Potential Bracket Busters: Class 2A and A

So far we have covered teams in class 6A through 3A that we think can shock some fans and pull an upset, and today we’re going to look at a few teams from 2A and A that have a chance to do the same. This group features a couple of true underdogs and a couple of teams that have a legit shot at a state title. Let’s dive in. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Class 2A</strong></span> <strong>Spiro - 3rd Place in District 5</strong> Spiro is an interesting team. On one hand, they have looked dominant in all but one game this year, that being their lone loss against district 5 champions Cascia Hall, but even that game was only decided by 2 scores. Then on the other hand, with their game against 8-1 Vian cancelled earlier in the season, Cascia Hall is the only team they have played with a winning record in 3A besides a 5-3 Roland squad, so they are not very battle-tested in big games. It’s hard to be certain, but with their likely path to the quarterfinals running through a 2 loss Idabel team who has been up and down lately, and a one-loss team in Adair with a similar resume as them in terms of quality teams played, Spiro could end up having a nice run into December. <strong>Jones - 3rd Place in District </strong> If I had to bet the house (hypothetically speaking of course) on one team I have picked so far to make a deep run it would certainly be Jones, they have all the ingredients to do so. First, they are 7-2 on the season with some very impressive wins over 4A Bethany and 5A Guthrie who they played on merely 6 hours notice, and their only losses are against undefeated 3A power Lincoln Christian and a one-score loss to undefeated district 2 champs Millwood. Secondly, they had 2 district games canceled which put them behind a 7-3 Chandler team that they beat handily back in October, which coincidentally has set them up nicely in the bracket with future matchups, which is the third ingredient to this playoff success recipe. In the second round, they are likely to face Luther, a team they defeated 40-16 in September, in the third round it will likely be Washington, a team who has had an incredible year at 8-1 but may not have the athletes or firepower to keep up with Jones’ offense, and then in the quarterfinals they would draw either Spiro, Idabel, or Adair barring any serious upsets from some teams who have struggled heavily this year. All 3 of the potential quarterfinals opponents are solid teams, but as I described above, they have nowhere near the resume of Jones, and with Jones being so stacked on offense with [player_tooltip player_id="38671" first="Carson" last="May"], [player_tooltip player_id="38528" first="Elijah" last="Reed"], [player_tooltip player_id="38544" first="Korbin" last="Cox"], and more, it is hard for me to think of a scenario where Jones plays to their full potential and exits the playoffs before the semifinals or at least the quarterfinals. Overall, I believe this Jones team would have been a higher seed based on disrtrict standing any other year than 2020, but I believe they have the talent and pedigree to go all the way and win a gold ball regardless. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Class A</strong></span> <strong>Morrison - 3rd place in District 6</strong> Class A was a little tougher to project because there are more teams which means more districts and naturally that brings more competitive teams to go through. For example, I like Morrison's chances at an appearance in the third round with their resume (7-2 on the year with wins over 2A Kiefer and only having losses to undefeated 2A OCS and 9-1 Woodland), but with teams like 9-0 Wewoka and 7-0 Ringling in their direct path to the semifinals, it is difficult for me to project them much farther than the third round. Morrison may have had an easier path in previous years without cancellations, but I still like their odds to take down possibly one of the two district champs in their quadrant. <strong>Texhoma - 3rd Place in District 1</strong> Coincidentally, Texhoma is in the same quadrant as Morrison, but are in the top half of that section so they would not have to play each other unless they both made their way to the quarterfinals. With that being said, Texhoma has a solid team that has gone overlooked as they have some impressive wins over a couple of Texas and Kansas schools in non-district play, and their only losses in the regualr season came against 8-1 Thomas and 7-3 Hooker by a combined 7 points. With Ringling and Wewoka in their direct path to the semi's it won't be easy, but I would not be surprised at all if Texhoma finds themselves playing in early to mid December as they have shown they can compete with the top teams in the state.