Sectional Seeding Thoughts and Predictions

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The WIAA came out with its computer-generated seeding placements for the playoffs in all five divisions on Sunday and, as usual, a few seeds appeared a bit off the mark.<br><br>But, let's also be quick to point out that, as a whole, the WIAA seems to have improved the overall process into what goes into the seeding placements. <br><br>By and large, almost all seeds made sense. <br><br>But there are some exceptions, including ...<br><br><strong>DIVISION 1</strong><br><br>*<em>* Bay Port as a No. 7 seed in Sectional 2 behind No. 6 seed Sheboygan North</em>. Bay Port is 16-6 compared to Sheboygan North at 14-8. Bay Port is 12-5 in the Fox River Classic Conference while Sheboygan North is 10-7 in the same league. The two teams split their matchups during the season. This matters because as the No. 7 seed Bay Port must play a very good Oshkosh North team, which landed with a No. 10 seed despite playing and succeeding in one of the state's best leagues, the Fox Valley Association. Meanwhile, Sheboygan North gets to host Pewaukee, a capable team, to be sure, but probably not at the same level as Oshkosh North.<br><br><strong>DIVISION 2</strong><br><br>** <em>Brookfield Central as a No. 5 seed in Sectional 3</em>. The Lancers compete in arguably the best league in the state, the Greater Metro. And they can win a share of the league title with a victory over Menomonee Falls on Thursday. That, in and of itself, is very impressive. However, the Lancers have had problems winning non-league games as they are just 3-5 outside the Greater Metro. That is likely the reason coach Dan Wandrey's squad is seeded fifth and behind No. 1 New Berlin West, No. 2 Beaver Dam, No. 3 Wauwatosa West and No. 4 Sauk Prairie. Still, the computer should give more credence to the fact Brookfield Central won its last five games, including impressive wins over Division 1 opponents Brookfield East and Marshfield. Instead, the Lancers get a regional-semifinal ticket to go and play at Sauk Prairie. <br><br><strong>DIVISION 3</strong><br><br>** <em>Seymour as a No. 2 seed in Sectional 2.</em> Okay. Freedom gets the No. 1 seed and is one of the favorites to win the WIAA D3 state championship. This is not meant to be any sort of shot at the Irish as they are very, very good. But Seymour is ranked No. 1 in the WBCA/Prep Hoops state-wide poll and is ... UNBEATEN. Freedom has one loss. Seymour also plays in a league with several Division 2 teams. The bottom line is that the two class programs likely will meet in a sectional semifinal on a neutral floor so the seed number really doesn't matter all that much. But to be undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the state in your division and get a two seed in your sectional is unusual, to say the least.<br><br><strong>DIVISION 4</strong><br><br>** <em>Laconia as a No. 5 seed in Sectional 4</em>. The computer is fed raw data on scores, opponents and location of games. It does not consider injuries or how a team is playing at a certain time of the season. Laconia probably deserves as No. 5 seed based on its full body of work and its 12-11 record. But the Spartans are a dangerous team at this point as they recently welcomed back senior [player_tooltip player_id='1561935' first='Cash' last='Farrell'], a four-year varsity player who missed all but a handful of games with an injury. With Farrell in the lineup, coach Dylan Wurtz's squad is an entirely different team, one more than capable of knocking off higher seeded teams in the playoffs.<br><br><strong>DIVISION 5</strong><br><br><em>** North Crawford as a No. 1 seed in Sectional 3</em>. The Trojans are a formidable team and one with its sights set firmly on advancing to the Division 5 State Tournament. But it's hard to reason coach Chris Wettstein's squad should be seeded ahead of No. 2 seed Kickapoo. The two teams split during the regular season. Kickapoo has a 21-2 overall record and won the Ridge &amp; Valley Conference title. North Crawford is 18-4 overall and is two games behind Kickapoo in the league standings. The case of a runner-up team being seeded better than a championship team within the same conference also is true in Sectional 1, where Loyal, which finished second in the Eastern Cloverbelt, is seeded No. 1 while Columbus Catholic, which won the Eastern Cloverbelt and just beat Loyal, is seeded No. 2. <br><br>Enough of the nitpicking. Here are my picks to win sectional and state titles:<br><br><strong>DIVISION 1<br><br>Sectional 1</strong><br>Appleton North over Kaukauna<br><br><strong>Sectional 2</strong><br>Brookfield East over Germantown<br><br><strong>Sectional 3</strong><br>Madison Memorial over Verona<br><br><strong>Sectional 4</strong><br>Wisconsin Lutheran over West Allis Central<br><br><strong>State Tournament Semifinals</strong><br>Wisconsin Lutheran over Brookfield East<br>Madison Memorial over Appleton North<br><br><strong>Championship</strong><br>Wisconsin Lutheran over Madison Memorial<br><br><strong>DIVISION 2<br><br>Sectional 1</strong><br>Onalaska over Rhinelander<br><br><strong>Sectional 2</strong><br>Nicolet over Notre Dame<br><br><strong>Sectional 3</strong><br>Wauwatosa West over Mount Horeb<br><br><strong>Sectional 4</strong><br>Whitefish Bay over Waterford<br><br><strong>State Tournament Semifinals</strong><br>Wauwatosa West over Onalaska<br>Nicolet over Whitefish Bay<br><br><strong>Championship</strong><br>Wauwatosa West over Nicolet<br><br><strong>DIVISION 3<br><br>Sectional 1</strong><br>Mosinee over Prescott<br><br><strong>Sectional 2</strong><br>Freedom over Winneconne<br><br><strong>Sectional 3</strong><br>Lake Mills over Aquinas<br><br><strong>Sectional 4</strong><br>Racine Lutheran over Oostburg<br><br><strong>State Tournament Semifinals</strong><br>Lake Mills over Freedom<br>Racine Lutheran over Mosinee<br><br><strong>Championship</strong><br>Lake Mills over Racine Lutheran<br><br><strong>DIVISION 4<br><br>Sectional 1</strong><br>Regis over Colfax<br><br><strong>Sectional 2</strong><br>Iola-Scandinavia over Marathon<br><br><strong>Sectional 3</strong><br>Darlington over Lomira<br><br><strong>Sectional 4</strong><br>Milwaukee Juneau over Roncalli<br><br><strong>State Tournament Semifinals</strong><br>Milwaukee Juneau over Iola-Scandinavia<br>Darlington over Regis<br><br><strong>Championship</strong><br>Milwaukee Juneau over Darlington<br><br><strong>DIVISION 5<br><br>Sectional 1</strong><br>Loyal over Turtle Lake<br><br><strong>Sectional 2</strong><br>Reedsville over Tigerton<br><br><strong>Sectional 3</strong><br>Kickapoo over Assumption<br><br><strong>Sectional 4</strong><br>Oakfield over Pecatonica<br><br><strong>State Tournament Semifinals</strong><br>Reedsville over Oakfield<br>Kickapoo over Loyal<br><br><strong>Championship</strong><br>Kickapoo over Reedsville<br><br></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->