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Sheridan County High School Football Playoff Scenarios 2021

October 22, 2021

[News From SheridanMedia.com]

With 1 game remaining in the 2021 regular season, one Sheridan County High School Football is already in the post-season, one needs either win or some help, and the other can’t make it due to tie-breakers.

Sheridan:

There’s a 3-way tie for first in 4A, with Sheridan, Rock Springs and Cheyenne East. Sheridan plays at Thunder Basin while Rock Springs goes to East.

Other 4A games have Campbell County at Kelly Walsh, Laramie at Cheyenne Central and Cheyenne South at Natrona.

The Campbell County-Kelly Walsh winner will be the #6 seed, while the loser is #7.

The Laramie-Cheyenne Central winner will be the #8, while the loser will miss the post-season.

Let’s analyze scenarios for Sheridan.

We’re going to assume that Natrona will beat Cheyenne South in all scenarios.

Sheridan beats Thunder Basin, and Rock Springs beats Cheyenne East: Sheridan (8-1) and RS (8-1) would be tied for first, but the Broncs hold the head-to-head tie-breaker for the #1 seed. Sheridan would host the Laramie-Cheyenne Central winner (2-7) in the first round. Natrona (6-3) and Thunder Basin (6-3) would be tied for #4 and #5, but Natrona won the head-to-head matchups, so TB would travel to NC. Assuming Sheridan wins vs. either Laramie or Cheyenne Central, the Broncs would then be home vs. the TB-NC winner in the semi-finals. The other side of the bracket would have the Campbell County/Kelly Walsh loser (3-6) at Rock Springs(7-2), and the Campbell County/Kelly Walsh winner (4-5) at Cheyenne East (7-2).

Sheridan beats Thunder Basin, and Cheyenne East beats Rock Springs: Sheridan (8-1) and Cheyenne East (8-1) would be tied for first, but the Thunderbirds hold the head-to-head tie-breaker for the #1 seed, thus the Broncs would be #2 and would host the Campbell County/Kelly Walsh loser (3-6) in the first round. If Sheridan wins that game, then they would host the winner of Campbell County/Kelly Walsh winner (4-5) vs. Rock Springs (7-2) in the semi-finals. The other side of the bracket would have the Laramie/Cheyenne Central winner (2-7) at Cheyenne East, while Natrona (6-3) would host Thunder Basin (6-3). NC and TB would be tied for #4 and #5, but NC won the head-to-head matchup, that’s why the game would be played in Casper.

Thunder Basin beats Sheridan, and Cheyenne East beats Rock Springs: Cheyenne East (8-1) would have first place all to themselves and would host the Laramie/Cheyenne Central winner (2-7). Thunder Basin, Sheridan and Rock Springs would be in a 3-way tie for the #2, #3 , and #4 seeds, with a record of 7-2 each. Since TB beat Sheridan, and Sheridan beat RS, and RS beat TB, the head-to-head tie-breaker doesn’t work. The next tie-breaker would be head-to-head record vs. highest team in 4A not involved in the tie (or next highest, next highest, etc…). That team would be Cheyenne East. Thunder Basin has a win vs. Cheyenne East, whereas Sheridan and Rock Springs don’t. TB would get the #2 seed and host the Campbell County/Kelly Walsh loser (2-7). Sheridan would get the #3 seed over Rock Springs, due to head-to-head win, and would host the Campbell County/Kelly Walsh winner in the first round. RS would get the #4 seed and host #5 Natrona (6-3). Assuming Sheridan wins their first round game, then they would either host Campbell County/Kelly Walsh in the semi-finals OR travel to Thunder Basin again.

Thunder Basin beats Sheridan, and Rock Springs beats Cheyenne East: Rock Springs (8-1) would have first place all to themselves and would host the Laramie/Cheyenne Central winner (2-7). Thunder Basin, Cheyenne East and Sheridan would be in a 3-way tie for the #2, #3, and #4 seeds, with a record of 7-2 each. Since Thunder Basin would have victories vs. both Cheyenne East and Sheridan, the Bolts would get the #2 seed and would host the Campbell County/Kelly Walsh loser (3-6). Since Cheyenne East has the head-to-head win vs. Sheridan, the Thunderbirds would get the #3 seed and host the Campbell County/Kelly Walsh winner (4-5). Sheridan would be the #4 seed and host Natrona (6-3) in the first round. The winner of that game would then travel to Rock Springs for the semi-finals, OR host the Laramie/Cheyenne Central winner, should the Tigers lose in the first round.

Big Horn and Tongue River:

After examining every scenario possible, there is no way for Tongue River to make the playoffs.

A Big Horn win at home vs. Upton-Sundance would get the Rams into the playoffs, and they would be the #3 East seed.

If Big Horn loses, they can still make the playoffs, provided Newcastle loses at home vs. Wheatland, however the Rams would be the East #4 seed and would travel to West #1 seed Lyman.

The only way for BH to miss the playoffs is with a loss AND a Newcastle win.

Torrington has the East #1 seed no matter what happens in their game at home vs. Burns.

Big Horn beats Upton-Sundance and Wheatland beats Newcastle: BH and Upton-Sundance would be tied for the East #3 and East #4 seeds with a 4-3 conference record, but BH has the head-to-head tie-breaker, and would be East #3. The Rams would then travel to West #2, which appears to be Lovell, but should the Bulldogs lose at Cokeville, that could change things, and we would have to wait to see what happens with Big Piney’s game at Kemmerer. The potential for a Lovell-Cokeville-Big Piney 3-way tie could happen. If Cokeville wins and BP loses to Kemmerer, BH would go to Cokeville in the first round, because the Panthers would have head-to-head tie-breaker vs. Lovell for west #2 and west #3 seeds. Newcastle, Burns and Tongue River would all be eliminated from post-season contention. Newcastle eliminated for losing, while the games involving Burns and TR would become irrelevant.

Big Horn beats Upton-Sundance and Newcastle beats Wheatland: This would create a 4-way tie for the East #2, East #3 and East #4 seeds, with Big Horn, Newcastle, Upton-Sundance, and Wheatland with each team having a 4-3 conference record. Checking head-to-head record of the 4 teams vs. each other, Wheatland and Big Horn would have 2-1 records vs. the group, while Upton-Sundance and Newcastle would be 1-2 vs. the group. Wheatland gets East #2 seed over Big Horn due to head-to-head win, meaning Big Horn would be East #3 seed. The Rams would travel to West #2, which appears to be Lovell, but should the Bulldogs lose at Cokeville, that could change things, and we would have to wait to see what happens with Big Piney’s game at Kemmerer. The potential for a Lovell-Cokeville-Big Piney 3-way tie could happen. If Cokeville wins and BP loses to Kemmerer, BH would go to Cokeville in the first round, because the Panthers would have head-to-head tie-breaker vs. Lovell for west #2 and west #3 seeds. Meanwhile Upton-Sundance would get the East #4 seed due to head-to-head win vs. Newcastle, meaning the Patriots would travel to Lyman who is the West #1 seed. Newcastle, Burns and Tongue River would be eliminated. Newcastle would be eliminated for losing tie-breaker with Upton-Sundance, while the games involving Burns and TR would become irrelevant.

Upton-Sundance beats Big Horn and Newcastle beats Wheatland: Upton-Sundance would the East #2 seed with a 5-2 conference record. Wheatland and Newcastle would be tied for East #3 and East #4 seeds with a 4-3 conference record each, with Wheatland having the head-to-head tie-breaker, thus getting the East #3 seed, thus Newcastle would be East #4 and travel to Lyman who is the West #1 seed. Big Horn would be eliminated from playoff contention because the Rams would have a 3-4 conference record, which puts them 1 game behind both Wheatland and Newcastle (the loss to TR would come back to haunt). The games involving Burns and TR would become irrelevant, thus both are eliminated.

Upton-Sundance beats Big Horn, Wheatland beats Newcastle and Burns and Tongue River both lose: Wheatland and Upton-Sundance would be tied for the East #2 and East #3 seeds, with 5-2 conference records, but Wheatland has the head-to-head tie-breaker meaning the Bulldogs are East #2 and the Patriots are East #3. Big Horn and Newcastle would be tied for East #4 with a 3-4 conference record, but BH has the head-to-head tie-breaker, meaning the Rams get the East #4 seed and would travel to West #1 seed Lyman in the first round. Newcastle would be eliminated for losing head-to-head vs. Big Horn, while Burns and Tongue River are eliminated, because their conference record would be 2-5 and thus are 1 game behind Big Horn in the standings.

Upton-Sundance beats Big Horn, Wheatland beats Newcastle, Burns beats Torrington, Glenrock beats Tongue River: Wheatland and Upton-Sundance would be tied for the East #2 and East #3 seeds, with 5-2 conference records, but Wheatland has the head-to-head tie-breaker meaning the Bulldogs are East #2 and the Patriots are East #3. Big Horn, Newcastle and Burns would be in a 3-way tie for the East #4 seed with 3-4 conference records, but because BH beat both Newcastle and Burns, the Rams get the East #4 seed and will travel to West #1 seed Lyman in the first round of the playoffs. Newcastle and Burns would be eliminated due to losing head-to-head tie-breakers vs. Big Horn, and Tongue River would be eliminated because their conference record would be 2-5, thus the Eagles would be 1 game behind Big Horn.

Upton-Sundance beats Big Horn, Wheatland beats Newcastle, Torrington beats Burns, Tongue River beats Glenrock: Wheatland and Upton-Sundance would be tied for the East #2 and East #3 seeds, with 5-2 conference records, but Wheatland has the head-to-head tie-breaker meaning the Bulldogs are East #2 and the Patriots are East #3. Big Horn, Newcastle and Tongue River would be in a 3-way tie for the East #4 seed with 3-4 conference records. All lost to Torrington, Wheatland and Upton-Sundance, and all beat Burns and Glenrock. Checking score differential tie-breaker for BH, Newcastle and TR vs. each other (maximum 12 points), BH would win the tie-breaker with a differential of +11, where as TR’s differential is -2, and Newcastle’s in -9. The Rams would travel to West #1 seed Lyman in the first round. TR and Newcastle would be eliminated for losing point-differential tie-breaker vs. BH, and Burns would be eliminated because their conference record would be 2-5, thus 1 game behind BH.

Upton-Sundance beats Big Horn, Wheatland beats Newcastle, Burns beats Torrington and Tongue River beats Glenrock: Wheatland and Upton-Sundance would be tied for the East #2 and East #3 seeds, with 5-2 conference records, but Wheatland has the head-to-head tie-breaker meaning the Bulldogs are East #2 and the Patriots are East #3. Big Horn, Newcastle, Burns and Tongue River would be in a 4-way tie for the East #4 seed with 3-4 conference records. Since Burns lost head-to-head vs. BH, Newcastle and TR, the Broncs are eliminated. Checking score differential tie-breaker for BH, Newcastle and TR vs. each other (maximum 12 points), BH would win the tie-breaker with a differential of +11, where as TR’s differential is -2, and Newcastle’s in -9. The Rams would travel to West #1 seed Lyman in the first round. TR and Newcastle would be eliminated for losing point-differential tie-breaker vs. BH.

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Last modified: October 22, 2021

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