With new high school football playoff formats, divisions, and regions and the regular season coming to an end, here is a look at how the brackets would look if the season ended today. Check out the possible bracket, and read on why it is set up the way it is.
Bracketology comes with a disclaimer:
- Hence the title, this would be the bracket if the playoffs started TODAY. There are two weeks left to go, and games to be played that can and will change the seeding.
- Where tiebreakers are needed (and known by our staff), they are reflected in the seeding
- Two teams are listed on the same line if they are tied for a position in the standings, but have not played yet. These will be updated as the season continues.
- RPI rankings only consider Upper State teams unless otherwise noted. For example, Dorman’s #8 RPI rating means it is the 8th best ranking out of Upper State teams, not the entire classification.
5A – DIVISION 1
STRUCTURE
- Division 1 Upper State teams that are in the top four of Regions 1, 2, 3, and 5 automatically qualify. Division 1 Upper State teams in the top three of Region 4 also automatically qualify.
- All region champions are seeded first, then all runners-up, all third place finishers, and fourth place finishers in order.
- After automatic bids are distributed, the rest of the bracket is filled with non-automatic qualifiers based on MaxPreps RPI.
BYES
- #1 Dutch Fork
- As a region champion and the top team in MaxPreps RPI, the Silver Foxes receive the top overall seed, a bye, and home-field advantage throughout the Upper State playoffs.
- #2 Spartanburg
- Also a region champion and #2 in RPI, the Vikings go next and also receive a bye.
- #3 JL Mann
- This one is tricky, and the most subject to change. But by projecting it out, the Patriots are the most likely to finish the highest of Region 1 teams in Division 1. Even if TL Hanna beats out JL Mann for the region title, second place would still be good enough for a bye. But for today, JL Mann would receive a bye and the three seed with a number four RPI ranking.
- #4 River Bluff
- With Division 1 teams sitting in second place in Regions 1-5, the final bye goes to the third place team with the highest RPI. Enter River Bluff. The Gators are #3 in RPI, and beat out other third place teams Rock Hill and Byrnes for the bye.
FIRST ROUND
- #5 Rock Hill and #6 Byrnes
- You can group these teams together for the same reason as River Bluff. Rock Hill and Byrnes are both third place in their respective region, receive automatic bids, and are seeded based on RPI. As of today, Byrnes would be third in Region 2 despite a tie with Dorman based on the Rebels head-to-head win on September 25th. With the Bearcats in 10th and the Rebels in 11th in RPI, Rock Hill gets the advantage.
- #7 Clover and #8 Dorman
- With every team that is in the top three of a region placed in the bracket, the next group are teams in fourth place. Clover is 4th in Region 3, and Dorman is tied with Byrnes for third in Region 2 but received a fourth place designation today based on the head to head loss to the Rebels on September 25th. Clover gets the seed edge over Dorman with the Blue Eagles #7 in the RPI and the Cavaliers #8.
- #9 Lexington, #10 Boiling Springs, #11 Blythewood, and #12 Mauldin
- These teams represent the finishers from outside the automatic qualifying spots, and receive playoff bids strictly based on RPI. Lexington is 5th, Boiling Springs is 6th, Blythewood is 9th, and Mauldin is 12th.
5A – DIVISION 2
STRUCTURE
- The exact same as Division 1, replaced with Division 2 teams in the same regions with the same method.
BYES
- #1 Northwestern
- The Trojans have already clinched the region title in Region 3, and are the highest-ranked Division 2 team in RPI.
- #2 TL Hanna
- With TL Hanna, we are doing a little projecting and this spot is the most likely to change. The Yellow Jackets are in a four-way tie for first place in Region 1, and have a head-to-head win over JL Mann. The top finisher of Division 2 teams in Region 1 will get a bye, and if it was today we are using RPI to best guess the order of TL Hanna (RPI #3), Hillcrest (RPI #4), and Greenwood (RPI #5).
- #3 Gaffney
- The Indians are in a great position to get a bye in the Division 2 playoffs. If they finish as Region 2 champions they very well can move up on the seed line, but without another Division 2 team as a region champion elsewhere Gaffney would get the top seed out of second-place teams with an RPI ranking at #2.
- #4 Catawba Ridge
- Catawba Ridge gets a bye if the playoffs start today as a second-place team in Region 3 and RPI ranking at 6.
FIRST ROUND
- #5 Hillcrest and #6 Greenwood
- This will get sorted out better in the next few weeks, and this article is merely a projection. But by using RPI we sorted Hillcrest and Greenwood as a third- and fourth-place finish in Region 1 for the purpose of this exercise. The Rams and Eagles are very much in play for a bye and can win their way into the second round in the next two weeks.
- #7 Riverside, #8 Indian Land, #9 Eastside, #10 Woodmont, #11 Nation Ford, and #12 Greenville
- Just like the Division 1 bracket, once all of the automatic spots are filled the rest of the field is completed solely based on RPI. There are no other Division 2 teams currently in the top four of its region. Conveniently, the seeds match those team’s RPI rankings this week.
4A
STRUCTURE
- Very similar to 5A, with the highest finishers in each region being placed first.
- Auto-bids stay, with larger regions getting more slots
- At-large spots remain, but there are fewer than in 5A, decided based on RPI
TEAMS
- #1 Westside, #2 Daniel, and #3 South Pointe
- Westside and Daniel are both tied for their region lead this week, so for this article we broke a tie based on RPI (regions can choose their own tiebreakers, RPI may or may not be the actual tiebreaker). South Pointe leads Region 3, so receives a top-three seed. The region champions are seeded based on RPI, which Westside is the top-ranked team in, with Daniel at #2 and South Pointe at #4.
- #4 Wren, #5 AC Flora, and #6 Greer
- The next three seeds are for second-place finishers in each of the three upper state regions. Wren and Greer play their first place counterparts in the next two weeks, but are placed here based on RPI for this article. Wren sits in 5th in RPI, with AC Flora and Greer right behind in 6th and 7th.
- #7 Seneca, #8 Richland Northeast, and #9 Emerald
- Third place teams are next, and Seneca has the edge in seeding based on RPI. The Bobcats are 3rd, with Richland Northeast in 9th and Emerald in 11th.
- #10 Camden, #11 Pickens, and #12 Laurens
- Each region gets an extra auto-bid, so fourth place teams from Regions 1-3 will be the next three teams in the field sorted by RPI. Camden is 8th, Pickens is 12th, and Laurens is 17th
- #13 Lancaster and #14 Berea
- Two more auto-bids get handed out, one each to Regions 2 and 3 since those groups have seven teams and Region 1 only has six. Lancaster is in fourth place in Region 3 and in 13th in RPI, while Berea is fourth in Region 2 with a 14th place spot in RPI.
- #15 Fountain Inn
- The 15th seed in the playoffs goes to an at-large team in the Upper State, the highest ranked team in RPI not already qualified. At 10th in the rating, Fountain Inn is in even at T5th in Region 1.
- #16 Dreher
- The final slot in the upper state playoffs gets the whole state involved. Out of both the upper state and lower state, the highest ranked RPI team without an automatic berth gets in at the 16th seed. Out of 41 teams, the highest ranked team this week without a bid is Dreher at #29.
3A
STRUCTURE
- Teams are assigned positions into the bracket based on region finish
- RPI is not a factor in seeding.
TBDs
- #3 Powdersville/St. Joseph’s
- These two teams are currently tied for first place in Region 2, and face off on November 1st. The winner would go to the top of the region, where the Region 1 first-place team gets the #3 seed, and the loser would occupy the #4 seed for the second-place team out of Region 1.
- #6 Union/Woodruff
- Currently tied for 2nd place in Region 3, these two teams play on November 1st. The team that wins goes into second and is the #6 seed, with the loser in play for third place and the #7 seed.
- #15 Carolina/Southside Christian
- Going into this week these two teams are tied for fifth in Region 1 and play on November 1st. The winner will slot into fifth-place and sit in #15 in the bracket, while the loser will be #16
2A
STRUCTURE
- Teams are assigned positions into the bracket based on region finish
- RPI is not a factor in seeding.
TBDs/NOTES
- #4 Batesburg-Leesville/Saluda
- These teams are currently tied for first place in Region 2, and will play each other on November 1st. The region champion gets the #4 seed, and the second-place team is #6.
- #5 Chesnee and #7 Liberty
- Chesnee and Liberty are tied for second in Region 1, but the Eagles have a head-to-head win on October 18th and hold the tiebreaker. For this exercise, Chesnee is #5 and Liberty is #7.
- #15 Buford/Chesterfield/North Central
- In Region 4, three teams are tied for one spot. All three teams have played head-to-head already and have one win and one loss against the other two, and we are tracking down the tie breaking procedure used by this region.
