Playoff Picture: Division I football

When the regular season is only nine games long, it's never too early to start thinking of the playoffs. Here's where the teams in Division I football stand after five weeks.

Note: The NHIAA will be using head-to-head results as the first tiebreaker for postseason qualification, but because not every team has played each other yet, football rating is used here, unless otherwise noted.

East/South Cluster

East Conference

1. Exeter (5-0, 14.0)
2. Winnacunnet (2-3, 5.6)
3. Portsmouth (1-4, 2.0)
4. Dover (1-4, 2.0)
5. Spaulding (0-4, 0.0)

South Conference

1. Pinkerton (5-0, 13.6)
2. Salem (3-2, 8.4)
3. Timberlane (3-2, 8.0)
4. Merrimack (3-2, 6.8)
5. Londonderry (2-3, 4.8)

Conference winners: Exeter and Pinkerton. Next two: Salem and Timberlane.

Quarterfinals: Salem at Pinkerton; Timberlane at Exeter.

Key games this week: Merrimack at Londonderry; Winnacunnet at Pinkerton.

West/North Cluster

West Conference

1. Bishop Guertin (3-2, 8.0)
2. Nashua North (3-2, 7.6)*
3. Keene (2-3, 4.0)
4. Nashua South (1-4, 2.0)
5. Alvirne (0-5, 0.0)

North Conference

1. Goffstown (5-0, 13.6)*
2. Bedford (5-0, 13.6)*
3. Manchester Central (3-2, 7.2)*
4. Concord (3-2, 7.6)*
5. Manchester Memorial (0-5, 0.0)

*Bedford and Goffstown will play on Saturday, but for now, Bedford wins a tiebreaker with Goffstown because it has a better rating in road games. Meanwhile, Central, Concord and North are in a three-way tie for the final playoff spot, in which case rating is used to break the tie. That would eliminate Central, and leave Concord and North in a tie, which would go to North, again, because it has a better rating in road games.

Conference winners: Bedford and Bishop Guertin. Next two: Goffstown and Nashua North.

Quarterfinals: Nashua North at Bedford; Goffstown at Bishop Guertin.

Key games this week: Bedford at Goffstown; Concord at Nashua North.