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 5A East conference is alotted three playoff berths to the tournament. This would mean that in our scenario, the maximum number of teams from the 5A East conference that would be placed on the bracket would be three. Same goes for the North (2 berths), West Pod A (3 berths), West Pod B (3 berths), and the statewide at-large berth.
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 5A 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 5A RRPI Washington base rankings (left) and the Class 5A 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:
North - 2 berths
Coeur d'Alene
Post Falls
West Pod A - 3 berths
Mountain View
Capital
Meridian
West Pod B - 3 berths
Eagle
Borah
Rocky Mountain
East - 3 berths
Highland
Madison
Rigby
At-Large Berth
Timberline
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. First of all, Rocky Mountain moves from a 'C' seed to a first round bye. Post Falls, which is 8-1 on the season, would drop down to a 10 seed in the new bracket. We would also see a few repeat regular season matchups (Eagle vs. Timberline and Capital vs. Borah). If there is something that remains the same, it would be the first round matchup between Madison and Meridian, albeit placed lower on the bracket.
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, Mountain View takes the top overall seed with Coeur d'Alene second. Madison would now play Capital instead of Meridian, while Borah would face Post Falls and Rigby takes on Meridian. The one game that remains the same again is Eagle vs. Timberline.
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, Timberline and Meridian are replaced with Hillcrest and Lewiston. Madison and Capital play once again as does Post Falls and Borah. Eagle would face Lewiston with Rigby taking on Hillcrest. You would get two Treasure Valley teams with byes to the quarterfinal round on the top of the bracket (Mountain View and Rocky Mountain) while two longtime rivals would also reach the quarterfinals via the bye (Highland and Coeur d'Alene).