November Madness: Playoff Picture Entering Week 11

The 2023 New Mexico football playoff brackets and seeding for Classes 6A-2A will be revealed Sunday at 7:30 a.m. A technical glitch with MaxPreps' ranking system forced the NMAA to move the show back to early Sunday morning.   Here is our breakdown and analysis for each classification:   Class 6A   Top Four Seeds: Cleveland, La Cueva, Centennial, TBD.   Definitely In: Los Lunas, Volcano Vista, Las Cruces, Sandia, Rio Rancho   Likely In: None   On The Bubble: Hobbs, Farmington, Eldorado, West Mesa, Clovis, Alamogordo, Atrisco Heritage   Definitely Out: Carlsbad, Albuquerque High, Capital, Cibola, Santa Fe, Organ Mountain, Rio Grande (Independent).   Analysis: Class 6A is neatly packaged into three distinct groups as seen above. The top 8 teams (Top 4 seeds + No. 5-8 as first-round hosts) sets. It's the ‘On The Bubble' group where things get messy. We could have SEVEN teams finish 5-5 based on the Week 11 matchups. However, no more than four will get in. If that scenario happens, pray for the NMAA selection committee. Clovis earns an automatic bid with a victory over Los Lunas Friday night in a winner-take-all district championship game.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/_NMAA/status/1716922516722311532?s=20 </div></figure>   Class 5A   Top Four Seeds: Roswell, Artesia, Goddard, TBD.   Definitely In: Piedra Vista, Los Alamos, Gadsden, Valley Deming, Mayfield, Highland.   Likely In: None.   On The Bubble: Belen, Manzano, Miyamura   Definitely Out: Santa Teresa, Chaparral, Del Norte.    Analysis: Is it inevitable we're headed for an Artesia-Roswell rematch in the 5A championship game? Probably. Frankly, it will take a monumental upset to prevent that from happening as the gap between the Bulldogs and Coyotes and the rest of 5A is as wide as you want it to be. Because there are only 16 teams in Class 5A and the bottom three are well established, we have 13 teams vying for 12 spots. Two from Belen, Manzano and Miyamura will get in.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/_NMAA/status/1716922763171033542?s=20 </div></figure>   Class 4A   Top Four Seeds: Portales, Bloomfield, Lovington, Silver.   Definitely In: Aztec, Bernalillo, Albuquerque Academy, St. Pius X, Espanola Valley;    Likely In: Grants, Valencia, Moriarty   On The Bubble: Taos, Kirtland Central, Pojoaque Valley   Definitely Out: Gallup, Shiprock (Independent).   Analysis: Based on the numbers in the latest MaxPreps 4A rankings, the top four seeds appear set. Aztec, Bernalillo and Albuquerque Academy also look set for Seeds No. 5-7, so they'll host first-round games. The No. 8 seed will likely go to St. Pius X or Espanola Valley (district champion). #13 Taos at #12 Moriarty (based on current rankings) is a huge Week 11 matchup. It's a situation where the winner could be in, the loser out, so the stakes are high. Kirtland Central might sneak in with an upset of Aztec.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/_NMAA/status/1716923014858649704?s=20 </div></figure>   Class 3A   Top Four Seeds: St. Michael's, West Las Vegas, Robertson, Dexter   Definitely In: Cobre, NMMI, Socorro, Raton, Navajo Prep/Newcomb winner   Likely In: Hope Christian, Hatch Valley, Thoreau   On The Bubble: Tucumcari, Ruidoso, Hot Springs, Cuba, Crownpoint.   Definitely Out: Zuni, Wingate, Tohatchi, Navajo Prep/Newcomb loser, Santa Fe Indian.    Analysis: District 3A-2 has dominated Class 3A all season long and that's reflected in the rankings. The top three teams in the MaxPreps 3A rankings come from that district: St. Michael's, West Las Vegas and Robertson. Fierce rivals WLV and Robertson clash Saturday at noon in the game that will decide who wins the district championship. We could end up with a three-way tie if Robertson beats the Dons and St. Mike's beats Santa Fe Indian (likely). The Navajo Prep/Newcomb winner of Saturday's winner-take-all district championship game gets in. The loser is likely out, so the stakes are high. Thoreau gets in as District 3A-5 champion if they beat Wingate Friday.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/_NMAA/status/1716923266474856803?s=20 </div></figure>   Class 2A   Definitely In: Texico, Eunice, Santa Rosa, Jal, Tularosa, Loving   Likely In: Estancia, Escalante   On The Bubble: McCurdy, Mescalero Apache   Definitely Out: Hagerman, Laguna-Acoma, Capitan    Analysis: The Class 2A playoffs should be highly competitive with at least four teams believing they can win the title. Texico is ranked No. 1 in the latest 2A MaxPreps poll even though No. 2 Eunice won the district (2A-4). Santa Rosa is the District 2A-1/2/5 champion. Tularosa will likely win District 2A-3. Eight of the 13 schools make the playoffs.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/_NMAA/status/1716923518284390502?s=20 </div></figure>

The 2023 New Mexico football playoff brackets and seeding for Classes 6A-2A will be revealed Sunday at 7:30 a.m. A technical glitch with MaxPreps' ranking system forced the NMAA to move the show back to early Sunday morning.