This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The qualification procedure for the prep postseason is often maligned when pitting one region against another allows the weak to be prayed on. Many argue Region 1 has the easiest path to the championship this season, while Region 3 and Region 4, which are considered the top two regions in the 5A classification, are forced to duke it out.
An interesting conversation on Twitter spurred inspiration. One reader used The Tribune's power rankings to seed the bracket from No. 1 to 16. I decided to take the idea further by using a compilation of rankings from various news organizations. James Edward of the Deseret News, Ryan Comer of the Standard-Examiner, Justin Giles of The Spectrum and MaxPreps contributed rankings using the same 16 programs already qualified for the Class 5A and 4A playoffs and the same 12 programs participating in the Class 3AA tournament.
Those rankings were combined with The Tribune's and voila! It's Fall Madness.
Here is what the proposed brackets look like:
Class 5A
Top bracket
(16) Syracuse at (1) Bingham
(9) Pleasant Grove at (8) Brighton
(12) Hunter at (5) Jordan
(13) Fremont at (4) Davis
Bottom bracket
(11) American Fork at (6) Mountain Crest
(14) West Jordan at (3) Sky View
(10) Roy at (7) Herriman
(15) Viewmont at (2) Lone Peak
Class 4A
Top bracket
(16) Region 6 fourth-seed at (1) Timpview
(9) Alta at (8) Wasatch
(12) Region 8 third-seed at (5) Bountiful
(13) Corner Canyon at (4) Highland
Bottom bracket
(11) Murray at (6) Provo
(14) Spanish Fork (3) Springville
(10) Kearns at (7) Olympus
(15) Region 5 fourth-seed at (2) East
Class 3AA
Top bracket
(9) Snow Canyon at (8) Cedar, winner plays at (1) Logan
(12) Bear River at (5) Hurricane, winner plays at (4) Desert Hills
Bottom bracket
(11) Judge Memorial at (6) Stansbury, winner plays at (3) Tooele
(10) Park City at (7) Pine View, winner plays at (2) Dixie
Essentially qualifying for the postseason remains the same, but rather than pairing regions, each program is subjected to seeding instead. For those who loathe the media, which is many I presume, the media poll could be combined with votes from coaches and the UHSAA "selection committee," which as of right now does not exist.
What fantasy world am I living in? Regardless, how do you feel about this method that will never happen but is enjoyable to contemplate? Do you think games are more competitive? What would you change?
— Trevor Phibbs
Twitter: @trevorphibbs