“Brackets!  We don’t need no stinking brackets!”
As you already know the IHSAA will set pairings one-round-at-a-time and will not publish a bracket for the entire postseason.  So here is my foolhardy attempt to think along with the brain trust that values geography over achievement and “Participation Trophies” over finishing 1^st or 2^nd in your District.

For the First Round (32 teams) I’ll say that the teams finishing higher in their district ‘should’ host.  All bets off after that.  Notice that district rematches are rampant in the Round of 32.

In 2013 I was 78% correct in picking playoff teams and got three of four Dome teams right, including the champion and runner-up.  Last year at this time (pre-district) I had the Falcons in the Dome and was wrong.  By the time the regular season concluded and the playoff field was set I had our team losing in the Quarterfinals. They bowed out a step earlier. 

I was not building brackets in 2006, when we last lost a district game.  Had I been, I’m pretty sure I’d have had SA going out in the Quarters that year instead of toting home Big Hardware, Part 2.  In fact I’ve never pinpointed our finish correctly.  So if you find this prognostication pessimistic, please prove me wrong.  It won’t be the first time.

I will post predictions round-by-round once IHSAA hatches its diabolical plots, errr…., I mean sets matchups.

Round of 32
·         Audubon (6-3) @ CB St. Albert (8-1)
·         Woodbury Central (5-4) @ Lo-Ma (9-0)
·         Westwood-Sloan (6-3) @ Lawton-Bronson (8-1)
·         South O'Brien (6-3) @ Sioux Central (6-3)
·         Denver (6-3) @ Nashua-Plainfield (9-0)
·         Britt, West Hancock (5-4) @ Bishop Garrigan, Algona (7-2)
·         Belmond Klemme (6-3) @AGWSR-Ackley (9-0)
·         Gladbrook-Reinbeck (6-3) @ Wapsie Valley (7-2)    
·         Edgewood-Colesburg (6-3) @ Maquoketa Valley, Delhi (9-0)
·         Lisbon (7-2) @ Starmont (8-1)
·         New London (5-4) @ Pekin (9-0) 
·         Lone Tree (6-3) @ Van Buren (7-2) 
·         Montezuma (8-1) @ BGM-Brooklyn (8-1)
·         Nodaway Valley (6-3) @ Bedford (8-1) 
·         Colfax-Mingo (6-3) @ Belle Plaine (7-2)  
·         Pleasantville (5-4) @ Mt. Ayr (8-1)

Round of 16
·         CB St. Albert vs. Lo-Ma
·         Lawton-Bronson vs. S. O’Brien
·         Nashua-Plainfield vs. Bishop Garrigan, Algona
·         AGWSR-Ackley vs. Wapsie Valley
·         Maquoketa vs. Starmont
·         Pekin vs. Van Buren
·         BGM-Brooklyn vs. Colfax-Mingo
·         Nodaway Valley vs. Mt. Ayr

Quarterfinals
·         Lo-Ma vs. Lawton-Bronson
·         Bishop Garrigan, Algona vs. AGWSR-Ackley 
·         Maquoketa Valley vs. Pekin 
·         BGM-Brooklyn vs. Mt. Ayr

Semi-Finals
·         Lo-Ma vs. BGM-Brooklyn
·         Bishop Garrigan vs. Maquoketa Valley 
 
Championship Game
·         BGM-Brooklyn vs. Maquoketa Valley

Class A Champion

·         Maquoketa Valley, Delhi
 

SASF Article by Matt Madsen