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To see the 2A State Football Tournament bracket, click HERE.
Here is a look at all of the potential playoff and tiebreaker scenarios as we head into the final week of the regular season.
2A District 1-2 Central Idaho League
Total berths to the state tournament: three.
Clinched Playoff Berth
Grangeville Bulldogs – District Champion, seed 1-2A
St. Maries Lumberjacks
Orofino Maniacs
With three berths to the state tournament and only three teams in the conference, all of these teams were technically in the playoffs before the season ever started. However, it should be noted that the first round of the 2A state tournament is only a play-in round and not officially an IHSAA state tournament round. Regardless, with all three teams into the tournament it just comes down to a matter of seeding now.
Grangeville has completed their league schedule with a 2-0 record, won the district title, and secured the top seed from the league. Orofino hosts St. Maries this week. Here are the scenarios:
1. If St. Maries beats Orofino
St. Maries finishes in second place and takes seed 1-2B. Orofino finishes in third place and takes seed 1-2C.
2. If Orofino beats St. Maries
Orofino finishes in second place and takes seed 1-2B. St. Maries finishes in third place and takes seed 1-2C.
2A District 3 Western Idaho Conference
Total berths to the state tournament: four.
Clinched Playoff Berth
McCall-Donnelly Vandals
New Plymouth Pilgrims
Still In Contention
Cole Valley Christian Chargers
Nampa Christian Trojans
Melba Mustangs
Eliminated
Marsing Huskies
New Plymouth and McCall-Donnelly are the only team to for sure be in the tournament, although their position on the bracket is not set. There is still a lot to be sorted out in this week's final games for those schools along with Cole Valley Christian, Nampa Christian, and Melba. Marsing has been eliminated from postseason contention.
This week, New Plymouth plays Melba, Cole Valley Christian takes on Nampa Christian, and McCall-Donnelly plays at Marsing. Here are the scenarios:
1. McCall-Donnelly beats Marsing, Cole Valley Christian beats Nampa Christian, and New Plymouth beats Melba.
McCall-Donnelly finishes in first place and takes seed 3A, New Plymouth finishes in second place and takes seed 3B, Cole Valley Christian finishes in third place and takes seed 3C, Nampa Christian finishes in fourth place and takes seed 3D, and Melba is eliminated.
2. McCall-Donnelly beats Marsing, Cole Valley Christian beats Nampa Christian, and Melba beats New Plymouth.
McCall-Donnelly finishes in first place and takes seed 3A, Melba finishes in second place and takes seed 3B, New Plymouth finishes in third place and takes seed 3C, Cole Valley Christian finishes in fourth place and takes seed 3D, and Nampa Christian is eliminated.
3. McCall-Donnelly beats Marsing, Nampa Christian beats Cole Valley Christian, and New Plymouth beats Melba.
McCall-Donnelly finishes in first place and takes seed 3A, New Plymouth finishes in second place and takes seed 3B, Nampa Christian finishes in third place and takes seed 3C, Melba finishes in fourth place and takes seed 3D, and Cole Valley Christian is eliminated.
4. McCall-Donnelly beats Marsing, Nampa Christian beats Cole Valley, and Melba beats New Plymouth.
McCall-Donnelly finishes in first place and takes seed 3A, then there is a three-way tie for second place between New Plymouth, Melba, and Nampa Christian. Cole Valley Christian is eliminated.
The three-way tie is broken using the Azzie point differential system. It takes the point-differential of a team's wins and losses against the teams it is in a tie with and combines them for a tiebreaking differential. There is also a cap of 14 points, meaning that a 50-point win is the same as a 14-point win.
Here's how it currently stands points-wise for these three teams:
New Plymouth
Beat Nampa Christian 35-32. Points differential = +3
Total points differential: +3*
(*New Plymouth plays Melba this week)
Melba
Lost to Nampa Christian 20-13. Points differential: -7
Total points differential: -7*
(*Melba plays New Plymouth this week)
Nampa Christian
Beat Melba 20-13. Points differential: +7
Lost to New Plymouth 35-32. Points differential: -3
Total points differential: +4
What does this all mean? It means that the final score of the New Plymouth/Melba game on Friday will play a major role in determining the playoff seeding for those two schools plus Nampa Christian. Here's how it breaks down:
If Melba wins by 1-5 points, their total point differential will sit between -6 and -2 and New Plymouth’s will between +3 and -1, with Nampa Christian’s remaining the same at +4. Nampa Christian would finish in second place and take seed 3B, New Plymouth would finish in third place and take seed 3C, and Melba would finish in fourth place and take seed 3D.
If Melba wins by 6-13 points, their total point differential will sit between -1 and +6 and New Plymouth’s will sit between -2 and -9, with Nampa Christian’s remaining the same at +4. Nampa Christian would finish in second place and take seed 3B, Melba would finish in third place and take seed 3C, and New Plymouth would finish in fourth place and take seed 3D.
If Melba wins by 14 points or more, their total point differential will sit at +7 and New Plymouth’s will sit at -10, with Nampa Christian’s remaining the same at +4. Melba would finish in second place and take seed 3B, Nampa Christian would finish in third place and take seed 3C, and New Plymouth would finish in fourth place and take seed 3D.
5. If Marsing beats McCall-Donnelly, Cole Valley Christian beats Nampa Christian, and New Plymouth beats Melba.
New Plymouth finishes in first place and takes seed 3A, Cole Valley Christian finishes in second place and takes seed 3B, McCall-Donnelly finishes in third place and takes seed 3C, Nampa Christian finishes in fourth place and takes seed 3D, and Melba is eliminated.
6. If Marsing beats McCall-Donnelly, Cole Valley Christian beats Nampa Christian, and Melba beats New Plymouth.
There is a four-way tie for first place between McCall-Donnelly, New Plymouth, Cole Valley Christian, and Melba. Nampa Christian would be eliminated.
The four-way tie is broken using the Azzie point differential system. It takes the point-differential of a team's wins and losses against the teams it is in a tie with and combines them for a tiebreaking differential. There is also a cap of 14 points, meaning that a 50-point win is the same as a 14-point win.
Here's how it currently stands points-wise for these four teams:
New Plymouth
Lost to McCall-Donnelly 21-16. Points differential: -5
Beat Cole Valley Christian 22-14. Points differential: +8
Total points differential: +3*
(*New Plymouth plays Melba this week)
Melba
Beat Cole Valley Christian 19-16. Points differential: +3
Lost to McCall-Donnelly 34-7. Points differential: -14 (capped)
Total points differential: -11*
(*Melba plays New Plymouth this week)
McCall-Donnelly
Lost to Cole Valley Christian 21-16. Points differential: -5
Beat New Plymouth 21-16. Points differential: +5
Beat Melba 34-7. Points differential: +14 (capped)
Total points differential: +14
Cole Valley Christian
Beat McCall-Donnelly 21-16. Points differential: +5
Lost to Melba 19-16. Points differential: -3
Lost to New Plymouth 22-14. Points differential: -8
Total points differential: -6
What does this all mean? It means that the final score of the New Plymouth/Melba game on Friday will play a major role in determining the playoff seeding for those two schools plus Cole Valley Christian and McCall-Donnelly. Here's how it breaks down:
If Melba wins by 1-4 points, their total point differential will sit between -10 and -7 and New Plymouth’s will sit between +2 and -1, with McCall-Donnelly’s staying at +14 and Cole Valley Christian’s remaining at -6. McCall-Donnelly would finish in first place and take seed 3A, New Plymouth would finish in second place and take seed 3B, Cole Valley Christian would finish in third place and take seed 3C, and Melba would finish in fourth place and take seed 3D.
If Melba wins by 5 or 6 points, their total point differential will sit between -6 and -5 and New Plymouth’s will sit between -2 and -3, with McCall-Donnelly’s staying at +14 and Cole Valley Christian’s remaining at -6. McCall-Donnelly would finish in first place and take seed 3A, New Plymouth would finish in second place and take seed 3B, Melba would finish in third place and take seed 3C, and Cole Valley Christian would finish in fourth place and take seed 3D.
If Melba wins by 7-9 points, their total point differential will sit between -4 and -2 and New Plymouth’s will sit between -4 and -6, with McCall-Donnelly’s staying at +14 and Cole Valley Christian’s remaining at -6. McCall-Donnelly would finish in first place and take seed 3A, Melba would finish in second place and take seed 3B, New Plymouth would finish in third place and take seed 3C, and Cole Valley Christian would finish in fourth place and take seed 3D.
If Melba wins by 10 points or more, their total point differential will sit between -1 and +3 and New Plymouth’s will sit between -4 and -5, with McCall-Donnelly’s staying at +14 and Cole Valley Christian’s remaining at -6. McCall-Donnelly would finish in first place and take seed 3A, Melba would finish in second place and take seed 3B, Cole Valley Christian would finish in third place and take seed 3C, and New Plymouth would finish in fourth place and take seed 3D.
7. If Marsing beats McCall-Donnelly, Nampa Christian beats Cole Valley Christian, and New Plymouth beats Melba.
New Plymouth finishes in first place and takes seed 3A, McCall-Donnelly finishes in second place and takes seed 3B, Nampa Christian finishes in third place and takes seed 3C, Melba finishes in fourth place and takes seed 3D, and Cole Valley Christian is eliminated.
8. If Marsing beats McCall-Donnelly, Nampa Christian beats Cole Valley Christian, and Melba beats New Plymouth.
There is a four-way tie for first place between McCall-Donnelly, New Plymouth, Nampa Christian, and Melba. Cole Valley Christian is eliminated.
The four-way tie is broken using the Azzie point differential system. It takes the point-differential of a team's wins and losses against the teams it is in a tie with and combines them for a tiebreaking differential. There is also a cap of 14 points, meaning that a 50-point win is the same as a 14-point win.
Here's how it currently stands points-wise for these four teams:
New Plymouth
Lost to McCall-Donnelly 21-16. Points differential: -5
Beat Nampa Christian 35-32. Points differential: +3
Total points differential: -2*
(*New Plymouth plays Melba this week)
Melba
Lost to Nampa Christian 20-13. Points differential: -7
Lost to McCall-Donnelly 34-7. Points differential: -14 (capped)
Total points differential: -21*
(*Melba plays New Plymouth this week)
McCall-Donnelly
Beat Nampa Christian 54-28. Points differential: +14 (capped)
Beat New Plymouth 21-16. Points differential: +5
Beat Melba 34-7. Points differential: +14 (capped)
Total points differential: +33
Nampa Christian
Lost to McCall-Donnelly 54-28. Points differential: -14 (capped)
Beat Melba 20-13. Points differential: +7
Lost to New Plymouth 35-32. Points differential: -3
Total points differential: -10
What does this all mean? It means that the final score of the New Plymouth/Melba game on Friday will play a major role in determining the playoff seeding for those two schools plus Nampa Christian and McCall-Donnelly. Here's how it breaks down:
If Melba wins by 1-8 points, their total point differential will sit between -20 and -13 and New Plymouth’s will sit between -3 and -10, with McCall-Donnelly’s staying at +33 and Nampa Christian’s remaining at -10. McCall-Donnelly would finish in first place and take seed 3A, New Plymouth would finish in second place and take seed 3B, Nampa Christian would finish in third place and take seed 3C, and Melba would finish in fourth place and take seed 3D.
If Melba wins by 9 points, their total point differential will sit at -12 and New Plymouth’s will sit at -11, with McCall-Donnelly’s staying at +33 and Nampa Christian’s remaining at -10. McCall-Donnelly would finish in first place and take seed 3A, Nampa Christian would finish in second place and take seed 3B, New Plymouth would finish in third place and take seed 3C, and Melba would finish in fourth place and take seed 3D.
If Melba wins by 10 or 11 points, their total point differential will sit between -11 and -10 and New Plymouth’s will sit between -12 and -13, with McCall-Donnelly’s staying at +33 and Nampa Christian’s remaining at -10. McCall-Donnelly would finish in first place and take seed 3A, Nampa Christian would finish in second place and take seed 3B, Melba would finish in third place and take seed 3C, and New Plymouth would finish in fourth place and take seed 3D.
If Melba wins by 12 points or more, their total point differential will sit between -9 and -7 and New Plymouth’s will sit between -14 and -16, with McCall-Donnelly’s staying at +33 and Nampa Christian’s remaining at -10. McCall-Donnelly would finish in first place and take seed 3A, Melba would finish in second place and take seed 3B, Nampa Christian would finish in third place and take seed 3C, and New Plymouth would finish in fourth place and take seed 3D.
2A District 4 Canyon Conference
Total berths to the state tournament: two.
Clinched Playoff Berth
Declo Hornets
Wendell Trojans
With two berths to the state tournament and only two teams in the conference, both of these teams were technically in the playoffs before the season ever started. However, it should be noted that the first round of the 2A state tournament is only a play-in round and not officially an IHSAA state tournament round. Regardless, with both teams already into the tournament it just comes down to a matter of seeding now.
This week, Wendell plays at Declo. Here are the scenarios:
1. If Declo beats Wendell
Declo finishes first and takes seed 4A and Wendell finishes second and takes seed 4B.
2. If Wendell beats Declo
Wendell finishes first and takes seed 4A and Declo finishes second and takes seed 4B.
2A District 5 South East Idaho Conference
Total berths to the state tournament: four.
Clinched Playoff Berth
Aberdeen Tigers
West Side Pirates
Bear Lake Bears
Soda Springs Cardinals – seed 4D
Eliminated
Malad Dragons
Four schools in the South East Idaho Conference have clinched their playoff berths, but only one of them (Soda Springs) knows its positioning on the bracket. There is still quite a bit to get sorted out between Aberdeen, Bear Lake, and West Side. Malad has been eliminated from postseason contention.
This week, Aberdeen plays Bear Lake and Malad hosts West Side. Here are the scenarios:
1. If Aberdeen beats Bear Lake and West Side beats Malad.
Aberdeen finishes in first place and takes seed 5A, West Side finishes in second place and takes seed 5B, and Bear Lake finishes in third place and takes seed 5C.
2. If Aberdeen beats Bear Lake and Malad beats West Side.
Aberdeen finishes in first place and takes seed 5A, West Side finishes in second place and takes seed 5B, and Bear Lake finishes in third place and takes seed 5C.
3. If Bear Lake beats Aberdeen and West Side beats Malad.
Aberdeen, Bear Lake, and West Side all tie for first place. The tiebreaker is a 3-way coin flip. A representative from each team flips a coin at the same time. If all three coins come up heads-or-tails, the coins are flipped again. If the coin flips yields 2 heads and a tails or 2 tails and a head, the odd-man out is awarded the top-seed. A coin is then flipped again to determine the remaining two seeds to the state tournament.
4. If Bear Lake beats Aberdeen and Malad beats West Side.
Bear Lake finishes in first place and takes seed 5A, Aberdeen finishes in second place and takes seed 5B, West Side finishes in third place and takes seed 5C.
2A District 6 Nuclear Conference
Total berths to the state tournament: three.
Clinched Playoff Berth
None
Still In Contention
Firth Cougars
North Fremont Huskies
West Jefferson Panthers
Ririe Bulldogs
Salmon Savages
Eliminated
None
This year may be one of the most wild on record for Nuclear Conference football. Every team is still in contention for a playoff berth heading into the final week of the regular season.
This week, Firth plays at North Fremont and Salmon is at West Jefferson. Ririe has completed their conference schedule. Here are the scenarios:
1. If North Fremont beats Firth and West Jefferson beats Salmon.
North Fremont finishes in first place and takes seed 6A, then there is a 3-way tie for second place between Firth, Ririe, and West Jefferson. Salmon is eliminated.
The tiebreaker is a 3-way Kansas City Playoff on either Saturday Oct. 21 or Monday Oct. 23 at a neutral location. The team that wins the Kansas City Playoff will take seed 6B, the team that finishes in second place in the Kansas City Playoff will take seed 6C, and the team that finishes last in the Kansas City Playoff is eliminated from postseason contention.
2. If North Fremont beats Firth and Salmon beats West Jefferson.
North Fremont finishes in first place and takes seed 6A, Ririe finishes in second place and takes seed 6B, Firth finishes in third place and takes seed 6C, and West Jefferson and Salmon are eliminated.
3. If Firth beats North Fremont and West Jefferson beats Salmon
Firth finishes in first place and takes seed 6A, North Fremont finishes in second place and takes seed 6B, West Jefferson finishes in third place and takes seed 6C, and Ririe and Salmon are eliminated.
4. If Firth beats North Fremont and Salmon beats West Jefferson.
Firth finishes in first place and takes seed 6A, then there is a three-way tie for second place between North Fremont, Ririe, and Salmon. West Jefferson is eliminated from postseason contention.
The tiebreaker is a 3-way Kansas City Playoff on either Saturday Oct. 21 or Monday Oct. 23 at a neutral location. The team that wins the Kansas City Playoff will take seed 6B, the team that finishes in second place in the Kansas City Playoff will take seed 6C, and the team that finishes last in the Kansas City Playoff is eliminated from postseason contention.
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