Only two weeks remain in the 2022 regular season for Wyoming high school football teams. Here’s who’s in, who’s out and who’s on the fence entering those last two weeks, as well as a quick breakdown of what’s possible, with a more detailed breakdown of all possible scenarios to come after Week 7’s action:
Class 4A
In: Sheridan, Cheyenne East, Natrona, Campbell County, Cheyenne Central, Thunder Basin.
Neither in nor out: Rock Springs, Kelly Walsh, Laramie, Cheyenne South.
Out: No one.
Can the top seed be decided this week? Yes. Sheridan can earn the No. 1 seed if the Broncs earn a victory against Natrona.
Break it down for me: Sheridan, East and Natrona have all but wrapped up the top three seeds, but after that it gets messy. Campbell County, Central and Thunder Basin are all 4-3 — in the postseason, but still slugging it out for the one remaining home game in the first round — while the remaining four teams are scrapping it out for the scraps, with 2-5 Rock Springs in the best shape.
Class 3A East
In: Douglas.
Neither in nor out: Lander, Buffalo, Worland, Riverton, Rawlins.
Out: No one.
Can the top seed be decided this week? Yes, but only if Douglas beats Rawlins and Lander loses to Worland. If that happens, Douglas will be the top seed.
Break it down for me: Douglas is in the catbird seat at 3-0 and Rawlins in the opposite of that at 0-3. In the middle, anything is possible, as a certain amount of uncertainty plagues the East this year.
Class 3A West
In: Cody.
Neither in nor out: Star Valley, Powell, Jackson, Green River, Evanston.
Out: No one.
Can the top seed be decided this week? Yes, but Cody has to beat Evanston and Powell has to lose to Jackson for Cody to take the No. 1 seed.
Break it down for me: Cody and Star Valley have the advantages for the top spots, while Powell is also in good shape at 2-1. Green River’s victory against Jackson looms large for the No. 4 seed, while Evanston needs some help to stay in the race.
Class 2A East
In: Tongue River, Big Horn.
Neither in nor out: Burns, Newcastle, Torrington, Wheatland, Upton-Sundance, Glenrock.
Out: No one.
Can the top seed be decided this week? It will be decided this week, as the winner of the Thunder Bowl between Big Horn and Tongue River will be the East top seed.
Break it down for me: After the two Sheridan County schools, the 2A East is full of potential scenarios. Burns, at 3-2, is in the best shape of the bunch, but a mishmash of 2-3 schools (Newcastle, Torrington, Wheatland) and Upton-Sundance at 1-4 but with a bit of momentum will mean this conference’s playoff scenarios will be a bear to work through next week.
Class 2A West
In: Lovell, Lyman.
Neither in nor out: Cokeville, Kemmerer, Mountain View, Thermopolis.
Out: Pinedale.
Can the top seed be decided this week? Yes. A Lovell victory against Kemmerer this week will assure the Bulldogs of the No. 1 seed from the West.
Break it down for me: Of the not-quite-in teams, 3-1 Cokeville is sitting the best. Meanwhile, 2-2 Kemmerer is in good position, but Mountain View and Thermopolis are lurking at 1-3. They both need Ws and help, and fast — and the Kemmerer-Mountain View Week 8 game is potentially a season-maker for one.
Class 1A nine-man East
In: Pine Bluffs, Southeast.
Neither in nor out: Lingle, Saratoga, Lusk, Wright.
Out: Guernsey.
Ineligible: Moorcroft.
Can the top seed be decided this week? No. With Pine Bluffs and Southeast not meeting until the final week, no definitive top seed can be drawn from this week’s action.
Break it down for me: The Cyclones and Hornets will meet in the final week, but Pine has to overcome Lingle this week for the meeting with Southeast to be for all the marbles. Saratoga is 2-2 but also lost to Lusk, which is 1-3 and has a more favorable remaining schedule (Guernsey, Wright) than Saratoga does (Southeast, Lingle). Wright is hoping for something wacky.
Class 1A nine-man West
In: Shoshoni, Wind River.
Neither in nor out: Big Piney, Rocky Mountain, Riverside, Greybull.
Out: St. Stephens.
Ineligible: Wyoming Indian.
Can the top seed be decided this week? Yes. The winner of Shoshoni-Wind River this week will be the top seed no matter what Week 8 shenanigans unfold.
Break it down for me: After the top two, anything’s possible. Big Piney (3-2) is basically in, and Rocky Mountain (2-2) is in the best shape for the last spot. Riverside (1-3) is still alive but has to find a way to win two games in a row, while Greybull has to beat Riverside this week to stay alive at all.
Class 1A six-man conference games end in Week 7, so playoff seeds for that classification will be set by the end of the day Saturday. Non-conference and games against JV teams dot the Week 8 schedule as teams prepare for the playoffs. Both the breakdowns and all the scenarios entering the final week of conference play are lined out below.
Class 1A six-man North
In: Burlington, Kaycee.
Neither in nor out: Hulett, Meeteetse, Midwest.
Out: Ten Sleep.
Can the top seed be decided this week? It’s already decided; Burlington secured the top seed last week and will carry the No. 1 designation into the playoffs.
Break it down for me: The final two teams and the final three seeds will be decided in some way this week as Kaycee plays Hulett and Meeteetse plays Midwest. Midwest is the only team in a true lose-and-out scenario depending on what happens in the other games.
North scenarios
Week 7 games affecting playoff seeding: Midwest at Meeteetse; Hulett at Kaycee (Saturday).
Burlington: In. No. 1 seed.
Kaycee: In. No. 2 seed with victory. Tie for 2-3-4 seeds (score differential to break) with loss and Meeteetse victory. No. 3 seed with loss and Midwest victory.
Hulett: Neither in nor out. No. 2 seed with victory and Midwest victory. Tie for 2-3-4 seeds (score differential to break) with victory and Meeteetse victory. No. 4 seed with loss and Meeteetse victory. Tie for 3-4-out seeds (score differential to break) with loss and Midwest victory.
Meeteetse: Neither in nor out. Tie for 2-3-4 seeds (score differential to break) with victory and Hulett victory. No. 3 seed with victory and Kaycee victory. Tie for 3-4-out seeds (score differential to break) with loss and Kaycee victory. Out with loss and Hulett victory.
Midwest: Neither in nor out. No. 4 seed with victory and Hulett victory. Tie for 3-4-out seeds (score differential to break) with victory and Kaycee victory. Out with loss.
Ten Sleep: Out.
Class 1A six-man South
In: Snake River, Dubois, Encampment, Farson.
Neither in nor out: No one.
Out: Hanna.
Can the top seed be decided this week? Too late; Snake River’s victory over Encampment last week secured the Rattlers’ No. 1 spot.
Break it down for me: This one’s easy. With two weeks to go in the regular season, the West’s seeds are sealed up. Even in the case of a tie between Dubois, Encampment and Farson, or even just Encampment and Farson, Dubois always beats the other two and Encampment always beats Farson in tiebreakers. And Farson has the tiebreaker on Hanna if it were to come to that. So the order will be Snake River-Dubois-Encampment-Farson in the 1-2-3-4 spots.
South scenarios
Snake River: In. No. 1 seed.
Dubois: In. No. 2 seed.
Encampment: In. No. 3 seed.
Farson: In. No. 4 seed.
Hanna: Out.
–patrick