Going into the final week of the regular season, this is how I see the AA Playoff Bracket looking like. I am not sure if I have the seeding format right as it seems to be a confusing topic among readers but I think this is a good rough estimate...let me know if I have the format right or not.
Upper Bracket Quarterfinals
ID#3 Upper Valley Vikings vs. UT#1 Uintah Basin Oilers
ID#4 Boise Generals vs. MT#1 Bitterroot Blaze
Lower Bracket Quarterfinals
MT#2 Missoula Phoenix vs. ID#2 Arco Anarchy
UT#2 Logan Stampede vs. ID#1 Idaho Matadors
(Upper Bracket SEMIFINAL Vikings/Oilers vs. Generals/Blaze)
(Lower Bracket SEMIFINAL Phoenix/Anarchy vs. Stampede/Matadors)
(CHAMPIONSHIP Vikings/Oilers/Generals/Blaze vs. Phoenix/Anarchy/Stampede/Matadors)
The only trouble for the Mustangs is that they play a tough, physical Anarchy team next weekend and the Generals have the head-to-head advantage over the Stangs. I believe the head-to-head tiebreaker takes precedence to the points allowed scenario. Regardless, the Idaho division's three and four seeds are there for the taking. Best of luck to all teams in the hunt!
I dont think that is right with the upper and lower divisions with idaho. matadors and anarchy will not be onthe same side of the bracket and the idaho 3 and 4 will not beo on the same side. matadors will be on the top and anarchy will be on the bottom. idaho 3 will be ont he bottom and idaho 4 will be on top.
What I'm confused about is the seeding of the fourth home game which is the Anarchy and Phoenix, if both teams win this week then the Phoenix would be 7-1 and the Anarcy would be 6-2. Why would the Anarchy host a team with a better record? The Idaho division already has four teams in the playoffs. I know it happens in the NFL where a lower division winner hosts a higher winning wild card but that is because they are DIVISION WINNERS and our situation has two #2 seeds.
And Jeb it makes sense in terms of bracketing, #1 earns a bracket path of least resistance assuming all top 4 seeds win. Given if we give the Anarchy the 4 seed then the top four in order are Matadors, Blaze, Oilers, and Anarchy. If all top seeds win the second round would be as follows;
And Lee you and the dors58 are both correct but you get there using different vehicles. H2H works in Idaho because they don't play all teams twice.
Arco Holds #2 tiebreakers over IF, Vikings, and Generals.
Stangs can only get in if they win and Generals Lose. With a 1-1 record vs Arco they lose seeding to Arco because of PA UNLESS they beat Arco by 51+.
If Generals lose, the Vikings are in win or lose because of H2H. Stangs hold H2H over Vikings though so it would only be a 4 seed for Vikings.
However, if the Generals beat the Matadors, all hell breaks loose including the Matadors drop to the #3 overall seed because of PA unless Elko beats the Oilers by 30 plus the amount they lose to the Generals.
The Montana division is decided, the teams in Utah are decided except Logan can take the 1 seed if the oilers lose to Elko by 39 or more. But Idahos last 2 spots are wiiiiide open.
Ok. Well said Conetah. I was thinking that H2H was out. But I can see it where the Idaho division only played each other once. Either way I'm looking forward to it. Bitter Root is actually an hour closer for us anyway. Just a short 8 hour drive.
So Jeb, you are saying that the Matadors and Blaze (being optimistic and assuming the Dors and Blaze are 1 and 2 seeds) will *potentially* match up in the semifinals and not the championship then? I feel like the 1 and 2 seeds should be in opposite halves of the bracket.
I guess the cross-divisional formatting is confusing me as opposed to the straightforward, traditional 8 seed playoff tree
-- Edited by Dors58 on Monday 4th of June 2012 08:29:33 AM
With this new knowledge, this is how I see the overall AA rankings after week 9 (amongst the teams I predicted to appear in the AA playoffs) that would dictate how the semifinals are seeded:
Sorry for the delay guys--maybe I can clear things up.
We agreed to seed 1-8, but that in the first round no MT & UT teams would play each other and that the higher seed would host. We also agreed that Idaho would get 2 #1 seeds because of the 8 team division. So, you're right in terms of seeding for now:
1. Matadors vs. Stampede 2. Blaze vs. Idaho #4 (Blaze play the lowest Idaho seed because they beat the Oilers in points allowed) 3. Oilers vs. Idaho #3 (same reasoning as above) 4. Idaho #2 vs. Phoenix
Because the Idaho #2 team is technically a 1 seed because we agreed to give Idaho 2 #1 seeds, the Phoenix will travel to them even though they have a better record (not unlike a wildcard traveling to a Division winner with a worse record in the NFL).
Because the Blaze are the overall #2 Seed they will play the winner of the Oilers vs. Idaho #3 game and the winner of the Matadors & Stampede will play the winner of the Idaho #2 and the Phoenix.
We were very clear in the meeting about NOT RE-SEEDING, so once the bracket is created, it sticks. So, if the Matadors and Blaze both win, the Matadors will play the winner of the Idaho #2 vs. Phoenix game and the Blaze will play the winner of the Oilers vs. Idaho #3 game.
I realize we used some of the NFL playoff structure (Division winner hosting a team with a better record) but not all (we're not re-seeding after each round), but this is what we agreed to at the league meeting. As always, call me with questions. 406-750-3015.
No matter who we play i am just pumped as hell to play some playoff football!!! Played playoff basketball baseball but never football so I am excited to see how the play steps up cause I know mine will