It’s WPIAL-style Bracketology! Here’s my quick prediction on who will make the WPIAL playoffs and how the teams will be seeded in the brackets. The brackets will be revealed at 1pm today on KDKA Radio. Follow the @KDKARadio Twitter feed for updates on other ways to tune in.
Class 6A Bracketology
6A is the easiest classification. The top four teams make the playoffs and are seeded in order of finish in the conference standings.
- Central Catholic (6-0, 8-2)
- North Allegheny (5-1, 9-1)
- Mt. Lebanon (3-3, 3-7)
- Seneca Valley (3-3, 4-5)
Mt. Lebanon’s head-to-head win over Seneca Valley put the Blue Devils in the #3 seed. Mt. Lebanon only lost to North Allegheny by 7 points a few weeks ago and now get a rematch. Central Catholic and North Allegheny are looking to meet in the title game for the third straight year.
Class 5A Bracketology
In 5A, the top 3 teams from each conference were guaranteed playoff spots and the WPIAL will select 3 Wild Card teams. The Committee has a big decision to make at the top of the bracket between Upper St Clair and Pine-Richland. Everything else should mostly fall into place after that, though seeding 6-8 could go in any order.
- Upper St. Clair (5-0, 10-0) – As the only undefeated team, I gave the slight edge to USC but Pine-Richland got strong consideration.
- Pine-Richland (5-0, 8-1) – PR has a win over Central Catholic and their only loss came in the final minute against North Allegheny
- Peters Twp (3-1, 9-1) – The Defending Champs land on the other half of the bracket from their conference rivals USC.
- Woodland Hills (6-0, 8-2) – The Big East Conference Champs get the 4th bye
- Bethel Park (3-2, 8-2) – The Black Hawks were the highest-scoring team in 5A and only had losses to USC and Peters.
- Penn-Trafford (5-1, 8-2) – The Warriors could wind up anywhere between 6th and 8th. I put them 6th given their 8-2 overall record.
- Penn Hills (4-1, 6-4) – The second place team out of the Northeast Conference who had a tough non-conference slate.
- North Hills (3-2, 8-2) – North Hills finished 3rd in the Northeast, losing head-to-head to Penn Hills.
- Moon (2-3, 5-4) – The first wild card goes to Moon and they are seeded well, a tribute to the strength of their conference.
- Franklin Regional (4-2, 7-3) – All four of Franklin Regional’s conference wins were by less than 6 points.
- South Fayette (1-4, 6-4) – I gave South Fayette a wild card with their 6-4 overall record.
- Latrobe (2-4, 5-5) – The last Wild Card came down to the three-way tie in the Big East where Latrobe has the best comparative results, despite Gateway technically winning the tiebreaker.
Class 4A Bracketology
4A has a very limited playoff field this year. Only two teams from each conference were guaranteed playoff spots and the WPIAL will select two wild cards. Given the three-way tie atop the Parkway, it’s really just a decision on one wild card.
- Thomas Jefferson (5-0, 10-0) – The only undefeated team in 4A gets the top seed
- Aliquippa (4-1, 6-2) – The Quips win the 3-way tie atop the Parkway Conference. As defending Champs, seeding them in the Top 2 makes sense.
- McKeesport (5-0, 6-4) – The Tigers had a brutal non-conference schedule but have run through the Greater Allegheny Conference. Seeding them 3rd avoids an Aliquippa-Montour rematch in the semifinals.
- Montour (4-1, 8-1) – Montour drops to 4th in order to get them on the other half of the bracket from Aliquippa. At 8-1 overall, even though they’re technically a Wild Card team, I have a hard time seeing Montour seeded lower than 4th.
- Trinity (4-1, 5-5) – Trinity and Mars both faced Montour this year. Trinity lost by 7 while Mars lost by 17. That gives the Hillers the edge above Mars for this spot.
- West Allegheny (4-1, 4-3) – If the WPIAL is okay with conference rematches, then West A could be 5th, but I would guess they would try to avoid a first round rematch if possible.
- Mars (4-1, 5-5) – The Fighting Planets were the 2nd team out of the GAC.
- Belle Vernon (3-2, 4-4) – I gave Belle Vernon the last Wild Card spot. The WPIAL could flip Belle Vernon and Mars to avoid conference rematches in the first round AND give us the Belle Vernon-Aliquippa game that was postponed earlier this year due to weather.
The big decision here is for the final Wild Card between West Mifflin and Belle Vernon. Both finished with .500 records. The Greater Allegheny Conference overall performed worse out of conference than the Big Six. The two teams have almost identical resumes. Both lost to McKeesport by about 20 and to TJ by 28. The WPIAL could go either way but I gave the edge to the two-time defending State Champs.
Class 3A Bracketology
There are 12 teams in the 3A Playoffs. The top 3 from each conference automatically qualify plus 3 Wild Cards selected by the WPIAL.
- Imani Christian (6-0, 10-0) – The only undefeated team in 3A is the easy choice for the top seed.
- Central Valley (5-1, 5-5) – The Warriors were given an absolutely brutal non-conference slate that included 3 of the top teams in 4A and a 5A playoff team. They won the 3-way tie for first in the Western Hills Conference.
- Beaver (5-1, 8-2)– Beaver’s only losses this year were to Avonworth and Central Valley
- Elizabeth Forward (5-0, 7-3) – The Interstate Conference Champs get the last bye
- Avonworth (5-1, 7-3) – The Lopes loss to Beaver dropped them into 3rd place in the Western Hills. They could get a bye if the WPIAL gives all 3 of the teams that finished in a 3-way tie byes.
- Deer Lakes (5-1, 8-2)
- Southmoreland (3-2, 7-3) – The Scotties loss to Greensburg Salem dropped them into a 3-way tie with Mt Pleasant. Southmoreland still finished 2nd on tiebreaker points.
- Freeport (4-2, 7-3)
- Mt Pleasant (3-2, 5-5)
- Highlands (3-3, 5-4) – Seeding Highlands as the top wild card avoids conference rematches. The Rams did beat Elizabeth Forward in triple OT earlier this year.
- Greensburg Salem (3-2, 7-3) – Despite beating Southmoreland in Week 9, the Lions still need a Wild Card to get in. Seeding them here avoids conference rematches.
- North Catholic (3-3, 4-6) – This conference rematch was unavoidable as North Catholic gets the final Wild Card thanks to their head-to-head win over Hopewell.
Class 2A Bracketology
In 2A, there are 3 first round byes. The Top 3 from each conference make the playoffs, along with 4 wild cards.
- Seton LaSalle (6-0, 9-0) – The Rebels went unbeaten after moving down to 2A
- Ellwood City (7-0, 9-0) – The first undefeated regular season for Ellwood since 1944.
- South Park (6-0, 9-1) – South Park’s only loss was to 3A Deer Lakes
- Western Beaver (6-1, 7-2) – With only 3 byes, the 4-seed is not as important in 2A as it is in 3A and 5A. With Ellwood getting a slight edge over South Park, that trend continues here between Western Beaver and Steel Valley.
- Steel Valley (5-1, 7-3) – The Barksdale Brothers are healthy and this is a dangerous team.
- South Allegheny (4-2, 8-2)
- Mohawk (5-2, 6-3)
- OLSH (3-3, 5-4) – The Chargers as a Wild Card get seeded higher than the 2nd place team out of the Century Conference, thanks to their head-to-head win over Keystone Oaks in Week 9
- Riverside (4-3, 5-5) – Riverside seeded 9th to avoid a rematch of the Week 9 game between OLSH and KO
- Keystone Oaks (4-2, 4-5) – In a wild twist, the 4 Century Conference teams get slotted at the bottom of the bracket. KO with a losing record overall as the 2nd place team made it hard to seed them higher.
- Waynesburg (4-2, 6-4)
- Carlynton (3-3, 6-4) – Carlynton should see their 23-year playoff drought, the longest in the WPIAL, come to an end
- Washington (3-3, 5-5) – Washington gets the last wild card, thanks to a head-to-head win over Union
Class 1A Bracketology
In 1A, there are 16 total teams and no byes. The Top 3 from each conference qualify with the WPIAL adding 4 Wild Cards.
- Fort Cherry (6-0, 10-0) – The WPIAL has traditionally given undefeated defending champions the top seed.
- Clairton (7-0, 10-0) – Clairton’s defense only allowed 14 points all season
- Bishop Canevin (5-1, 7-2) – Canevin lands at the 3 seed to put them on the other half of the bracket from Fort Cherry
- Neshannock (6-0, 9-1) – The Big Seven Champs only loss was by 7 to Ellwood City
- Jefferson-Morgan (7-0, 10-0) – The undefeated Tri-County South Champs land in the same spot that Mapletown did a few years back in a similar situation
- GCC (6-1, 7-2) – The Centurions beat Leechburg in the final week to get the 2nd spot in the Eastern Conference
- Cornell (4-2, 8-2) – Cornell’s victories over California and Monessen earn them a home playoff game, despite being a 3rd place finisher.
- Leechburg (5-2, 8-2)
- California (6-1, 7-3)
- Laurel (5-1, 5-5) – Laurel lost the Big Seven Conference title game against Neshannock in Week 9.
- Monessen (3-3, 7-3) – Monessen could be seeded higher but lands here at 11 to avoid a conference rematch with 7-seed Cornell
- South Side (4-2, 6-2)
- Jeannette (3-3, 6-3) – The Jayhawks play Saturday afternoon but should comfortably get a wild card.
- Bentworth (4-3, 6-4) – The Bearcats made the playoffs for the first time since 2014 by winning the 3-way tie for 3rd in the Tri-County South
- Rochester (3-3, 3-6) – The last two wild cards were tough. Rochester’s close game against South Side this week gave them the advantage in my eyes.
- Brentwood (3-4, 4-6) – The final Wild Card came down to Brentwood and Carmichaels. Ultimately, I chose Brentwood because their offense has been much more productive. Carmichaels has only scored 20+ twice this year (blowouts of Frazier and Mapletown). Brentwood has scored 20+ 6 times. Brentwood gets seeded here to avoid a conference rematch against Clairton in the 2-15 game.
