Playoff Picture: Division I Boys Basketball (Feb. 23)

(Updated Feb. 23) Just one week remains in the NHIAA basketball regular season, and we’ll take a look each day for the rest of the week at the standings in the four divisions that are still playing.

This year, 15 teams will make the playoffs in Division I boys basketball, with the top seed getting a bye into the quarterfinals. Here are current (unofficial) standings, along with tiebreakers and current matchups.

Division I

Team (record, rating, previous)

1. Pinkerton (16-1, 3.7647, 1st)
2. Bedford (16-1, 3.7647, 2nd)
3. Nashua North (13-4, 3.0588, 3rd)
4. Exeter (13-5, 2.8889, 4th)
5. Trinity (12-5, 2.8235, 5th)
6. Windham (11-6, 2.5882, 7th)
7. Keene (11-7, 2.4444, 6th)
8. Nashua South (10-7, 2.3529, 8th)
9. Portsmouth (9-8, 2.1176, 9th)
10. Alvirne (9-8, 2.1176, 10th)
11. Merrimack (8-9, 1.8824, 11th)
12. Dover (8-9, 1.8824, 12th)
13. Londonderry (8-9, 1.8824, 13th)
14. Manchester Central (7-10, 1.6471, 14th)
15. Manchester Memorial (7-10, 1.6471, 15th)

Outside: Goffstown (7-10, 1.6471); Salem (6-11, 1.4118).

Eliminated: Spaulding (5-12, 1.1765); Bishop Guertin (4-13, 0.9412); Winnacunnet (3-14, 0.7059); Concord (3-14, 0.7059); Timberlane (1-16, 0.2353).

Tiebreakers

• Pinkerton wins the tiebreaker with Bedford thanks to a head-to-head victory.
• Portsmouth wins the tiebreaker with Alvirne thanks to a head-to-head victory.
• In a three-way tiebreaker, Merrimack (1.5385), Dover (1.3333) and Londonderry (1.0000) finish in that order thanks to ratings against tournament teams.
• In a three-way tiebreaker, Manchester Central (4.0000), Manchester Memorial (2.0000) and Goffstown (0.0000) finish in that order thanks ratings in head-to-head games.

First-round bye (changes in bold)

• No. 1 Pinkerton

First-round matchups

• No. 9 Portsmouth at No. 8 Nashua South
• No. 12 Dover at No. 5 Trinity
• No. 13 Londonderry at No. 4 Exeter
• No. 15 Manchester Memorial at No. 2 Bedford
• No. 10 Alvirne at No. 7 Keene
• No. 14 Manchester Central at No. 3 Nashua North
• No. 11 Merrimack at No. 6 Windham

Remaining schedule

• Friday, Feb. 23: Merrimack at Pinkerton, 6 p.m.; Nashua South at Portsmouth, 6 p.m.; Goffstown at Alvirne, 6:30 p.m.; Bedford at Salem, 6:30 p.m.; Bishop Guertin at Windham, 6:30 p.m.; Trinity at Timberlane, 6:30 p.m.; Manchester Central at Spaulding, 6:30 p.m.; Nashua North at Winnacunnet, 6:30 p.m.; Concord at Dover, 6:30 p.m.; Manchester Memorial at Londonderry, 7 p.m.

Scenarios

• Pinkerton clinches the No. 1 seed and first-round bye with a win over Merrimack, or a loss and a Bedford loss. The Astros can finish no worse than No. 2.
• Bedford clinches the No. 1 seed and first-round bye with a win over Salem and a Pinkerton loss. The Bulldogs can finish no worse than No. 2.
• Nashua North has clinched the No. 3 seed.
• Exeter has clinched the No. 4 seed.
• Trinity has clinched the No. 5 seed.
• Windham clinches the No. 6 seed with a win over Bishop Guertin. If that happens, Keene would be No. 7.
• Keene clinches the No. 6 seed with a Windham loss. If that happens, Windham would be No. 7.
• Nashua South clinches the No. 8 seed with a win over Portsmouth. A loss would clinch the No. 9 seed for the Panthers.
• Portsmouth clinches the No. 8 seed with a win over Nashua South. A loss and wins by Alvirne, Merrimack, Dover and Londonderry could drop the Clippers below the No. 9 seed.
• Alvirne can finish no lower than No. 10 with a win and could end up No. 9 with a win and a Portsmouth loss.
• Merrimack, Dover and Londonderry clinch a playoff spot with a win.
• Manchester Central and Manchester Memorial clinch a playoff spot with a Goffstown loss.
• Goffstown clinches a playoff spot with a win over Alvirne. If that happens, then the loser of the Londonderry-Memorial game will likely be out.
• If Memorial, Goffstown and Central win while Merrimack and Dover lose, there could be a six-way tie between those five teams and Londonderry for the final five spots. If that happened, Londonderry would be out.
• Salem could still get in with a win over Bedford, losses by Goffstown and Central, and an Exeter win over Keene.