Bracketology: Division III Boys Basketball (Feb. 24)

The Division III boys basketball regular season is in the books and here is our educated guess, with tiebreakers explained, as to what the playoff field will look like when the postseason begins on March 1.

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Note: With the NHIAA’s 70-percent rule in place for the postseason, Division III will have 16 teams. These are not official pairings.

Division III

Playoff field (record, rating)

1. Hopkinton (16-2, 3.5556)
2. Somersworth (16-2, 3.5556)
3. Berlin (15-3, 3.3889)
4. Conant (15-3, 3.3889)
5. Campbell (14-4, 3.1111)
6. Gilford (14-4, 3.1111)
7. Mascenic (13-5, 2.8889)
8. Inter-Lakes (13-5, 2.8889)
9. Monadnock (12-6, 2.6667)
10. Belmont (11-7, 2.4444)
11. St. Thomas (10-8, 2.2222)
12. Stevens (10-8, 2.2222)
13. White Mountains (10-8, 2.2222)
14. Laconia (9-9, 2.0000)
15. Fall Mountain (9-9, 2.0000)
16. Mascoma Valley (6-12, 1.3333)

Outside: Sanborn (5-13, 1.1111); Winnisquam (5-13, 1.1111); Raymond (4-14, 0.8889); Franklin (3-15, 0.6667); Prospect Mountain (3-15, 0.6667); Newport (3-15, 0.6667); Hillsboro-Deering (1-17, 0.2222); Newfound (0-18, 0.0000).

Tiebreakers

• Hopkinton (8-2, 3.2000) wins the tiebreaker with Somersworth (7-2, 3.1111) thanks to a better rating against tournament teams.
• Berlin (8-2, 3.2000) wins the tiebreaker with Conant (9-3, 3.0000) thanks to a better rating against tournament teams.
• Campbell (7-3, 2.8000) wins the tiebreaker with Gilford (8-4, 2.6667) thanks to a better rating against tournament teams.
• Mascenic (6-4, 2.4000) wins the tiebreaker with Inter-Lakes (4-5, 1.7778) thanks to a better rating against tournament teams.
• St. Thomas (3-6, 1.3333) wins the three-way tiebreaker with Stevens (2-7 0.8889) and White Mountains (1-6, 0.5714) thanks to a better rating against tournament teams.
• Stevens wins the tiebreaker with White Mountains thanks to a better rating against tournament teams.
• Laconia (4-8, 1.3333) wins the tiebreaker with Fall Mountain (2-9, 0.7273) thanks to a better rating against tournament teams.

First-round matchups

• No. 16 Mascoma Valley at No. 1 Hopkinton
• No. 9 Monadnock at No. 8 Inter-Lakes
• No. 12 Stevens at No. 5 Campbell
• No. 13 White Mountains at No. 4 Conant
• No. 15 Fall Mountain at No. 2 Somersworth
• No. 10 Belmont at No. 7 Mascenic
• No. 14 Laconia at No. 3 Berlin
• No. 11 St. Thomas at No. 6 Gilford