March 29, 2024

1A and 2A Landscape after Week 7

1A: The NCHSAA allots 48 playoff berths to the 1A schools. Who is in and who is on the bubble? Let’s take a look.

Teams who should make the playoffs, barring disqualification from playoffs or multiple forfeits (Note: this is merely a list and not a ranking of teams):

  1. Swain County (Smoky Mountain Conference)
  2. Murphy (Smoky Mountain Conference)
  3. Robbinsville (Smoky Mountain Conference)
  4. Mitchell (Western Highlands Conference)
  5. Polk County (Western Highlands Conference)
  6. Avery County (Western Highlands Conference)
  7. Starmount (Mountain Valley Conference)
  8. Alleghany (Mountain Valley Conference)
  9. Elkin (Mountain Valley Conference)
  10. Bessemer City (Southern Piedmont Conference)
  11. Mountain Island Charter (Southern Piedmont Conference)
  12. Thomas Jefferson (Southern Piedmont Conference)
  13. East Surry (Northwest Conference)
  14. Mount Airy (Northwest Conference)
  15. Winston-Salem Prep (Northwest Conference)
  16. South Stokes (Northwest Conference)
  17. North Rowan (Yadkin Valley Conference)
  18. North Stanly (Yadkin Valley Conference)
  19. Albemarle (Yadkin Valley Conference)
  20. South Stanly (Yadkin Valley Conference)
  21. Granville Central (Northern Carolina Conference)
  22. Louisburg (Northern Carolina Conference)
  23. Northampton County (Tar-Roanoke Conference)
  24. North Edgecombe (Tar-Roanoke Conference)
  25. Tarboro (Coastal Plains Conference)
  26. Northside (Coastal Plains Conference)
  27. Pamlico County (Coastal Plains Conference)
  28. Holmes (Albemarle Conference)
  29. Gates County (Albemarle Conference)
  30. Manteo (Albemarle Conference)
  31. Washington County (Albemarle Conference)
  32. Princeton (Carolina Conference)
  33. Rosewood (Carolina Conference)
  34. Hobbton (Carolina Conference)

In addition, we will have 3 more teams that will receive automatic berths:

  1. Atlantic 5 winner (Bear Grass or Columbia)
  2. Three Rivers 1A representative (West Columbus or East Columbus)
  3. Coastal Eight 1A representative (East Carteret, Lejeune, or Pender)

11 more teams will have a chance of receiving a playoff berth. Here are some teams that might move into the safe category over the next few weeks:

  1. Hayesville (Smoky Mountain Conference)
  2. Andrews (Smoky Mountain Conference)
  3. East Wilkes (Mountain Valley Conference)
  4. North Stokes (Northwest Conference)
  5. Riverside (Coastal Plains Conference)

Should these 5 teams obtain playoff berths, there will be 6 more 1A slots. As we progress in the season, we should see some teams emerge as leading contenders for receiving these bids.

2A: 64 2A teams will receive playoff bids. Here’s my list of teams I feel like should comfortably receive a bid (Note: these teams listed below are not “ranked”):

  1. Pisgah (Mountain 6)
  2. Brevard (Mountain 6)
  3. Hendersonville (Mountain 6)
  4. Smoky Mountain (Mountain 6)
  5. Mountain Heritage (Western Highlands)
  6. Ashe County (Mountain Valley)
  7. Hibriten (Northwestern Foothills)
  8. Burns (Southwestern)
  9. Shelby (Southwestern)
  10. South Point (Southwestern)
  11. North Lincoln (South Fork)
  12. East Lincoln (South Fork)
  13. West Lincoln (South Fork)
  14. Newton-Conover (South Fork)
  15. Maiden (South Fork)
  16. West Stanly (Rocky River)
  17. Anson (Rocky River)
  18. North Davidson (Central Carolina)
  19. Oak Grove (Central Carolina)
  20. Ledford (Central Carolina)
  21. Salisbury (Central Carolina)
  22. Randleman (PAC-7)
  23. Eastern Randolph (PAC-7)
  24. Reidsville (Mid-State)
  25. Bartlett Yancey (Mid-State)
  26. South Granville (Northern Carolina)
  27. Northeastern (Northeastern Coastal)
  28. Hertford County (Northeastern Coastal)
  29. Beddingfield (Eastern Plains)
  30. SouthWest Edgecombe (Eastern Plains)
  31. Washington (Eastern Carolina)
  32. West Craven (Eastern Carolina)
  33. Kinston (Eastern Carolina)
  34. Ayden-Grifton (Eastern Carolina)
  35. East Duplin (East Central)
  36. Wallace-Rose Hill (East Central)
  37. Clinton (East Central)
  38. Midway (East Central)
  39. Southwest Onslow (Coastal Eight)
  40. Red Springs (Three Rivers)
  41. Whiteville (Three Rivers)
  42. St. Pauls (Three Rivers)
  43. Fairmont (Three Rivers)

In addition to the 43 teams listed above, there will be several teams receiving automatic bids who have not been placed in the “safe category”. These bids include:

  1. Mountain Valley #2 (most likely Wilkes Central)
  2. Western Piedmont #1 (Walkertown, West Stokes, North Surry, Forbush).
  3. Western Piedmont #2 (Walkertown, West Stokes, North Surry, Forbush)
  4. Northwest Foothills #2 (most likely the winner of Friday’s Draughn-Bunker Hill game)
  5. Northern Carolina #2 (Bunn, Webb, Roanoke Rapids)
  6. Coastal Eight #2 (Richlands, Dixon, Croatan)

With 15 more playoff bids available, these teams could move into the “safe category” over the next few weeks:

  1. Owen (Western Highlands)
  2. Chase (Southwestern)
  3. R-S Central (Southwestern)
  4. Bandys (South Fork)
  5. Forest Hills (Yadkin Valley)
  6. T.W. Andrews (PAC-7)
  7. North Lenoir (Eastern Carolina)
  8. Goldsboro (East Central)

Should these 8 teams make the playoffs, we will see another 20-25 teams fight it out for the remaining 7 playoff spots available in the 2A classification.

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