Here are the first District 10 basketball playoff projections of the season. Please remember these are based purely off opinion and that is it. Nothing is official until District 10 releases the brackets. Also, amount of teams per class is based on what D-10 has done in the past and in no way makes it official this year. Finally, these are based on the standings Sunday and could change right away. Fans are welcome to post their own projections or comment on these.
Boys
Class A
Quarterfinals
(3) Erie First vs. (6) Rocky Grove
(4) VisionQuest vs. (5) Eisenhower
Byes: (1) Kennedy Catholic, (2) Cochranton
Class AA
Quarterfinals
(1) West Middlesex vs. (8) North East
(2) Mercyhurst Prep vs. (7) Sharpsville
(3) Saegertown vs. (6) Titusville
(4) Lakeview vs. (5) Fairview
Class AAA
Quarterfinals
(1) General McLane vs. (8) Conneaut
(2) Hickory vs. (7) East
(3) Strong Vincent vs. (6) Meadville
(4) Franklin vs. (5) Girard
Class AAAA
Semifinal
(2) Central Tech vs. (3) McDowell
Bye: (1) Cathedral Prep
Girls
Class A
Quarterfinals
(3) Farrell vs. (6) Commodore Perry
(4) Eisenhower vs. (5) Rocky Grove
Byes: (1) Kennedy Catholic, (2) Cochranton
Class AA
Quarterfinals
(1) General McLane vs. (8) Mercer
(2) Sharpsville vs. (7) Cambridge Springs
(3) Saegertown vs. (6) Girard
(4) North East vs. (5) Sharon
Class AAA
Quarterfinals
(1) Villa Maria vs. (8) Grove City
(2) Franklin vs. (7) Warren
(3) Mercyhurst Prep vs. (6) Slippery Rock
(4) Hickory vs. (5) Conneaut
Class AAAA
Championship
(1) McDowell vs. (2) Central Tech
–Tom Reisenweber
girls AAA will be a battle for the last spot between HC and SR.
or GC my bad.
I think GC, SR and HC are in the mix for those two final spots.
-Tom
agreeable. HC needs to get a good streak going here in order to achieve that though but very very possible for them
North East girls have beaten Sharpsville soundly and they have beaten Saegertown. Both of these teams have an weaker region and neither of them should be ranked above the third best team in the North East, McLane, Girard region.
anonymous,
D-10 does not line up region opponents in the first round so Region 4 has to be broken up. Also, region champions and automatics are always seeded higher than at-large teams.
Thanks,
Tom
Harborcreek needs to beat Warren at home next time they play to join in the discussion. And based on last time they played each other, it’s not looking good for them. 8 of 14 AAA teams make the playoffs? In my opinion, that’s ridiculous – it’s more difficult to not make it. On another note, how bad is D10 class A, especially on the boys side? Outside of the top 2 teams very weak this year ..
Steve,
Wouldn’t surprise me if D-10 took only 6 in AAA girls. The problem is Conneaut is likely in so you’d keep a third-place team out. If I was in charge and took 6 I’d go Franklin Hickory from 5, Conneaut from 3 and MP, Villa and Warren from 6.
Thanks,
Tom
Tom
What are your thoughts in Girls AA about D10 taking Seneca over Cambridge? I think that’s a possibility.
Thanks.
How in thw wrold do you have 5 teams from the south and not the Seneca girls. They have beaten the teams from the south and aaa harborcreek. It would be a real shame if they didn’t make it.
Steelers,
Crawford County is not “the south” and region balance is a big factor for D-10.
Thanks,
Tom
Fan,
It is possible and frankly should be the case but if Cambridge finishes above .500, D-10 might not take four teams from the same region over the second AA team from another. Region balance has burned the Seneca boys in the past and this could be a similar situation.
Thanks,
Tom
Tom,
We all know that region balance is not a big factor to d-10 look what happened in the soccer playoffs.. I am still a little upset about that….. lol
Tom,
AAA boys will be an interesting playoff year I think. Do you see the possibilities for play-in games like last year? Having Conneaut in the mix may screw things up. What if they took the top 5 from Region 6, the top 4 from Region 5, and Conneaut … and then had two play-in games like last season?
South Fan,
It’s huge in most sports lol. 17-5 Seneca boys left out in basketball because they finished in fourth place a few years ago. Then two years ago, Harbor Creek football left out after finishing fourth and Region 3 not having a suitable fourth-place team.
The examples go on and on but as long as “regional balance” is listed in the criteria, there will be teams left out because of it.
Thanks,
Tom
Larry,
I would love play-in games to avoid deserving teams left out but if they aren’t financially viable, D-10 would likely keep it to eight with Conneaut in. I’m not sure how the play-in games did last year financially. I think pretty good with the crowds they had but there are arguments for and against play-in games.
Thanks,
Tom
In boy’s AAA, the projections have East as the (7)seed over Farrell & Sharon but both have better overall and region records. I understand that they want to avoid region teams playing in the first round, but wouldn’t it make more sense to have Conneaut play Hickory and Sharon/Farrell play GM??
Terry,
I put East in because I feel Region 6 is stronger this season. East is starting to really prove itself with a win over McDowell and beating Girard. If East can’t hang on to fourth place, it will be Warren, who I think is also very strong this year. I think Region 5 is a bit down this year compared to the past. General McLane handled Hickory this year and before everyone jumps on the football argument, GM’s football season ended just one week earlier than Hickory and the Hornets recently lost three key players who they had in that game. If you look at Franklin, they lost to Prep by more than 40, but GM hung with Prep until the final minutes.
Last year the perception was Region 5 being stronger than 6, but three of the four teams in the D-10 AAA semifinals were from Region 6. I wouldn’t be surprised if that happened again this year.
Thanks,
Tom
tom if the teams in aa boys are as you have them would that put W.M. and Lakeview on the same side of the bracket ?
Bill,
It would. Region rules are off once the first round is over. D-10 could try to fudge it and make Lakeview a 6 seed to keep them away from Middlesex in the second round but region champions and automatics are always first in the brackets.
I could see D-10 making sure Lakeview gets Mercyhurst in the semifinals instead of Middlesex.
Thanks,
Tom
Bill,
Or they could make Mercyhurst Prep the No. 1 seed and solve it that way.
Thanks,
Tom
I do not agree with the Girard girls seeding. They’re making a big run here at the end of the regular season. With wins over Sharpsville, GM, and even Seneca. They should be maybe 3rd, 4th, or 5th
Joel,
They can’t be in the top 3 because the top 3 are the region automatic teams. The fourth seed goes to NE because they have a better region record than Girard. Girard can’t be the 5th seed because region teams do not play in the first round and if they were 5 they would play NE. That’s why Girard is the 6 seed.
Thanks,
Tom