THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Van Buren High School Athletics

We’re about halfway through the high school football season. In years past, this was too early for playoff projections. That’s not the case this year, the first in which MaxPreps.com’s computer rankings will play a major role in seeding the football playoffs. Each conference gets a certain amount of automatic bids, based on the number of teams (1-4 teams = one bid; 5-8 teams = two bids; 9 or more = three bids). MaxPreps ranking is how the conference champions will be seeded, as well as the conference runner-ups and the third-place teams. A second-place team cannot be seeded higher than a 1-seed, a third-place team can’t be seeded higher than a runner-up and a wild-card can’t be seeded ahead of anything but other wild-cards. Wild-card selections are done entirely based on MaxPreps ranking. If you’re a 4A or 1A bubble team, it’ll be important to stay about No. 48; if you’re in 2A or 3A, the number is No. 64 (though automatic bids could go to teams ranked lower, which would move the wild-card cutoff higher). Once the field is seeded, the largest playoff teams in one classification are put into one bracket and the smallest into the other, creating eight brackets in all: 4AA and 4A, 3AA and 3A, 2AA and 2A and 1AA and 1A. The official numbers used for determining the size of each school, the ADMs (average daily membership) won’t be released until the last week of the regular season, so for now we’re using last year’s numbers. With this being the first year of a new realignment period, there will be teams in different brackets than you may be used to seeing. The brackets are divided into East and West based on geography. In the 24-team brackets of 4AA, 4A, 1AA and 1A, the top four seeds in each bracket get a first-round bye. The MaxPreps rankings are updated each Sunday. This link will be updated throughout the season right up until the field is announced on Nov. 4. We’ll use MaxPreps rankings to project conference champions, runner-ups and, when necessary, third-place teams. This is an if-the-season-ended-today projection. Last update: Monday, Sept. 25, 11 p.m. Automatic bids - 4A Conf. (listed W to E) 1st 2nd Northwestern McDowell County N/A South Meck Harding West Mecklenburg I-Meck Mallard Creek Vance Southwestern Myers Park Butler Central Piedmont West Forsyth Glenn Metro Page Northwest Guilford Sandhills Athletic Scotland Richmond Triangle 6 Green Hope Athens Drive Patriot Athletic South View N/A South Wake Middle Creek Fuquay-Varina Cap-7 Cardinal Gibbons Sanderson Northern Athletic Wake Forest Heritage Mideastern Hoggard N/A Eastern Carolina South Central N/A 4AA East 1-Wake Forest vs BYE; 8-Pinecrest vs 9-Millbrook 4-Richmond County vs BYE; 5-Northwest Guilford vs 12-Garner 3-Green Hope vs BYE; 6-Fuquay-Varina vs 11-Laney 2-Middle Creek vs BYE; 7-Athens Drive vs 10-Leesville Road 4AA West 1-Mallard Creek vs BYE; 8-North Mecklenburg vs 9-Hough 4-Page vs BYE; 5-Butler vs 12-Ardrey Kell 3-Myers Park vs BYE; 6-West Mecklenburg vs 11-South Mecklenburg 2-West Forsyth vs BYE; 7-Providence vs 10-Olympic 4A East 1-Scotland County vs BYE; 8-Sanderson vs 9-Seventy-First 4-South View vs BYE; 5-South Central vs 12-High Point Central 3-Cardinal Gibbons vs BYE; 6-Heritage vs 11-Ragsdale 2-Hoggard vs BYE; 7-Glenn vs 10-Purnell Swett 4A West 1-Harding vs BYE; 8-Mooresville vs 9-R.J. Reynolds 4-East Forsyth vs BYE; 5-Hickory Ridge vs 12-Reagan 3-Vance vs BYE; 6-Davie County vs 11-West Charlotte 2-McDowell County vs BYE; 7-Porter Ridge vs 10-East Mecklenburg Automatic bids - 3A Conf. (listed W to E) 1st 2nd 3rd Western Mountain A.C. Reynolds Asheville Tuscola Northwestern Freedom Alexander Central N/A Big South Crest Kings Mountain N/A North Piedmont South Iredell Statesville N/A Southern Carolina Charlotte Catholic Marvin Ridge N/A South Piedmont A.L. Brown Jay M. Robinson N/A Piedmont Triad Dudley Mount Tabor N/A Mid-Piedmont Southeast Guilford Eastern Guilford N/A Mid-State Western Alamance Eastern Alamance N/A Big Eight Hillside Orange N/A Tri-County 6 Lee County Triton N/A Patriot Athletic Cape Fear Terry Sanford N/A Greater Neuse River Clayton Cleveland N/A Big East Southern Nash Fike N/A Mideastern New Hanover Topsail N/A Eastern Carolina D.H. Conley Eastern Wayne N/A Coastal Havelock Jacksonville N/A 3AA East 1-Dudley vs 16-Northwood; 8-Hillside vs 9-Jacksonville 4-Cape Fear vs 13-Cleveland; 5-Southeast Guilford vs 12-Topsail 3-New Hanover vs 14-Triton; 6-D.H. Conley vs 11-Eastern Guilford 2-Lee County vs 15-Northern Durham; 7-Clayton vs 10-Terry Sanford 3AA West 1-A.L. Brown vs 16-Parkland; 8-Weddington vs 9-Sun Valley 4-Mount Tabor vs 13-Ben L. Smith; 5-Marvin Ridge vs 12-Northern Guilford 3-South Iredell vs 14-Ashbrook; 6-Alexander Central vs 11-Watauga 2-A.C. Reynolds vs 15-Central Cabarrus; 7-Asheville vs 10-Southwest Guilford 3A East 1-Southern Nash vs 16-Westover; 8-West Carteret vs 9-E.E. Smith 4-Eastern Alamance vs 13-Northeast Guilford; 5-Orange vs 12-Monroe 3-Havelock vs 14-Rockingham County; 6-Fike vs 11-Northside (Jacksonville) 2-Western Alamance vs 15-Rocky Mount; 7-Eastern Wayne vs 10-E.E. Smith 3A West 1-Charlotte Catholic vs 16-West Caldwell; 8-Hunter Huss vs 9-Stuart Cramer 4-Kings Mountain vs 13-Hickory; 5-Statesville vs 12-West Rowan 3-Freedom vs 14-West Henderson; 6-Tuscola vs 11-Concord 2-Crest vs 15-Burns; 7-Statesville vs 10-Northwest Cabarrus Automatic bids - 2A Conf. (listed W to E) 1st 2nd 3rd Mountain Six Franklin Pisgah N/A Western Highlands Mountain Heritage N/A N/A Southwestern South Point Shelby N/A Northwestern Foothills Hibriten Patton N/A South Fork Newton-Conover Maiden N/A Mountain Valley Wilkes Central N/A N/A Western Piedmont North Surry West Stokes N/A Central Carolina North Davidson Ledford Salisbury Rocky River Mount Pleasant East Montgomery N/A PAC-7 Randleman Wheatmore N/A Mid-State Reidsville N/A Three Rivers South Columbus East Bladen N/A Northern Carolina South Granville Roanoke Rapids N/A East Central East Duplin Wallace Rose-Hill N/A Eastern Plains SouthWest Edgecombe Nash Central N/A Eastern Carolina Kinston West Craven N/A Coastal 8 Southwest Onslow Trask N/A Northeastern Coastal Northeastern Hertford County N/A 2AA East 1-East Duplin vs 16-St. Pauls; 8-Ledford vs 9-West Craven 4-South Granville vs 13-Bunn; 5-SouthWest Edgecombe vs 12-T.W. Andrews 3-Randleman vs 14-East Davidson; 6-Nash Central vs 11-Clinton 2-North Davidson vs 15-North Lenoir; 7-Roanoke Rapids vs 10-Cummings 2AA West 1-South Point vs 16-East Lincoln; 8-Pisgah vs 9-Patton 4-Newton-Conover vs 13-West Lincoln; 5-Mount Pleasant vs 12-Foard 3-Franklin vs 14-West Iredell; 6-North Surry vs 11-West Stokes 2-Hibriten vs 15-North Lincoln; 7-Wilkes Central vs 10-Maiden 2A East 1-Northeastern vs 16-Bertie; 8-Trask vs 9-Whiteville 4-Southwest Onslow vs 13-Ayden-Grifton; 5-Wallace-Rose Hill vs 12-First Flight 3-Kinston vs 14-Red Springs; 6-East Bladen vs 11-Greene Central 2-South Columbus vs 15-Warren County; 7-Hertford County vs 10-Farmville Central 2A West 1-Reidsville vs 16-Madison; 8-East Rutherford vs 9-Brevard 4-East Montgomery vs 13-R-S Central; 5-Wheatmore vs 12-Lincolnton 3-Shelby vs 14-Bandys; 6-Salisbury vs 11-Lexington 2-Mountain Heritage vs 15-West Wilkes; 7-Hendersonville vs 10-North Wilkes Automatic bids - 1A Conf. (listed W to E) 1st 2nd Smoky Mountain Murphy Cherokee Western Highlands Mitchell County N/A Southern Piedmont Bessemer City Thomas Jefferson Mountain Valley East Wilkes N/A Northwest Mount Airy East Surry Yadkin Valley North Rowan North Stanly Three Rivers South Robeson N/A Northern Carolina Louisburg N/A Carolina 1A North Duplin Lakewood Tar-Roanoke Northampton County Southeast Halifax Coastal 8 East Carteret N/A Coastal Plains Tarboro Southside Albemarle Edenton Holmes Manteo Atlantic Bear Grass Charter N/A 1AA East 1-Tarboro vs BYE; 8-Riverside (Williamston) vs 9-Pender 4-Louisburg vs BYE; 5-Lakewood vs 12-Rosewood 3-East Carteret vs BYE; 6-Princeton vs 11-Pamlico County 2-Edenton Holmes vs BYE; 7-Gates County vs 10-Union 1AA West 1-East Wilkes vs BYE; 8-West Montgomery vs 9-Starmount 4-North Stanly vs BYE; 5-East Surry vs 12-South Stokes 3-Bessemer City vs BYE; 6-Polk County vs 11-South Stanly 2-North Rowan vs BYE; 7-Swain County vs 10-Cherrvyille 1A East 1-North Duplin vs BYE; 8-South Stanly vs 9-Albemarle 4-Bear Grass Charter vs BYE; 5-Southside vs 12-Northside (Pinetown) 3-South Robeson vs BYE; 6-Manteo vs 11-Plymouth 2-Northampton County vs BYE; 7-Southeast Halifax vs 10-North Edgecombe 1A West 1-Murphy vs BYE; 8-Union Academy vs 9-Elkin 4-Cherokee vs BYE; 5-Thomas Jefferson vs 12-Rosman 3-Mitchell County vs BYE; 6-Robbinsville vs 11-Winston-Salem Prep 2-Mount Airy vs BYE; 7-Mountain Island Charter vs 10-Alleghany County

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Van Buren High School Athletics

PROJECTING THE NCHSAA FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS

J. MIKE BLAKE

The Herald Sun | 9/26/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Riverside High School Athletics