Heads And Tails Of This Mess

I have been trying to figure out who is AA and who is A in the playoffs?

According to Rick Strunk of the NCHSAA, the 95 3-A teams they will start with the biggest and work their way down.

When they have 32 of the biggest that have qualified, then they will take the 32 smallest that qualify.

That begs the question how do you qualify?

Win four games.

Suppose there are not 64 teams in 3-A that win four games. Then they will pull from teams that win only three.

Once they have the 32 in each bracket, then they will seed them according to how they finished in their conference.

First, there are the conference champions. All champions that are undefeated go to the top of the list. If there are more than one, a drawing will be here by pulling out of the hat.

Next is conference champs with one loss, after all of those then the two-loss champs.

You say who is going to win a conference with two losses or three? It can happen if you were 1-3 in non-conference play or worse.

I remember Jim Brett led Tarboro to a 3-A state championship back in 1984 after starting out non-conference play 0-4. It can happen.

Once they are through with the 1st place teams, they follow the procedure for second on down the line until 32 teams are in.

Looking at the NEW 6, five teams have qualified.

Northern Nash is the largest school in our conference, but they will not qualify for the playoffs.
They are the 24th largest 3-A school in the state. If it had of qualified, it would have been a 3-AA.

Fike is the 40th largest. In order for it to be classified as a 3-A then 32 of the 39 schools larger than them must qualify for the playoffs. We already know one Northern Nash is not qualified, so only six other schools bigger than Fike cannot qualify to keep them out of the 3-AA.

Nash Central is next at 41st largest so they don't have any more cushion than Fike. In the past few playoffs, Nash Central has been 3-AA.

Southern Nash is 46th largest and Rocky Mount 48th. All are holding their breath waiting for 3 p.m. next Saturday when the brackets come out.

I have tried to look at all 95 3-A schools and try to come up with a number who has qualified, but I need about 24 hours and a slide rule to figure it out.

Regardless of if we are in the same bracket with West Craven or Dudley, we must win three games to get matched up with either.

First, there is this little matter with Fike Friday night. Oh yea, the conference championship.