Thursday, October 22, 2020

Second Round 3A Playoff Graphic

 



Just a graphic showing the spatial relationships of the second-round playoff matchups in 3A. After this round, the 16 survivors will be bracketed into four groups of four ... so what makes sense?

If all the home teams win, the west side has two options.

First:

*Sergeant Bluff-Luton, Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley, Spencer, Webster City

*Lewis Central, Harlan, Ballard, Dallas Center-Grimes

Or, second:

*SBL, BHRV, Lewis Central, Harlan

*Webster City, Ballard, DCG, Spencer


The east side is a little trickier. Again, with all the home teams winning, it looks like an obvious thing to bracket Decorah/West Delaware/Xavier together, but who's the fourth? Either Grinnell or Pella - but then the other is grouped with North Scott/Assumption/Washington. It's a coin flip; either a Quad Cities or Decorah trip to Pella would be a haul, but Grinnell to Decorah isn't a lot closer. I think it'll probably be:

*Decorah/West Delaware/Xavier/Grinnell

*Assumption/North Scott/Washington/Pella

Obviously, if some home teams end up losing, this all goes out the window. A Winterset win over Pella definitely puts Winterset into the west side, and then either Webster City or Ballard goes into an eastern bracket. A Fort Madison win over Grinnell simplifies the east side (Ft. Madison/Washington/Assumption/North Scott is an easy call).

5 comments:

  1. why couldnt it go harlan vs spencer and bhrv vs sbl and ballard vs webster city and lc vs dcg?

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    Replies
    1. I guess it depends on what the IHSAA decides is most important for the bracket. Travel? Avoiding rematches? Closest to seeding?
      This scenario leaves Lewis Central as a real outlier for the quarterfinal - it’s a long way between Council Bluffs and Webster City or Ballard.
      I don’t know about avoiding rematches - by the third and fourth rounds, that gets difficult if you also want to reduce travel.
      But I really don’t know. My track record of predicting IHSAA plans is not that good.

      Delete
  2. this avoids as many district rematches versus the other scenario which is all rematches or games that have been played

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  3. I know there are possible scenarios to split Harlan and Lewis Central into different brackets so they could both reach the Dome, but they require some geographic twists to make it work. Plus, what’s special about Harlan and Lewis Central as a pair to protect their paths to Cedar Falls, as opposed to DCG (top ranked in a couple of polls) or undefeated Webster City?

    In the East there’s undefeated Xavier, undefeated Assumption, undefeated Washington, a North Scott team that’s only lost to Pleasant Valley, and if West Delaware eventually advances past Decorah, a team that avenged their only loss. Which two if those should get “protected” to the Dome?

    Good teams lose in the quarterfinals, sometimes in rematches. It happens every year.

    ReplyDelete
  4. harlan/ lc are closer to sbl/ spencer than webster city to spencer.. send ballard to webster city( 50 min and district champ vs runner up) and LC to DCG( district runner up at champ_ than tri champ vs champ) ... only the IAHSAA will truly know Saturday and assuming no upsets. From eye test LC and Harlan are 2 best teams west of 1-80 IMO.

    ReplyDelete