With two weeks to the start of the playoffs, we project out where each local team will fall when the WIAA playoff brackets come out on October 19th, and what each team can do to get there.
A huge thank you to Travis Wilson and his team at wissports.net as we used their projected playoff field for this, then we broke down each division projecting the geographical groups and then the seeds and matchups for our local teams.
Division 2
#6 Marshfield (4-3) @ #3 Superior (6-1)
Marshfield has been improving as of late, but the poor showing of the VFA-West in crossover games and the fact that they have lost to both the 2 and 5 seeds in this group would drop Marshfield down to a six seed, this is projecting them winning their final two games, lose one of those games and a further drop is possible.
Other games in this group
#8 Green Bay Southwest (2-5) @ #1 Pulaski (7-0)
#7 De Pere (3-4) @ #2 Kaukauna (6-1)
#5 Hortonville (6-1) @ #4 River Falls (5-2)
Division 3
#7 Rhinelander (5-2) @ #2 Medford (7-0)
A rematch of a week 5 game Medford won 39-14, Rhinelander’s poor non-conference schedule will cost them the 6 seed to Mosinee. This also projects out that Medford will win out, this is a tough group to project as the historical weakness of the Great Northern Conference in the playoffs may hurt any team that finds themselves with an extra loss these next two weeks
Other games in this group
#8 Shawano Community (4-3) @ #1 West De Pere (7-0)
#6 Mosinee (5-2) @ #3 Menomonie (6-1)
#5 New Richmond (5-2) @ #4 Ashwaubenon (6-1)
Division 5
#8 Spooner (3-4) @ #1 Stratford (7-0)
Stratford is the one seed, honestly, even with a close loss to Edgar, Stratford is still deserving of the one seed, they would host a Spooner squad that will make the playoffs most likely with a losing record, a theme that will become common this year.
#6 Spencer/Columbus (4-3) @ #3 Bloomer (6-1)
Projecting both teams to go 1-1 the rest of the way, it is hard not to see this matchup, the interesting part will be how Spencer/Columbus is treated in a down Cloverbelt and being the only Cloverbelt team to make the playoffs in Division 5.
Other Games in the group
#7 Arcadia (3-2) @ #2 Northwestern (7-0)
#5 St. Croix Falls (3-4) @ #4 Elk Mound (4-3)
Division 6
#8 Crivitz (3-4) @ #1 Abbotsford (7-0)
Abbotsford has been dominating all year, and with every other school in their group sporting two losses, even if they fall Week 9 to Athens they should secure the 1 seed.
#7 Coleman (5-2) @ #2 Auburndale (5-2)
Auburndale and Colby should finish with identical records, but with Auburndale’s two losses coming to the #1 team in D5 and the #3 team in D7 they get the edge. With two winnable games left this is really Auburndale’s spot to lose. An interesting issue in this group is shown in this game, Coleman has already clinched the championship and gone undefeated in the MONLPC-Small conference, but yet we project they will get a 7 seed due to the weakness of their 4 team conference, and their bad non-conference loses.
#6 Winnegabo Lutheran (4-3) @ #3 Colby (5-2)
Colby gets hurt by there blow out loses to Eau Claire Regis and Spring Valley, and the overall weakness of the Cloverbelt this year. A strong finish could see them leapfrog Auburndale.
Other games in this group
#5 Bonduel (5-2) @ #4 Manawa (5-2)
Division 7 Group 1
#8 Webster (3-3) @ #1 Edgar (7-0)
Edgar as always is sitting near the top of Division 7, and even with us projecting them to lose to Stratford this Friday, they should have no problem securing the 1 seed in this group.
#6 Greenwood (4-3) @ #3 Athens (5-2)
These two played in week 6 with Athens pulling out a close win, if Athens can upset Abbotsford in week 9 it could push Athens up to a 2 seed.
#5 Hurley (5-2) @ #4 Loyal (4-3)
Hurley should end the year with a better record, but Hurley will get docked because as an independent program they get to set their own schedule and they scheduled a lot of easy opponents this season, Loyal does not have too many opportunities to move their seed up as they have two easier opponents to end the season.
Other games in this group
#7 Gilman (5-2) @ #2 Turtle Lake (5-2)
Division 7 Group 2
#5 Pittsville (4-3) @ #4 Randolph (5-2)
Pittsville can make an argument that their seed should be higher, as the three loses they have this year are against Auburndale, Almond-Bancroft, and Potosi/Cassville, but at the same time, all but one of their wins will come against teams that will miss the playoffs. Depending on how the coaches treat the loses that Pittsville has they could move up a few spots.
Other games in this group
#8 Catholic Central (4-3) @ #1 Hilbert (7-0)
#7 Reedsville (4-3) @ #2 Almond-Bancroft (7-0)
#6 Rosholt (3-4) @ #3 Lourds Academy (7-0)
