As
Robison stated originally back in our August article on the 'Robison RPI', the goal of his experiment was to create a formula much like ones used in nearby states in order to help seed the state tournaments.
We stipulated in that first article that we would include the same amount of teams from each district as would be included in this year's tournament. So, for example, the District 5-6 East conference is alotted three playoff berths to the tournament. This would mean that in our scenario, the maximum number of teams from the District 5-6 East conference that would be placed on the bracket would be three. Same goes for District 1-2 (2 berths), District 3 (4 berths), and District 4 (3 berths).
You will see three different brackets below - the first one using the RRPI Washington base formula, followed by the RRPI Colorado base formula, and finally the RRPI Colorado base 'No Autos'.
The 'No Autos' format means that the overall top 12 teams in the 4A classification will be seeded into the state tournament, regardless of how they finished the season or if they snagged an automatic berth to the tournament. This is, simply, the 12 highest ranked teams in the formula set up in the bracket.
We begin with the 12 teams that qualified for this year's state tournament. Instead of being in a pre-determined position on the bracket (
as seen in the real brackets HERE), they are ranked using the RRPI Washington base formula and the RRPI Colorado base formula as seen in the table below.
Here's a look at how the Class 4A RRPI Washington base rankings (left) and the Class 4A RRPI Colorado base rankings (right) looked at the completion of the regular season:
With these rankings in mind, it's important to note the teams that reached the postseason this year from each district based on available berths to this year's state tournament:
District 1/2 - 2 berths
Sandpoint
Lakeland
District 3 - 4 berths
Skyview
Middleton
Bishop Kelly
Emmett
District 4 - 3 berths
Minico
Twin Falls
Canyon Ridge
District 5/6 - 3 berths
Skyline
Century
Idaho Falls
The RRPI Washington Base Formula Bracket
The first bracket we will look at is what the tournament would look like if we took these same 12 teams and seeded them on the bracket using the RRPI Washington base formula.
A few things change in comparison to the actual, real bracket used for this year's tournament. Minico drops from a first round bye into the 5 vs 12 matchup against conference-foe Canyon Ridge. Century would take on a Twin Falls team they player earlier in the season. Sandpoint would lose their first round bye and be forced to play on the road against Emmett. The Idaho Falls vs Lakeland matchup would remain the same. Middleton and Bishop Kelly would slide into first round byes.
The RRPI Colorado Base Formula Bracket
The second bracket we will take a look at is what the tournament would look like if we took these 12 teams and again seed them on the bracket, but this time we would use the RRPI Colorado base formula.
There are, again, more changes in comparison to the actual, real bracket used for this year's tournament. In comparison to the Washington base formula bracket above, the top four teams that get a first round bye all remain the same. The matchups in the first round would change a bit, with Idaho Falls hosting Twin Falls, Sandpoint playing at Minico, Century hosting Canyon Ridge, and Lakeland traveling south to take on Emmett.
The RRPI Colorado Base Formula 'No Autos' Bracket
The final bracket we will look at is the 'No Autos' bracket, which takes the RRPI Colorado base rankings and just seeds the tournament 1 through 12 without any automatic qualifiers. This would be like saying to all the teams in the classification, "Just finish in the top 12 of the rankings and you're in - doesn't matter if you won the district title or if you were in last place in the conference. If you are in the top 12 in the rankings, you are in the state tournament." Here's how that true 1 through 12 bracket would look:
In this bracket, there are a lot of changes - some of which will probably not be received well. First and foremost, the bracket completely omits all of the District 1-2 teams as Lakeland (#15), Sandpoint (#16), and Moscow (#18) all would miss the state tournament. Vallivue and Blackfoot get added into the fray, with Vallivue checking in at #7 in the rankings. We would have a couple of regular season rematches as Century takes on Idaho Falls and Minico hosts Twin Falls. The top four teams again remain the same.