Things got a little crazy in AAAA. Artesia beat Roswell. Belen beat St. Pius X twice in three days! Shiprock eked out the second seed over Piedra Vista. Whew.
So there will be some adjustments. And for anyone who wants to take umbrage over Belen being seeded higher than St. Pius, well a 2-1 Eagles' edge in games is my retort.
Here we go.
Again ...
1. Española Valley (22-4). Regardless of what happens on Friday, the Sundevils are the No. 1 seed. Roswell's loss to the Bulldogs helped, and Deming just doesn't have the quality wins to usurp them. But the Sundevils' problem hasn't been with seeding ... It's been with what happens when they get to Albuquerque. And the margin for error this year among the top 5-10 teams is slim, at best.
2. Roswell (18-7). The Coyotes are still the top seed in District 4AAAA, but they split with Artesia, which should make the rematch on Saturday crucial for state seeding purposes. A win will secure this spot. A loss could drop them to a three or a four.
3. Deming (20-6). The Wildcats are here because they went 6-0 in 3AAAA and have won 15 straight games. That trumps Artesia's win over Roswell, but they should pay careful attention to Saturday's game. Very close attention.
4. Artesia (19-7). The Bulldogs' 1-4 struggle before a 2-0 finish last week has them here. If they expect to move up to a three - or even a two - they have to beat Roswell. Otherwise, they are stuck here. Well, if they lose to Goddard ...
5. Los Alamos (18-8). Oh, what could have been. The Hilltoppers were impressive at times against Española, but still lost when a win would have sewn up the district's top seed. There's still hope to move up, but Los Alamos needs to win the district tournament for that to happen.
6. Belen (17-10). One more win, Eagles. Just one more. the committee should be impressed with the back-to-back wins over St. Pius X, but they need one more - in the 6AAAA championship - to really solidify a good spot. Heck, they might jump over Los Alamos, even though the Hilltoppers beat them twice.
7. St. Pius X (18-9). The beeping sound heard around Sartans Garden was the Sartan truck taking a few steps back. But is what happens when a team plays so many close games like St. Pius does. Redemption will come if the Sartans can beat the Eagles, which will even the season series to 2-2. Then it will come down to resumes, and St. Pius has an impressive one.
8. Albuquerque Academy (7-19). Academy has restored itself. The top seed in 5AAAA, a nice win over La Cueva, blowouts in all six district games. Oh, and Pat Zacharias is playing himself back into shape. Which is bad news for .... Española?
9. Bernalillo (15-11). Congratulations, Spartans. After floundering through your first three years in Class AAAA, the Spartans look like they belong. Of course, they belong in the middle of the pack, but it's better than where they have been.
10. Farmington (12-13). The Santa Teresa Rule is in effect here. To explain: Two years ago, the Desert Warriors of Santa Teresa won 3AAAA, but with a 10-17 record to show in the worst district in the state. They were given an 11 seed for the 2007 state tournament and thus establishing the rule of thumb I will use.
Are the Scorpions worse than those Desert Warriors? The answer is no. So a 10 seed it is.
11. Capital (15-12). The Jaguar coaches might think they had influence on me. Sadly, no, that wasn't the case. Belen did, though. Because of the Eagles, the Hilltoppers went up a spot. And that means you guys do, too.
12. Grants (17-8). Sorry, Pirates. Yes, 17-8 is impressive. But ... Splits with Socorro and Pojoaque? A two-game sweep over Cuba and Shiprock? Wins over Valencia, Moriarty, Wingate and Santa Fe Indian School? Those are great wins if you were still in Class AAA, but this is a crappy AAAA resume. Oh, and you went 2-4 in 6AAAA. That made this move down much easier.
13. Silver (12-14). Be lucky you finished second in 3AAAA, Colts. Santa Teresa is looking better and better by the moment. Better than you, at least.
(Shhh ... Don't tell Roswell Goddard and Del Norte I said that!)
14. Shiprock (14-10). Watching the Chieftains and Piedra Vista pass second place back and forth with each other is like watching two NASCAR drivers duke it out for 30th place. No one cares other than their fans. Which explains why the Shiprock fans were so excited during their team's 67-63 double OT win on Friday.
15. Santa Teresa (14-11). Look at one win and a two-game winning streak can do! And just in the nick of time. If the Desert Warriors can upset Silver again in the 3AAAA semifinals, the 16th seed becomes a dog fight between ...
16. Goddard (10-15)/Del Norte (10-16). Speaking of 30th-place battles, the Rockets are in a heap of one with the fast-charging Knights. Del Norte has the advantage of playing Moriarty and Valencia in its district and produced a 4-2 5AAAA record. Goddard has ... Roswell and Artesia, and a 0-4 record is the result. Yuck ... If the Rockets can pull off a win over Artesia in the 4AAAA semifinal, they should prevail because Del Norte has to play ... Moriarty or Valencia. Yuck ....
Sorry, Piedra Vista. On the outside looking in for now. that's because your most impressive win is over ... Shiprock. By one. On the road. Other than that ... Well, if you have nothing nice to say ... Then read between the line.
Oh wait, I do have something good to say. Beat Shiprock. It's your only hope.
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That is a good ranking James but what do you think the rankings would look like if LA beats Espanola for the district Championship, and Roswell beats Artesia, And Belen Beats St. Pius X
ReplyDeleteLA still needs to beat Capital in order to play Espanola for the Championship. Capital has beat LA in LA already.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, the only team that will be affected in that scenario will be Roswell Because it tied with Artesia for the district, an Artesia win would likely knock Roswell down to a 4, maybe 5. Los Alamos might sneak into a 4 if that happens. Espanola is far and away the best team in AAAA and a loss to LA won't change that.
ReplyDeleteSo you actually think that roswell could drop down to a 4 or a 5 with a loss to Artesia. But i thought since roswell had the tie breaker over artesia in the regular season so that would mean roswell would have to be ranked higher than Artesia.
ReplyDeleteLA is going to beat Capial their is no doubt about it. Capital had their best half of the season against LA in LA and unless they can match that Thursday which is would be unbelievable. So i am pretty sure that LA will win. And if you dont believe me bring 5 dollars and we will place a bet on it.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the NMAA doesn't have to use tiebreakers to determine seeding for the tournament when it comes to tied teams. It can look at criteria such as head-to-head competition and finish in the district tournament, which is why I think if Artesia wins, it will be seeded ahead of Roswell because the Bulldogs will have a 2-1 advantage in head-to-head.
ReplyDeleteAre you 100 percent sure that is how it works James, because what i heard was that if you finished ahead of someone in your district then that other team could not be ranked ahead of you in state.
ReplyDeleteWell, I was sure ... until about three days ago. I was directed to the NMAA handbook, which has a bylaw in there which states that when ties occur, the seeding committee doesn't have to factor in tiebreakers, whether they be by coin flip, point differential or playoff games.
ReplyDeleteHere is the rule I copied from the handbook.
One district team cannot be seeded or selected higher than another who came out
of district as a lower seed with regular season taking precedence over tournament play.
As per Board of Directors, September 27, 2006. In the event of a tie in the regular season district
standings, the Seeding/Selection Committee may use district tournament results or any other
head to head competition to determine the selection/seeding order between the two teams that
are tied.
Wow i am sorry i am almost had to eat my own words but i guess that is a good thing i didnt bet 5 dollars on the game and Capital congratulations that was a heck of a game and season and good luck in the state tournament. IF Anybody reading this blog is around espanola tommorow stop by EVHS and watch a great game between two solid teams.
ReplyDeleteWell if anyone wants to go to that Espanola game they better get there early!! The gates open at 3:30pm, and tickets will be sold at 4:00pm sharp. The Edward Medina Gymnasium's 4,150 seat compacity is expected to sell out an hour before the game even starts.
ReplyDeleteSorry to say PV won't have another shot at Shiprock after dropping the ball last night losing to Kirtland 74-64.
ReplyDeleteThanks, sir, for the heads up on PV. Guess I'll take them off the list. Feel free to update me on scores all throughout this weekend. You can either post here, or write me at jbarron@sfnewmexican.com
ReplyDelete