Winter Sports

Bracketology: Division I girls basketball

It's the last week of the regular season for Division I girls basketball, and the top seed for the tournament could come down to the final night of games.

Bedford faces a tough road this week to hang on to the No. 1 seed.

It's the last week of the regular season for Division I girls basketball, and the top seed for the tournament could come down to the final night of games.

The games end on Feb. 27 and the first round is scheduled to begin on March 3. The top 16 teams in the division make the postseason, and here’s a look at where everyone stands right now.

Top four seeds

Bedford (14-2)
Londonderry (14-2)
Bishop Guertin (13-3)
Manchester Central (12-4)

No change here from last week. Bedford and Londonderry appear to be locked into one of these four spots, but both end the season with tough matchups. Bedford has two home games against Trinity and Bishop Guertin, while Londonderry plays Manchester Memorial and at Nashua North. A misstep by either team could allow Bishop Guertin, which also plays at Spaulding this week, or Manchester Central, which plays at Salem and at Winnacunnet, to move up.

Next four seeds

Nashua North (11-5)
Pinkerton (11-5)
Alvirne (10-5)
Manchester Memorial (10-6)

Same four teams in these spots, just in a different order. North had a great week, with wins over Bishop Guertin, Memorial and Concord, and it holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Pinkerton. But the Titans have a tougher schedule this week, as the Astros host Concord and head to Exeter. Alvirne could pick up ground with three games this week, starting Monday at Keene. Memorial ended a four-game skid with a win over Exeter last Friday, but the Crusaders have lost five of their last seven and head to Londonderry on Tuesday before ending the season with Merrimack.

Teams no on wants in the first round

Winnacunnet (10-6)
Dover (9-8)

Winnacunnet drops down here because it would lose the head-to-head tiebreaker with Memorial. The Warriors have won five in a row, but end the season with home games against Alvirne and Central. Dover has gone 3-7 against the teams ahead of it in the standings, and because it loses the tiebreaker to Winnacunnet, the Green Wave will be the 10th seed in the tournament regardless of what it does against Salem in the regular-season finale.