November Madness: Projecting the Playoffs, Week 11 Edition

The NMAA is scheduled to release the brackets for the 2021 high school football playoffs on Saturday night at approx.. 9:30 p.m. Entering Week 11 of the regular season, here is our projected November Madness breakdown for each classification (Class 6A-3A). <strong>Class 6A</strong> Top Four Seeds: Rio Rancho, Cleveland, La Cueva, Centennial Definitely In: Las Cruces, Cibola, Volcano Vista, Hobbs, Eldorado, Sandia Probably In: Clovis, Carlsbad Probably Out: Santa Fe, Organ Mountain Definitely Out: Atrisco Heritage, Albuquerque, Manzano, West Mesa. Comment: Friday night’s showdown between unbeatens Cleveland and Rio Rancho will determine the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds for the playoffs. La Cueva and Centennial have already clinched district titles, and locked up the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds in the process. Las Cruces faces Organ Mountain Friday night at the Field of Dreams. The Bulldawgs should secure the No. 5 seed with a win over the Knights. Cibola and Volcano Vista clash Friday night with seeding at stake. The winner likely gets the No. 6 seed while loser falls to No. 7 or No. 8. Interestingly, Eldorado (6-3) is behind Hobbs (4-5) in the MaxPreps 6A poll. The Eagles host Clovis Thursday in a key game for both teams. Nobody helped themselves more last week than Sandia. The Matadors beat Clovis on the road, and face struggling Manzano Thur. night. Clovis is just 3-5 overall, but all 3 wins have come in district play, which means they’re probably in. Carlsbad helped their cause with a win over Organ Mountain last week. Organ Mountain must upset Las Cruces to have a legitimate chance to sneak into the playoffs. <strong>Class 5A</strong> Top Four Seeds: Farmington, Los Lunas, Goddard, Artesia Definitely In: Roswell, Mayfield, Belen, Santa Teresa, Piedra Vista, Deming Probably In: Capital, Valley Probably Out: Los Alamos, Alamogordo Definitely Out: Highland, Miyamura, Del Norte, Chaparral Comment: Even though both must still play winner-take-all district championship games, Farmington and Los Lunas are favored in both games and should end up as the top two seeds. Friday night’s Goddard-Roswell rivalry game at the Wool Bowl will have a huge impact on seeding, and perhaps determine who gets a top four seed. Artesia faces struggling Alamogordo Friday night. The Bulldogs clinch  a top four seed with a win. Mayfield would clinch the district title and could grab a top four seed with a win over Deming Thur. night. At worst, they would be the No. 5 seed if Goddard beat Roswell and Artesia beat Alamogordo. Belen and Piedra Vista would boost their seeding with upset wins over Los Lunas and Farmington, respectively. Santa Teresa plays winless Chaparral Friday.  Capital, Valley and Alamogordo are fighting for the final 2 playoff spots. Valley plays Del Norte Friday night. <strong>Class 4A</strong> Top Four Seeds: Lovington, Bloomfield, Albuquerque Academy, St. Pius X Definitely In: Moriarty, Ruidoso, Valencia, Silver, Kirtland Central. Probably In: Aztec, Taos, Bernalillo. Probably Out: Portales, Pojoaque Valley. Definitely Out: Grants, Espanola Valley, Gallup, Shiprock Comment: With a non-district slate filled with 6A and 5A schools, Lovington should be the No. 1 seed. Bloomfield faces Kirtland Central in a winner-take-all district championship game. If the Bobcats win, they should lock down the No. 2 seed. The winner of Thursday night’s winner-take-all district championship game between Albuquerque Academy and St. Pius X will likely earn the No. 3 seed. The loser will be the No. 4 or No. 5 seed depending on whether the NMAA chooses to move up run-dominated Moriarty with a win over Taos in another district championship game Friday night. Another important Week 11 game for seeding is Ruidoso-Silver. Right now, the middle tier (No. 5-8 seeds) looks to be wide open with 5 or 6 teams vying for the four spots. How will the NMAA handle Aztec? The Tigers finished 3-7, but they’re ranked No. 10 in the latest MaxPreps 5A poll. Aztec lost to Farmington, St. Pius X and three Colorado schools in non-district play. Bernalillo has lost five straight games but should sneak into the No. 12 spot. <strong>Class 3A</strong>: Top Four Seeds: Raton, St. Michael’s Socorro, West Las Vegas OR Robertson. Definitely In: Hope Christian, NMMI, Dexter, Navajo Prep Probably In: Cobre, Santa Fe Indian, Cuba. Probably Out: Tohatchi, Thoreau, Zuni, Crownpoint. Definitely Out: Hot Springs, Tucumcari, Hatch Valley, Newcomb, Wingate. Comment: Raton can clinch the district title and secure the No. 1 seed with a victory Saturday afternoon at St. Michael’s, which faced Robertson without 10 players last week and lost, 44-7. But the Horsemen stayed at No. 2 in the MaxPreps 3A poll. As a result, they could catapult to No. 1 with a win over Raton. Simultaneously, cross-town rivals WLV and Robertson will clash in Las Vegas with the winner likely earning a top four seed. That game is too close to call. Socorro plays struggling Hatch Valley Friday night, so they look to be the No. 3 seed. NMMI beat Hope Christian for the district title last week and should be the No. 6 seed. The Dexter-Hope Christian matchup will be important for seeding. The last three or four spots in the 12-team field are up for grabs. Hot Springs is out of the playoffs after forfeiting their final two games due to sexual assault allegations. https://twitter.com/PrepRedzoneNM/status/1453800096752013344 https://twitter.com/ScottGaletti/status/1453819680313929740 https://twitter.com/BethanyKOAT/status/1453806384324112393