner of this game could end up being a darkhorse in the playoffs. The loser will have to fight just to simply make it to the postseason. 7 p.m.
Gillette at Cheyenne Central: Although some of the luster has worn off of this one thanks to both teams losing last week, the game might even be more important now — a loss could eventually force the losing team onto the road in the first round of the playoffs. A victory, though, means another step toward home-field advantage in the postseason…. 7 p.m.
Green River at Rock Springs: The Tigers finally got the breakthrough they needed last week by beating Kelly Walsh. The trick now is to avoid a letdown — but the anticipation surrounding the Trona Bowl should keep this one close and exciting. Call it Wolves, but not by much. 7 p.m.
Kelly Walsh at Evanston: Both teams lost in overtime last week… Think both won’t be fired up for this one? Both teams will be aching to get back on the winning track. 7 p.m.
Laramie at Sheridan: The Broncs look like they’ve put their lone loss behind them. Now it’s up to the rest of 4A to catch up. 7 p.m.
Class 3A
Cody at Jackson: No lame Broncs vs. Broncs jokes here…. Cody has been one of 3A’s best defensive teams and needs to maintain that trend in what could be a trap game for the blue and yellow. 7 p.m.
Powell at Star Valley: The Braves’ offensive struggles won’t get any easier against the stout Panthers’ defense. 4 p.m.
Rawlins at Torrington: It’ll be a Schlager-knocker in Goshen County. 7 p.m.
Riverton at Buffalo: Beware the Wolverines coming off a big win. But, even more so, beware the Bison coming off a loss. 7 p.m.
Wheatland at Douglas: Top-ranked Bearcats should just keep on rolling…. 7 p.m.
Worland at Lander: Given the Warriors’ continued improvement, this could be a good one. Definitely one to watch. Sort of under the radar, but there are big, big implications that’ll sprout from this one. Potential game of the week — one I’d love to go watch. 7 p.m.
Class 2A
Big Horn at Thermopolis: Speaking of potential games of the week, how about this doozy between the Rams and Bobcats? This has all the makings of a great, hard-fought — and high-scoring — contest. Since it’s in Thermopolis, I’ll give my nod to the Bobcats, but this has all the makings of the type of game that comes down to the last few seconds. 7 p.m.
Burns at Moorcroft: Don’t let one loss convince you the Wolves are down. 3 p.m.
Mountain View at Pinedale: This shapes up on paper as an extremely even game. The desire to break into the win column will be a huge motivator for both teams, so it should be a good one. Other than gut instinct, I’ve got no real reason for picking the Buffalos. 7 p.m.
Newcastle at Glenrock: Like I said last week: Herders + home game = victory. 7 p.m.
Wright at Tongue River: The Panthers finally got rolling last week, and with games against Glenrock and Moorcroft coming the next two weeks, they need to keep that momentum going in the game they’re “supposed” to win. 2 p.m.
Wyoming Indian at Lyman: Lyman just keeps proving to me that they’re getting better — and I like their chances at home if that improvement keeps building on itself. 4 p.m.
Class 1A 11-man
Cokeville at Rocky Mountain: Cokeville needs this. This will likely be the Panthers’ toughest test to date, and it’ll be a great way to see just exactly where they stack up against high-quality competition. 6 p.m.
Dubois at Burlington: After last week, the Huskies are searching for a way to get back on track and into the playoff hunt again. The Rams, meanwhile, need to get something started soon before it’s too late. 3 p.m.
Lingle at Sundance: The Doggers are for real — but don’t be surprised to see the Bulldogs keep it close in what’ll probably be a high-scoring get-together. 2 p.m.
Lusk at Pine Bluffs: Lusk has the edge in history: The Hornets have beaten the Tigers just once in the past 18 contests between the two schools. 7:30 p.m.
Riverside at Shoshoni: Don’t look now, but with Shoshoni, Saratoga and Dubois coming up the next three weeks, the Rebels could be a team on fire come their Week 8 game against Wind River. Like I said, don’t look now… because that’s a long way away. Wranglers first. 7 p.m.
Upton at Hulett: The Red Devils are slowly climbing back up the 1A-11 East standings. 1:30 p.m.
Wind River at Saratoga: Winning in Saratoga is never easy, so despite the on-paper mismatch, this is a game the Cougars can’t take lightly. 3:30 p.m.
Class 1A 6-man
Kaycee at Hanna: Huge playoff implications rest on the outcome of this game — and both teams know it. Expect a close one in the Miners’ homecoming. 4 p.m.

Saturday
Class 1A 11-man
Southeast vs. Normative Services, at Casper (NCHS): The Wolves have shown some explosiveness the past couple weeks, but they probably don’t have enough depth to keep up with the Cyclones. 3 p.m.
Class 1A 6-man
Farson at Meeteetse: This is one of those really intriguing games that I’d love to go watch. At home, I’ll take the Longhorns, but if it was in Farson I’d probably switch it up. Either way, both teams need a win and they’d love to get it here. 1 p.m.
Snake River at Ten Sleep: It’s looking more and more like the Pioneers’ Week 1 loss to Guernsey was less a reflection on Ten Sleep than it was on Guernsey. In other words, Ten Sleep looks dangerous. 3 p.m.
Interclass
Midwest at Natrona frosh-soph: The Oilers already beat the Mustangs’ sub-varsity squad in Midwest this year — and with an undefeated season in limbo, look for the Oilers to complete the sweep. 1 p.m.

Guernsey is off this week.

Now, the question is: How about you? What blowouts, upsets or overtime games do you see coming this week? Any games out there look intriguing to you? Post a comment below and let me know where you’re headed this week.

–patrick