Advertisement

Yodice: Class 5A, 4A bracket previews are best-guess scenarios

james yodice, albuquerque journal, n.m.
·4 min read

Oct. 28—Approximately 17 minutes ago, we kicked off the 2023 high school football season.

It blazed its way through our timelines like a drag racer at full throttle through these last 11 weeks, culminating with the final regular season games on Saturday. Bernalillo and Valley started the season on Aug. 17. Bernalillo and Albuquerque Academy closed the season on Oct. 28. The season passed in the blink of an eye, right?

And so onward we go into the next four weekends, when we'll crown state champions in all seven classifications.

We closed the year with just two undefeated 11-Man teams, Roswell in Class 5A and Bloomfield in 4A. The Coyotes and Bobcats are certain to find themselves on the top line of their postseason brackets when we all rise with the sun for the 7:30 a.m. announcement on Sunday.

The Class 6A bracket was really chucked into a blender on Friday night when unranked Clovis kicked down the door and punched its ticket to the playoffs with a significant upset of No. 4 Los Lunas in the District 5-6A title game.

The ripple effect of that 30-29 Clovis victory will be felt up and down the bracket.

The Tigers were seemingly on the verge of a No. 4 seed, and a first-round bye.

Now? A first-round road game.

(A word of caution: everything you read from here on out comes with a disclaimer. Two of the six metrics used to seed and select football teams, the coaches' poll and the new MaxPreps.com rankings, are not available as I peck this out at 8:30 p.m. Saturday. Minus 33% of the criteria points, this seriously complicates the process of trying to put these teams in a predictable order. I am therefore compelled to use the most recent polls for guidance.)

The top three are the most certain in 6A. It will be Cleveland at 1, then Centennial, then La Cueva.

Who gets the fourth bye? Me, I say Rio Rancho, even after a 37-0 drubbing at the hands of Cleveland on Friday night. I've got the Rams at 4, then Volcano Vista at No. 5, and Sandia at 6.

Clovis' win on Friday, I don't think, gets the Wildcats a home game in the first round. There are three 5-5 teams (Clovis also is 5-5), that are in the 7-9 seed mix.

Las Cruces must go in front of Hobbs, so I've got the Bulldawgs at No. 7, then Hobbs at No. 8.

The final four seeds will be a bit of a puzzle as well.

Farmington is the 9 seed on my bracket. I compared Clovis' overall data to Farmington, Las Cruces and Hobbs; the Wildcats were behind all three based on the most recent numbers, so I can't justify placing Clovis any higher than No. 10.

Then it's Los Lunas, falling all the way to No. 11, and finally, West Mesa. But I can also easily see a scenario unfold where West Mesa goes No. 10 in front of Clovis, with Los Lunas as the 12 seed.

But to recap, here are the 12 I have:

1. Cleveland

2. Centennial

3. La Cueva

4. Rio Rancho

5. Volcano Vista

6. Sandia

7. Las Cruces

8. Hobbs

9. Farmington

10. Clovis

11. Los Lunas

12. West Mesa

That would lead to these first-round matchups: West Mesa-Volcano Vista, Los Lunas-Sandia, Clovis-Las Cruces, Farmington-Hobbs.

CLASS 5A: The top four were a little easier to hash out here than in 6A. Roswell, most certainly in the conversation as the top team in the state in any class, is a runaway No. 1, followed by rival Artesia at No. 2.

Piedra Vista's 5-5 record is deceiving; the Panthers are on the 3 line in my bracket, with Goddard fourth based on Piedra Vista's head-to-head win over the Rockets in the regular season.

Deming and Valley are, from where I sit, the logical selections at No. 5 and No. 6, but in which order? These teams are very evenly matched by the criteria; the new coaches' poll and MaxPreps rankings will ultimately tilt this. I have Deming at 5, Valley at 6. Best guess.

Los Alamos has done enough to get a first-round home game, and I have the Hilltoppers at 7, followed by Gadsden at No. 8.

The final four? Mayfield, Highland, Manzano, Belen.

Mayfield and Highland, like Valley and Deming, are two teams that could switch places based on the two updated polls.

Manzano and Belen combined for only three wins, but I've got both advancing.

Belen gets in primarily because of its one win, last week versus Miyamura, a loss that prevented the Patriots from qualifying.

Here is my top 12 in Class 5A:

1. Roswell

2. Artesia

3. Piedra Vista

4. Goddard

5. Deming

6. Valley

7. Los Alamos

8. Gadsden

9. Mayfield

10. Highland

11. Manzano

12. Belen

First-round games would be: Belen-Deming, Manzano-Valley, Highland-Los Alamos and Mayfield-Gadsden. A Belen-Deming pairing would be ironic, since the Eagles had to forfeit to the Wildcats in the regular season, part of the fallout of a late-game scuffle Belen had with Valley in early September.