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3a playoff games

they will probably meet, pod 15 and 16 .....i am thinking ihass will do 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, .......i hope not, but u can hardly break the ihass from doing this...allways repeats......they been doing this for years.....wish they would do pod 16 vs pod1, pod 15 vs pod 2..that would be too hard for them
 
So please put that in english...will they play before the dome?? and if so who are you picking??
 
So please put that in english...will they play before the dome??

It'll depend on who's left when they get down to 16.

About the only way you might be able to split up Harlan and LC is if you send Harlan north with SB-L, BHRV and Spencer, and send LC east with Webster City, DCG and Ballard.

Pella beating Winterset would help that scenario, because then the 8 teams above would be the only ones left west of I-35.
 
The round of 32/pod finals/second round/whatever you wanna call it, along with who I’d expect to win:

Denison-Schleswig (2-5) at Sergeant Bluff-Luton (5-2)
Humboldt (5-3) at Spencer (5-2) - should be a good one
Storm Lake (3-5) at Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley (5-2) - BHRV beat Storm Lake by 14 a week ago
Mason City (3-3) at Webster City (7-0)
Dubuque Wahlert (5-2) at Decorah (6-1)
Western Dubuque (5-3) at West Delaware (8-1) - West Delaware crushed the Bobcats already
Marion (3-4) at Xavier (7-0)
Central DeWitt (5-3) vs Davenport Assumption (7-0) - site TBD; Assumption thumped CDW earlier
Mount Pleasant (4-3) at North Scott (4-1)
Keokuk (4-3) at Washington (7-0) - Washington just beat Keokuk by 54 points
Fort Madison (7-1) at Grinnell (6-2) - could be good
Carlisle (5-3) at Dallas Center-Grimes (6-0) - this might be close, I’m not sure how good either of these teams really are
Winterset (6-2) at Pella (5-2) - wouldn’t be surprised with a Winterset win, though
Nevada (6-2) vs Ballard (7-1) at Boone
Bondurant-Farrar (5-3) at Harlan (7-0)
Norwalk (2-5) at Lewis Central (6-1)

Given those pod winners - no sure thing, I grant you - what might brackets look like? I’ll start with Decorah, as that’s the biggest geographical outlier. Obviously West Delaware would be in their bracket, but who are the other two? Xavier and Grinnell, perhaps? A potential Xavier-West Delaware quarterfinal would be a doozy.

Then Assumption and North Scott could be bracketed with Washington, but who‘s the fourth? Xavier would make good geographic sense, but three of those four teams are undefeated (and all four are undefeated by 3A teams) which would be an unnecessarily outrageous bracket, and we’re already thinking about Xavier in the north bracket. Do you put Pella in with those three? Maybe. In any event, we absolutely need to get that previously canceled Assumption-North Scott game played, preferably in the third round. Pella at Washington and Assumption vs North Scott would set up a good quarterfinal, regardless of who advances.

Harlan and Lewis Central would most likely be bracketed together, but what about the other two? Go north to SBL and BHRV? Or east to DCG and Ballard? If SBL and BHRV go south, that last bracket could be Spencer/Webster City/DCG/Ballard; if DCG and Ballard go southwest, then it’s SBL/BHRV/Spencer/Webster City. If it were me, I’d delay the potential Harlan-Lewis Central rematch to the quarterfinals, but I don’t see any way the IHSAA can split them up to get them both to the Dome. Maybe ISUChip’s scenario, but I would be surprised.
 
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Well, here’s a thought for out west ... Lewis Central with SBL, BHRV, and Spencer; then Harlan with DCG, Ballard, and Webster City. That’s not crazy (I guess that’s just the LC/Harlan reverse of ISUChip’s scenario, so it’s not like I’m reinventing the wheel here).

You‘d probably go LC/SBL and BHRV/Spencer in the 3rd round, along with Harlan/DCG and Ballard/Webster City. A potential Harlan-Ballard or Harlan-Webster City game in the quarterfinals doesn’t sound bad.
 
So will LC and Harlan tangle again pre-dome?? if so what are your thoughts??
if lewis central plays harlan again, i will go with lewis central, its hard to beat a team twice in a seaon. i do believe it will be a close game though, but lewis central will have revenge factor going for them
 
I think the home teams prevail in all games, although I am intrigued by the Fort Madison vs. Grinnell game. I would like to know the states rational for having Grinnell being the #1 seed in the pod. Yes the record of their schedule is better, but with the state saying their aren't using things like RPI how do you send a 7-1 team to a 6-2 team with no common opponents?

If all the home teams prevail I would make them up like this, although I am not sure how you choose the 8 teams that get a home game, the 6 undefeated would be automatic to me, after that I went with Decorah and Lewis Central, Decorah beat West Delaware one of the 1 loss teams, and Lewis Central seems to work the best geographically, personally I wouldn't have given the 3 district 1 teams a bye, but since they did that I could see one of those 2 loss teams hosting as well. I didn't know what to do with North Scott with them playing fewer games.

Harlan vs. Spencer

Lewis Central vs BHRV

Webster City vs. SBL

DCG vs Ballard

Decorah vs. North Scott

Assumption vs. West Delaware

Washington vs Grinnell

Xavier vs. Pella
 
The postseason manual has home field determination like this for 2nd/3rd/4th rounds:

Head to head
District finish
Fewest district losses
Last alphabetical

So your examples would be
Spencer at Harlan (fewer district losses)
Lewis Central at BHRV (better district finish)
——
SBL at Webster City (fewer district losses)
Ballard at DCG (better district finish)
——
Decorah at North Scott (fewer district losses)
West Delaware at Assumption (better district finish)
——
Grinnell at Washington (better district finish)
Pella at Xavier (last alphabetical)
 
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The postseason manual has home field determination like this for 2nd/3rd/4th rounds:

Head to head
District finish
Fewest district losses
Last alphabetical

So your examples would be
Spencer at Harlan (fewer district losses)
Lewis Central at BHRV (better district finish)
——
SBL at Webster City (fewer district losses)
Ballard at DCG (better district finish)
——
Decorah at North Scott (fewer district losses)
West Delaware at Assumption (better district finish)
——
Grinnell at Washington (better district finish)
Pella at Xavier (last alphabetical)
There's a good possibility that DCG doesn't get by Carlisle. DCG has had multiple players out and has limped through the season just barely beating below average teams. Carlisle has been on a roll.
 
Yeah, I think Carlisle-DCG could be a really competitive matchup. It’s kind of odd the Register and Radio Iowa have kept putting DCG at number one all year when they really haven’t been dominant (I guess that opening win over Pella has a lot to do with it).
 
Yeah, I think Carlisle-DCG could be a really competitive matchup. It’s kind of odd the Register and Radio Iowa have kept putting DCG at number one all year when they really haven’t been dominant (I guess that opening win over Pella has a lot to do with it).
Yes, I think there are few very "over-rated" teams in most top 10s. I also think its been a tough year for bcmoore with injuries and players missing at times. The downside is depending on how the State pairs up teams in the next round we could get some early battles that possibly should have happened in the dome.
 
Xavier vs Assumption in the final? Can it happen or will the state pair them up in semi's?

Assumption is back to their previous self after a 2018 season.
Xavier has beaten some quality opponents. Assumption? What is their best win - probably would have to say Wahlert?? They are big and physical for sure but I think they are a little too 1 dimensional. My gut tells me Assumption goes south and has to get through Washington and avoids Xavier. The bigger question - does North Scott and Assumption get paired together because they did not play in regular season.....or do they not play because they are from the same district (
 
Personally I want to see Pella vs. Xavier happen at some point, it's always a terrific game.
 
Xavier has beaten some quality opponents. Assumption? What is their best win - probably would have to say Wahlert?? They are big and physical for sure but I think they are a little too 1 dimensional. My gut tells me Assumption goes south and has to get through Washington and avoids Xavier. The bigger question - does North Scott and Assumption get paired together because they did not play in regular season.....or do they not play because they are from the same district (

Personally I think Assumption and North Scott *should* play, and the sooner the better. The only reason they both have 0 district losses is because their game got canceled - it needs to be played in the 3rd round (on my opinion) so D-4 doesn’t take up two quarterfinal spots that they very well may not have ended up with if that game hadn’t gotten skipped. Just my opinion.

Looking at the probable east-side 8, I do think Assumption probably would go with North Scott/Washington/Pella, and Xavier goes with Decorah/West Delaware/Grinnell. But maybe not. The problem with Xavier/Washington/Assumption/North Scott and Decorah/West Delaware/Grinnell/Pella is, first, a potential Pella to Decorah or Manchester to Pella road trip; and second, that first bracket features one total loss and zero losses to 3A programs.

Long way around it, but I think there’s a potential Assumption-Xavier semifinal, if they can both get that far.
 
Will be interesting to see what happens. I think at the beginning of the season DCG was a top team, but injuries have decimated them. I suppose they kept their top spot because they never lost. They will have their hands full with Carlisle. If DCG can’t bottle up that rushing attack then it will be a long night for them. I see Carlisle winning this one.

Pella has had an interesting season. DCG put a hurt on them in week one. Game got out of hand late, but was never in doubt. They have steadily improved as the season has gone on. They have a very tough front 7 on defense that is very hard to run against. Pella is known for the explosive play on offense, but not so much this year. They win with ball control, a stingy defense, and trying to win the field position game. They will be a tough out.

I feel bad for Grinnell since Sauser went down at QB. That was a very, very potent offense that now is handicapped. Fort Madison is 7-1 so knows how to win, but I think Grinnell will prevail.

I’m actually really interested in the Nevada - Ballard game. Nevada has a very strong team and will be looking forward to seeing how this one plays out as Ballard is obviously very good as well and sitting at #4 in bcmoore.
 
Will be interesting to see what happens. I think at the beginning of the season DCG was a top team, but injuries have decimated them. I suppose they kept their top spot because they never lost. They will have their hands full with Carlisle. If DCG can’t bottle up that rushing attack then it will be a long night for them. I see Carlisle winning this one.

Pella has had an interesting season. DCG put a hurt on them in week one. Game got out of hand late, but was never in doubt. They have steadily improved as the season has gone on. They have a very tough front 7 on defense that is very hard to run against. Pella is known for the explosive play on offense, but not so much this year. They win with ball control, a stingy defense, and trying to win the field position game. They will be a tough out.

I feel bad for Grinnell since Sauser went down at QB. That was a very, very potent offense that now is handicapped. Fort Madison is 7-1 so knows how to win, but I think Grinnell will prevail.

I’m actually really interested in the Nevada - Ballard game. Nevada has a very strong team and will be looking forward to seeing how this one plays out as Ballard is obviously very good as well and sitting at #4 in bcmoore.
What happened to Sauser and also Brand for DSG? Meaning what type of injuries...done for year?
 
Sauser must have hurt his throwing arm in the Benton game at the end of September. He played the next week against Xavier, but never attempted a pass and shared time at QB with Cole McGriff. I don’t know if he’s played any in the CCA or Newton games, but he still hasn’t thrown a pass since September.
 
Sauser must have hurt his throwing arm in the Benton game at the end of September. He played the next week against Xavier, but never attempted a pass and shared time at QB with Cole McGriff. I don’t know if he’s played any in the CCA or Newton games, but he still hasn’t thrown a pass since September.
Sauser broke his arm. Done for the season.
 
Sauser must have hurt his throwing arm in the Benton game at the end of September. He played the next week against Xavier, but never attempted a pass and shared time at QB with Cole McGriff. I don’t know if he’s played any in the CCA or Newton games, but he still hasn’t thrown a pass since September.
Sauser was out of the CCA game on the sidelines. Grinnell had another season ending injury in pre-season to one of their Junior Linebackers who was also backup running back who would have been a huge contributor on defense and a reliable backup to their stud first string RB Hunter. To be honest With those two guys (sauser and the junior linebacker) not getting hurt I would have put Grinnell far into the post season. I see Xavier running away with the title. I think Harlan is better than most people give them credit for .
 
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Personally I want to see Pella vs. Xavier happen at some point, it's always a terrific game.

Terrific but terrible for the old heart. :) I thought the 2016 semifinal that Pella won on the final play was stressful enough, but then two years later they played a second-round game at Xavier and Pella was damn close to scoring and maybe tying up that game at the end. I'm not sure I can take more of those.
 
I don’t see Xavier running away with the title. Xavier is probably the favorite, but could certainly see them getting knocked off as well. Now, I’m not saying they won’t win it, but there are several really good teams that could win it. I see several real dogfights coming up in the round of 16.
 
I don’t see Xavier running away with the title. Xavier is probably the favorite, but could certainly see them getting knocked off as well. Now, I’m not saying they won’t win it, but there are several really good teams that could win it. I see several real dogfights coming up in the round of 16.
I've seen Harlan and Xavier play in person. Harlan was steady as she goes and they made very few mistakes. Xavier dismantled Grinnell but Grinnell was in a serious funk with sauser and his broken arm. They were limited and 1 dimensional. The Grinnell Fort Madison game looks like a real good one for this week. I believe it is live streamed on tigerlivestream out of grinnell. I believe they paid the 500 for broadcast rights.
 
Here's a visual of the 3A playoff matchups for Friday, so you can see the groupings for potential third-round brackets.

If all the home teams win, the west side looks like two possibilities: SBL/BHRV/Spencer/Webster City and LC/DCG/Ballard/Harlan; OR SBL/BHRV/LC/Harlan and Spencer/Webster City/Ballard/DCG.

If all the home teams win on the east side, one bracket will almost certainly include Decorah/West Delaware/Xavier ... the question is who is the fourth? If it's Grinnell, that throws Pella in with Assumption/North Scott/Washington. If they split up North Scott and Assumption, with one joining those three northern teams, you've still got the other with Grinnell/Pella/Washington. There's no simple, obvious solution there.

Now, if Winterset happens to defeat Pella, then I think either Webster City or Ballard probably gets moved into an east-side bracket. If Fort Madison beats Grinnell, they'll go with Washington/Assumption/North Scott easily, leaving the other Pella/Xavier/Decorah/West Delaware. If those teams all win, of course.

I waste way too much time thinking about these things ... :D
 
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Here's a visual of the 3A playoff matchups for Friday, so you can see the groupings for potential third-round brackets.

If all the home teams win, the west side looks like two possibilities: SBL/BHRV/Spencer/Webster City and LC/DCG/Ballard/Harlan; OR SBL/BHRV/LC/Harlan and Spencer/Webster City/Ballard/DCG.

If all the home teams win on the east side, one bracket will almost certainly include Decorah/West Delaware/Xavier ... the question is who is the fourth? If it's Grinnell, that throws Pella in with Assumption/North Scott/Washington. If they split up North Scott and Assumption, with one joining those three northern teams, you've still got the other with Grinnell/Pella/Washington. There's no simple, obvious solution there.

Now, if Winterset happens to defeat Pella, then I think either Webster City or Ballard probably gets moved into an east-side bracket. If Fort Madison beats Grinnell, they'll go with Washington/Assumption/North Scott easily, leaving the other Pella/Xavier/Decorah/West Delaware. If those teams all win, of course.

I waste way too much time thinking about these things ... :D
I appreciate your input. It will be an interesting sea
 
Here's a visual of the 3A playoff matchups for Friday, so you can see the groupings for potential third-round brackets.

If all the home teams win, the west side looks like two possibilities: SBL/BHRV/Spencer/Webster City and LC/DCG/Ballard/Harlan; OR SBL/BHRV/LC/Harlan and Spencer/Webster City/Ballard/DCG.

If all the home teams win on the east side, one bracket will almost certainly include Decorah/West Delaware/Xavier ... the question is who is the fourth? If it's Grinnell, that throws Pella in with Assumption/North Scott/Washington. If they split up North Scott and Assumption, with one joining those three northern teams, you've still got the other with Grinnell/Pella/Washington. There's no simple, obvious solution there.

Now, if Winterset happens to defeat Pella, then I think either Webster City or Ballard probably gets moved into an east-side bracket. If Fort Madison beats Grinnell, they'll go with Washington/Assumption/North Scott easily, leaving the other Pella/Xavier/Decorah/West Delaware. If those teams all win, of course.

I waste way too much time thinking about these things ... :D

Haha. That’s awesome
 
I don’t see Xavier running away with the title. Xavier is probably the favorite, but could certainly see them getting knocked off as well. Now, I’m not saying they won’t win it, but there are several really good teams that could win it. I see several real dogfights coming up in the round of 16.
I don't see Xavier running away with it or winning it. I think that great offense along with stellar defense of Assumption's allows them to win.
 
dcg beat a good winterset team last weak, they dont look too helpless to me....carlise will have their hands full
 
Sauser was out of the CCA game on the sidelines. Grinnell had another season ending injury in pre-season to one of their Junior Linebackers who was also backup running back who would have been a huge contributor on defense and a reliable backup to their stud first string RB Hunter. To be honest With those two guys (sauser and the junior linebacker) not getting hurt I would have put Grinnell far into the post season. I see Xavier running away with the title. I think Harlan is better than most people give them credit for .
agree...xavier looks really good when i watched them play grinell...they are sort of the same size as harlan, about 200lbs kids on the line..but play very good. xavier,s hurry up offense makes opposing defense,s confused on the play. i was impressed with that, wonder why more teams dont do that
 
dcg beat a good winterset team last weak, they dont look too helpless to me....carlise will have their hands full

I don’t think anyone is saying DCG is helpless. The point I tried to make is that they aren't quite the team they were early in the season before losing some main contributors. Carlisle will definitely have their hands full. DCG’s defense is very strong. No secret this game will come down to how successful Carlisle’s running game is.
 
I don’t think anyone is saying DCG is helpless. The point I tried to make is that they aren't quite the team they were early in the season before losing some main contributors. Carlisle will definitely have their hands full. DCG’s defense is very strong. No secret this game will come down to how successful Carlisle’s running game is.
wow....carlise clobbered dcg, surprised
 
Wahlert beats Decorah 10-0, have to say I'm a bit surprised by that one.

Yep, me too. I think, personally, that clears up the eastern brackets.

Wahlert at West Delaware (head to head)
Assumption at North Scott (last alphabetical)

Grinnell at Xavier (head to head)
Pella at Washington (last alphabetical)

Although Pella and Grinnell could be switched.

I mean, come on, who wouldn’t want a potential Assumption or North Scott vs West Delaware quarterfinal? Also, Washington vs Xavier? Demons vs Saints? It practically writes itself ...
 
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