Playoff football brackets for five classes released on Sunday
AURORA — Grandview, Ralston Valley, Pomona and Cherry Creek all got No. 1 seeds when the Class 5A football bracket was released on Sunday.
All four teams are the top seeds in their respective quadrants — which is a new format for this season. The classification kept a 32-team bracket, but instead of seeding teams Nos. 1-32, the seeding committee seeded four quadrants with Nos. 1-8 apiece.
The seeding committee is also a new addition this season. Previously, the 32-team bracket was set strictly by Wild Card points standings, with a few changes up or down one seed to avoid league matchups. This year, the 32 qualifiers were again set by the Wild Card points — which were released on Sunday morning — but the committee true-seeded the field based on a number of different criteria, including head-to-head, and an RPI ranking system.
No. 2 seeds include Rocky Mountain, Fairview, Valor Christian and Regis Jesuit. No. 3s are Fountain-Fort Carson, Overland, Mountain Vista and Doherty.
Among first-round matchups are No. 4 Prairie View vs. No. 5 Lakewood, No. 3 Mountain Vista vs. No. 6 Cherokee Trail, No. 4 Legacy vs. No. 5 Eaglecrest, and No. 3 Doherty vs. No. 6 Heritage.
Valor Christian is the defending champion, having won five consecutive titles over three classifications.
Teams can begin play this weekend. The semifinals are the weekend of Nov. 22 at home sites, with the championship No. 29 at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.
The full 5A bracket can be found here.
The 2A, 1A, 8-man and 6-man brackets also came out on Sunday.
2A’s top seed is Brush, which will faces Moffat County in the first round. No. 2 is Kent Denver, No. 3 is Strasburg and No. 4 is Lamar. Also hosting first-round games are No. 5 Gunnison, No. 6 Platte Valley, No. 7 Montezuma-Cortez and No. 8 Faith Christian.
Platte Valley is the defending champion.
See the full 16-team 2A bracket here.
In 1A, Paonia earned the top seed. The defending champion will host No. 16 Wiggins in the first round of the 16-team playoff.
Other hosts in 1A include No. 2 Buena Vista, No. 3 Meeker, No. 4 Resurrection Christian, No. 5 Centauri, No. 6 Rye, No. 7 Crowley County and No. 8 Wray.
See the entire 1A bracket here.
Dayspring Christian, also a defending champion, nabbed the top seed in 8-man. It will host No. 16 Elbert to kick off its title defense.
No. 2 Norwood, No. 3 Caliche, No. 4 Granada, No. 5 Akron, No. 6 Sangre de Cristo, No. 7 Simla and No. 8 Vail Christian will also host games in the first round of the 16-team field.
Find the full 8-man bracket here.
In 6-man, Arickaree/Woodlin is the top seed of the eight-team field. It plays No. 8 North Park in the first round.
Other teams hosting games in the first round include No. 2 Eads, No. 3 Peetz and No. 4 Fleming.
Defending champion Stratton/Liberty did not make the eight-team field.
See the entire 6-man bracket here.
The 2A, 1A and 8-man championship games are No. 22. 6-man’s title game is Nov. 15.
