The WPIAL Playoff Brackets will be revealed on Saturday afternoon on KDKA Radio. Tune in to the bracket reveal show starting at 1pm. Here’s a quick look at my best guesses for how the WPIAL will seed the brackets.
Class 6A Bracket Projection
6A is straightforward as only four teams make the playoffs and they are seeded in order of finish in the standings.
1. Central Catholic (6-0, 9-1) – The defending champions rolled through 6A play once again
2. North Allegheny (4-2, 7-3) – The Tigers enter the playoffs reeling from losses to Pine-Richland and Seneca Valley
3. Norwin (4-2, 7-3) – First playoff appearance since 2017 for the Knights
4. Canon-McMillan (2-4, 4-6) – The Big Macs got in thanks to head-to-head wins over Mt. Lebanon and Seneca Valley
Class 5A Bracket Projection
1. Pine-Richland (5-0, 9-1) – The defending WPIAL Champs only loss this year was to Central Catholic
2. Peters Twp (5-0, 10-0) – Peters won the Allegheny Six Conference. They have faced Pine-Richland in the last two title games, will this year make it three?
3. Woodland Hills (6-0, 8-2) – The Wolverines dominated the Big East Conference and will get a first round bye.
4. Penn-Trafford (5-1, 9-1) – The last bye came down to either Penn-Trafford or Moon. The Warriors won a head-to-head matchup earlier in the year, making this choice easier.
5. Moon (4-1, 7-3) – With five teams out of the Allegheny Six, they get seeded in standings order for all of the first round matchups.
6. Upper St. Clair (3-2, 8-2) – The Panthers finished 3rd in the Allegheny Six after narrow losses to Peters Twp and Moon.
7. Bethel Park (2-3, 6-4) – The first wild card team gets a home playoff game due to a winning record
8. Kiski (3-3, 4-6) – I opted to give Kiski as a 3rd place team a home playoff game over South Fayette, who was 5th in their conference and a Wild Card but the WPIAL could easily flip these two.
9. South Fayette (1-4, 5-5) – The Lions get slotted in here to avoid any conference rematches.
10. Shaler (3-2, 3-7) – The Titans made the playoffs for the first time since 2019, finishing 2nd with a head-to-head win over North Hills
11. North Hills (3-2, 3-7) – North Hills was the third place team out of the Northeast Conference
12. Plum (2-3, 5-5) – The Mustangs beat Penn Hills on the final play of the game and also have head-to-head wins over Gateway and Kiski to give them the edge over Armstrong for the final playoff spot.
Class 4A Bracket Projection
1. McKeesport (5-0, 7-3) – The Tigers losses all came in games where Kemon Spell did not play a full game and are easily the top team in 4A right now.
2. New Castle (4-1, 8-2) – The Red Hurricanes won their first conference title since 2008.
3. Trinity (5-0, 6-4) – Trinity won their first conference title since 1986.
4. Thomas Jefferson (4-1, 8-2) – The defending champions get the nod for the final home playoff game. To avoid a conference rematch with Trinity, TJ will have to be in the 4-5 game.
5. Mars (4-1, 8-2) – The Planets beat Montour head-to-head, giving them the edge for the 5th spot
6. Montour (4-1, 7-3) – The Parkway Conference co-champions could wind up in the 4-5 game, but drop to 6th because TJ can’t face Trinity and they lost to Mars head-to-head.
7. Chartiers Valley (3-2, 7-3) – Char Valley and Aliquippa both beat West Allegheny head-to-head, making the wild cards an easy choice. The Colts get the #7 seed to avoid a New Castle-Aliquippa Parkway Conference rematch
8. Aliquippa (3-2, 6-3) – The Quips 30-year playoff streak will continue thanks to their head-to-head win over West Allegheny.
Class 3A Bracket Projection
1. Avonworth (6-0, 10-0) – The Lopes are the defending Champions and went undefeated, including multiple wins over 4A playoff teams.
2. Imani Christian (6-0, 10-0) – The Saints were the undefeated Allegheny Seven Conference Champs
3. Elizabeth Forward (5-0, 8-1) – The Warriors only loss came against 5A South Fayette
4. Central Valley (5-1, 6-4) – The Warriors get the final bye due to their difficult non-conference schedule
5. Southmoreland (4-1, 9-1) – There are many different directions the WPIAL could go here, but ultimately I chose the Scotties for only having one loss as they look for their first playoff win in school history.
6. North Catholic (4-2, 7-3) – The Trojans have the WPIAL’s leading passer and one of the highest-scoring teams in the classification
7. Highlands (5-1, 7-3) – The Rams finished second in the Allegheny Seven thanks to an overtime win over Freeport.
8. Freeport (4-2, 7-3) – The Yellow Jackets finished third in the Allegheny Seven
9. Beaver (3-3, 5-5) – The Bobcats beat Hopewell by a point earlier this year and get the first Wild Card
10. Hopewell (2-4, 6-4) – The Vikings have non-conference wins over Freeport and New Castle but finished 5th in the Western Hills, making it difficult to seed them much higher than 9th or 10th.
11. Derry (3-2, 6-4) – The Trojans turned things around after an 0-2 start to conference play to win their last three games.
12. Burrell (3-3, 4-6) – The Bucs get the final wild card thanks to their head-to-head win over Mt. Pleasant
Class 2A Bracket Projection
1. Seton LaSalle (6-0, 9-1) – The Rebels get the top seed for the second straight year with their only loss coming against 3A North Catholic in Week 0.
2. Western Beaver (6-1, 9-1) – The Golden Beavers won the Midwestern Conference. The WPIAL should give the three conference champions byes, so Western Beaver and Steel Valley will be 2 and 3 in either order.
3. Steel Valley (5-1, 7-3) – The Ironmen won the 3-way tie with South Allegheny and Apollo-Ridge on tiebreaker points to get the top seed from the Allegheny Conference
4. South Allegheny (5-1, 9-1) – South Allegheny’s undefeated season came to an end in Week 9 against Steel Valley
5. Washington (5-1, 8-2) – The Prexies lost to Seton LaSalle in the Week 9 battle for the Century Conference title
6. Apollo-Ridge (5-1, 7-3) – The Vikings finished in a 3-way tie for the conference title thanks to a win over Steel Valley.
7. Ellwood City (5-2, 6-4) – The Wolverines finished second in the Midwestern Conference
8. Mohawk (4-3, 5-5) – The Warriors bounced back from a 1-4 start to win 4 of their last 5, including a win over Western Beaver.
9. OLSH (3-3, 5-5) – OLSH beat Keystone Oaks in the final week of the season which should earn the Chargers a wild card and get them seeded ahead of KO
10. Keystone Oaks (4-2, 4-6) – KO gets the #10 seed to avoid a conference rematch between Ellwood City and any of the Midwestern Wild Cards.
11. Riverside (4-3, 5-5) – The Panthers get a wild card as the 4th place team out of the Midwestern
12. Beaver Falls (4-3, 4-6) – A year after going winless, the Tigers won a number of close games to finish in the middle of the Midwestern pack.
13. New Brighton (3-4, 6-4) – New Brighton’s wins over Ellwood City and Mohawk give them the edge over Waynesburg for the final wild card spot.
Class 1A Bracket Projection
1. Fort Cherry (6-0, 10-0) – The Rangers are the two-time defending champions and went undefeated, making them an easy choice for the top seed
2. Clairton (7-0, 9-1) – Since giving up 19 points to Imani Christian in Week 0, Clairton has not allowed a single point.
3. Bishop Canevin (5-1, 7-3) – Canevin beat Laurel head-to-head giving them the edge for the #3 seed.
4. Laurel (6-0, 9-1) – The Spartans beat Lawrence County rivals Neshannock in Week 9 to win the conference title.
5. California (7-0, 9-1) – The Tri-County South Champions are always hard to seed but with only one loss, putting them next to Laurel in the bracket makes sense.
6. South Side (5-1, 8-2) – The Rams triple option rushing attack gave teams fits this year
7. Leechburg (5-2, 7-3) – The Blue Devils loss to GCC in Week 9 may hurt their seeding a little
8. Neshannock (4-2, 7-3) – The Lancers playing Laurel close helps them get the last home playoff game over Jeannette
9. Jeannette (5-2, 7-3) – The Jayhawks could easily be given the 8-seed instead, this was a coin flip.
10. Bentworth (6-1, 8-2) – Bentworth only lost to TCS Champs California by one and have the WPIAL’s leading rusher Ben Hays
11. Jefferson-Morgan (5-2, 8-2) – Jefferson-Morgan beat Chartiers-Houston head-to-head, giving them the edge here.
12. Chartiers-Houston (4-2, 7-3) – The Bucs were a great story, bouncing back from being at the bottom of the conference to make the playoffs.
13. Monessen (3-3, 6-4) – The Greyhounds Week 9 win over Cornell gets them into the playoffs.
14. Frazier (4-3, 6-4) – The Commodores finished 4th in the Eastern Conference and make the playoffs for the first time since 2017.
15. Cornell (2-4, 5-5) – The Raiders get the edge over Shenango, Brentwood, and Avella for one of the last spots. They are seeded 15th to avoid a conference rematch against Fort Cherry or Bishop Canevin.
16. GCC (3-4, 5-5) – A Week 9 win over Leechburg plus non-conference wins over Mt Pleasant and Apollo-Ridge gets the Centurions into the playoffs with a wild card. GCC probably should get in ahead of Cornell, but get dropped to 16th to avoid a conference rematch against Clairton.
