Here’s how I see the 6A hoops brackets
Here are my top 16 picks for the Class 6A boys and girls state basketball tournament and how my bracket looks as we await the official selection and seeding of teams tonight.
(NOTE: This is how I would seed them, not necessarily how I believe the NMAA will seed them.)
Boys
Oñate will be the No. 1 seed for the second consecutive year, despite Saturday’s 56-51 loss in the District 3-6A final to Las Cruces.
But Cleveland’s 85-83 loss Saturday to Rio Rancho led me to switch the Storm and Las Cruces on my list. I have the Bulldawgs seeded second and the Storm third. That is reversed from a week ago.
Defending champion Rio Rancho is my No. 4, and the Rams are heating up, having won seven in a row as they begin the defense of last year’s state title.
In the 5-8 slots, I’ve got Eldorado, Cibola, Hobbs and Atrisco Heritage getting home games in the first round. That’s the same as I had those four last week.
This next selection is the one that will be met with the most derision, I suspect.
I have Carlsbad at No. 9, with Valley 10th and Albuquerque High 11th. My faith in the Cavemen, who have been playing mostly stellar basketball for the last month, is slightly stronger than it is for Valley or AHS. (To be honest, I expect the NMAA to seed Valley at 9, AHS at 10 and Carlsbad at 11.)
Volcano Vista is my No. 12. My bottom four are the same as I had them last week: Santa Fe, La Cueva, Clovis and Sandia, all four from District 2-6A.
That leaves us with the following firstround matchups in my bracket: (16) Sandia at (1) Oñate
(15) Clovis at (2) Las Cruces
(14) La Cueva at (3) Cleveland (13) Santa Fe at (4) Rio Rancho (12) Volcano Vista at (5) Eldorado (11) AHS at (6) Cibola
(10) Valley at (7) Hobbs
(9) Carlsbad at (8) Atrisco Heritage
Girls
Hobbs solidified its position at No. 1 with a win over Carlsbad on Friday in the 3-6A tournament final. The Cavegirls might have been the team to beat for 95 percent of the season, but the Eagles have supplanted them for the final 5 percent with three head-to-head victories over an eight-day stretch.
Carlsbad is my No. 2, with West Mesa at No. 3 and Las Cruces a solid No. 4 ahead of La Cueva.
The rest of my top eight is Eldorado, Sandia and Mayfield. There is one slight tweak from my top eight of last week, as I reversed Mayfield and the Matadors. I bumped up Sandia one slot after it ran the table and won the 2-6A tournament.
Rio Rancho is ninth (yes, a tough No. 9 for a district champ), followed by District 1 rivals Volcano Vista and Cibola.
The rest of my top 16 is rounded out with Centennial, Highland, Oñate, Cleveland and Piedra Vista.
That gives us these first-rounders: (16) Piedra Vista at (1) Hobbs
(15) Cleveland at (2) Carlsbad
(14) Oñate at (3) West Mesa
(13) Highland at (4) Las Cruces
(12) Centennial at (5) La Cueva
(11) Cibola at (6) Eldorado
(10) Volcano Vista at (7) Sandia
(9) Rio Rancho at (8) Mayfield SELECTION SHOW: The Proview Networks (streamed on nfhsnetwork.com) begins at 8 tonight. First-round games are Friday (girls) and Saturday (boys).