Bracketology: Division II girls basketball
Coe-Brown Academy had already wrapped up the No. 1 seed in Division II before the end of the regular season Friday night, but there were a lot of other spots still up for grabs.
Coe-Brown Academy had already wrapped up the No. 1 seed in Division II before the end of the regular season Friday night, but there were a lot of other spots still up for grabs.
With all those games now in the books, its time to take a look at where each team should end up when the NHIAA pairings are released on Monday.
Note: These pairings are not official. They are what we expect them to be based on our interpretations of the tiebreakers.
Top four seeds
No tiebreakers needed to figure out that Coe-Brown (18-0) is the No. 1 seed going into the Division II tournament.
That wasn't the case for the second and third seeds, as Milford (16-2) and Bishop Brady (16-2) finished the regular season tied for second, having not played each other. Using the second tiebreaker, rating against tournament teams including teams tied for the final spot, Milford (13-2 3.47), ends up slightly ahead of Bishop Brady (12-2, 3.43) and is the No. 2 seed, while the Giants are third.
Oyster River (14-4) finished alone in fourth, giving the Bobcats the fourth seed.
Four-way tie
Four teams finished with a 13-5 record in a tie for fifth place - Goffstown, Lebanon, Merrimack Valley and Pembroke. Head-to-head tiebreakers couldn't be used because only Pembroke played all three of the other teams; Goffstown and Lebanon didn't play Merrimack Valley. In fact, the Pride played just 10 of their 18 games against tournament teams, which likely cost them in terms of seeding.
The second tiebreaker should break the four-way tie here, with Pembroke (11-5, 2.75 rating) having the best rating against tournament teams of the four, meaning the Spartans should get the fifth seed. Goffstown (9-5, 2.57) should end up at No. 6 with Lebanon (6-5, 2.18) at No. 7 and Merrimack Valley (5-5, 2.00) at No. 8.
Portsmouth (11-7) should end up with the No. 9 seed, with Hanover (10-8) getting the 10th seed and Souhegan (8-10) taking the No. 11 spot.
More tiebreakers
Manchester West (7-11), St. Thomas (7-11) and Windham (7-11) ended up in a three-way tie for 12th, and once again, not all three teams played each other.
Against other tournament teams, Windham (7-8, 1.87) has the best rating and should end up with the 12th seed. St. Thomas (5-11, 1.25) was next and should be the 13 seed with West (4-10, 1.14) at No. 14.
Timberlane (5-13) is alone at 15th in the standings and will the No. 15 seed in the tournament.
Last one in
Hollis Brookline (4-14) and Kennett (4-14) finished in a tie for the 16th and final spot in the tournament. The teams didn't play each other in the regular season, so the tiebreaker goes to record against tournament teams.
The Cavaliers (2-14, 0.5) win the tiebreaker over the Eagles (0-11, 0.0) and should get the final spot.
Tournament field
- Coe-Brown (18-0, 4.0000)
- Milford (16-2, 3.5556) - rating vs. tourney teams
- Bishop Brady (16-2, 3.5556)
- Oyster River (14-4, 3.1111)
- Pembroke (13-5, 2.8889) - rating vs. tourney teams
- Goffstown (13-5, 2.8889) - rating vs. tourney teams
- Lebanon (13-5, 2.8889) - rating vs. tourney teams
- Merrimack Valley (13-5, 2.8889)
- Portsmouth (11-7, 2.4444)
- Hanover (10-8, 2.2222)
- Souhegan (8-10, 1.7778)
- Windham (7-11, 1.5556) - rating vs. tourney teams
- St. Thomas (7-11, 1.5556) - rating vs. tourney teams
- Manchester West (7-11, 1.5556)
- Timberlane (5-13, 1.1111)
- Hollis Brookline (4-14, 0.8889) - rating vs. tourney teams
Projected Pairings
Note: These are not official. The NHIAA will release official pairings on Monday.
- No. 16 Hollis Brookline at No. 1 Coe-Brown
- No. 9 Portsmouth at No. 8 Merrimack Valley
- No. 13 St. Thomas at No. 4 Oyster River
- No. 12 Windham at No. 5 Pembroke
- No. 15 Timberlane at No. 2 Milford
- No. 10 Hanover at No. 7 Lebanon
- No. 14 Manchester West at No. 3 Bishop Brady
- No. 11 Souhegan at No. 6 Goffstown
Tournament schedule
- Preliminary round: Wednesday, March 4 at higher seed
- Quarterfinals: Saturday, March 7 at higher seed
- Semifinals: Thursday, March 12 at Southern New Hampshire University
- Final: Saturday, March 14 at Southern New Hampshire University
