For nearly a decade, Chris Harlan and I have stayed up until the wee hours producing our guesses to how the actual WPIAL football brackets might look the next day.
It appears I am now flying solo on this mission of mercy.
Chris is now doing an outstanding job covering the Steelers for TribLive, but some traditions die hard and I thought he might still be interested in sharing his opinion.
However, when I received his Class 5A wild-card selections as the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots, I knew our dynamic duo days had some to an end.
Not only am I trying to determine seeds in this exercise, but for the third straight year, wild-card teams are no longer determined by Gardner points or WPIAL tiebreaker points. Now, 17 additional berths will have to wait until Selection Saturday when the district football steering committee makes the decisions on which bubble teams are in and which are out.
Here are my two cents with a solo edition of high school football bracketology.
Class 6A
No. 4 Hempfield at No. 1 Central Catholic
No. 3 North Allegheny at No. 2 Canon-McMillan
Don says: Outside of juggernaut Central Catholic, this was a very competitive season between the other six teams. That should lead to a very interesting 2-3 semifinal between North Allegheny and Canon-McMillan. Could the Big Macs reach the finals for the first time? The only other question in 6A will be if Central Catholic can finally win it all and capture state gold this season?
Class 5A
No. 1 Pine-Richland – bye
No. 9 Moon at No. 8 Latrobe
No. 4 North Hills – bye
No. 12 Armstrong (wild card) at No. 5 Woodland Hills
No. 2 Penn-Trafford – bye
No. 10 Trinity (wild card) at No. 7 Thomas Jefferson
No. 3 Upper St. Clair – bye
No. 11 Gateway (wild card) at No. 6 West Allegheny
Don says: Pine-Richland is a strong No. 1, but both unbeaten Pen-Trafford and Upper St. Clair are legit contenders. Then there is a gap. Big discussion will be who gets a first-round bye, North Hills or Woodland Hills. I gave the nod to the Indians because of the missteps by the Wolverines and their 0-3 start due to the use of an ineligible player. The committee may reward Woody High for overcoming plenty of adversity. Three fourth-place finishers are easy choices for the three wild cards.
Class 4A
No. 8 Shaler at No. 1 South Fayette
No. 5 Chartiers Valley at No. 4 New Castle
No. 7 Ringgold (wild card) at No. 2 Montour
No. 6 Blackhawk (wild card) at No. 3 McKeesport
Don says: Top three are easy because Montour beat McKeesport but lost to South Fayette. The Tigers are dangerous now that Georgia commit Kemon Spell is back running the football. Blackhawk and Ringgold beat out Kiski Area for two wild-cards spots. I also put them ahead of a Shaler team that was 1-5 at one point and did not beat a team over .500. Watch out for New Castle in a small but deep 4A playoff field.
Class 3A
No. 16 Deer Lakes (wild card) at No. 1 Hopewell
No. 9 West Mifflin at No. 8 Freeport
No. 13 Burrell (wild card) at No. 4 Propel Braddock Hills
No. 12 Beaver at No. 5 Elizabeth Forward
No. 15 Mt. Pleasant (wild card) at No. 2 Avonworth
No. 10 Highlands at No. 7 Aliquippa
No. 14 Shady Side Academy (wild card) at No. 3 Belle Vernon
No. 11 Waynesburg Central at No. 6 North Catholic
Don says: I changed this several times before deciding on this bracket. Hopewell gets the top seed after beating Aliquippa and Avonworth beating Propel Braddock Hills. Despite losing to Belle Vernon, Elizabeth Forward gets the No. 5 seed having defeated North Catholic in Week 2, and the Warriors’ one-point loss to Belle Vernon was their only loss to a 3A team. How deep is this playoff field when North Catholic is No. 6 and Aliquippa is the seven seed? I gave Deer Lakes the final wild card based on a victory over another fifth-place finisher in Derry, plus the Western Hills Conference’s fourth-place team, OLSH, was 2-8 with wins over winless Ellwood City and 2-8 Ambridge. Right side of the bracket (bottom four games) is loaded.
Class 2A
No. 1 Bishop Canevin – bye
No. 9 Beaver Falls at No. 8 McGuffey
No. 13 Keystone Oaks (wild card) at No. 4 Western Beaver
No. 12 Chartiers-Houston (wild card) at No. 5 Steel Valley
No. 2 Seton LaSalle – bye
No. 10 Riverside (wild card) at No. 7 Ligonier Valley
No. 3 Apollo-Ridge – bye
No. 11 South Allegheny (bye) at No. 6 Neshannock
Don says: Top two teams in the Century Conference dominated in head-to-head wins against Western Beaver, Neshannock and Steel Valley when they played them this year. Bishop Canevin and Seton LaSalle earned top two spots. We’ve had Apollo-Ridge No. 3 in rankings for most of the year in 2A with its only loss coming against 3A Freeport. Neshannock could be a No. 5 seed, but we’ll keep the Lancers away from Western Beaver and Steel Valley away from Apollo-Ridge. Really good matchup in the 8-9 slot between two strong third-place teams. All three fourth-place teams get wild cards along with fifth-place Keystone Oaks based on its win over fifth-place East Allegheny and Freedom going 1-5 in its final six games.
Class A
No. 16 Frazier (wild card) at No. 1 Clairton
No. 9 Greensburg Central Catholic at No. 8 Beth-Center
No. 13 Union (wild card) at No. 4 Fort Cherry
No. 12 Monessen (wild card) at No. 5 Laurel
No. 15 Avella at No. 2 Washington
No. 10 Burgettstown at No. 7 Jeannette
No. 14 Serra Catholic (wild card) at No. 3 Shenango
No. 11 Northgate at No. 6 California
Don says: Kind of all falls into place. Tri-County South Conference champion California gets No. 6 and runner-up Beth-Center No. 8, but the conference has to earn respect and can win these two games. There is some depth to this bracket, but it would be surprising if the top four seeds don’t meet in semifinals. Keep an eye on Burgettstown.
Source: triblive.com
