Eye on football bubble teams D-I through V Friday Oct. 26
October 23, 2012 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365
Last week. Last chance to make a playoff run for football teams among the No. 13-20 positions of their respective division seedings.
Here's how the bubble teams in each division are situated for their season finales on Friday (Oct. 26):
DIVISION I
ON THE BUBBLE: No. 14 Highland; No. 16 Tucson; No. 17 Boulder Creek and No. 18 Mountain Ridge.
First thing to understand here is the uniqueness of D-I. With the top three teams in each of the three section guaranteed a playoff berth regardless of seeding, know that Valley Vista, Westview and Cibola are going to qualify no matter what they do on Friday. D-I is the only division I-V where that is going to happen. They are the top three teams in in D-I, Section 1.
Valley Vista is currently No. 13 and Westview No. 15. They play each other Friday. Cibola is No. 19 and plays San Luis. At least one of Valley Vista, Westview and Cibola will finish in the top 16 and it's remotely possible all three could. If two of the three don't make the top 16, those schools will bump teams that are in the top 16 (teams that are seeded 14-16 or 15-16). That means winning Friday is essentially a must for Highland (hosting No. 6 Red Mountain); Tucson High (visiting Flowing Wells No. 24 in D-II); Boulder Creek (hosting No. 2 Desert Ridge) and Mountain Ridge (visiting No. 14 Prescott from D-II) if they are to have a chance at postseason.
DIVISION II
ON THE BUBBLE: No. 13 Millennium; No. 14 Prescott; No. 15 Notre Dame; No. 16 Betty Fairfax; No. 17 Willow Canyon.
Millennium visits Willow Canyon so the outcome there will have significance. Prescott is home to No. 14 Mountain Ridge (D-I) as previously mentioned. Notre Dame hosts No. 12 Horizon. Horizon likely can afford a loss; Notre Dame can't. Fairfax visits No. 38 (of 41) Independence in its finale.
DIVISION III
ON THE BUBBLE: No. 13 Agua Fria; No. 14 Nogales; No. 15 Paradise Valley; No. 16 Shadow Ridge; No. 17 Tempe High; No. 18 Flagstaff High.
If all the aforementioned teams (13-16) win on Friday that should seal berths for them -- Agua Fria ( home vs. Verrado); Nogales (home vs. Pueblo); Paradise Valley (at Fountain Hills) and Shadow Ridge (at Peoria). Each of those opponents is lower in the seedings by a large margin, some in a lower division. However, Tempe could make a strong move by upending No. 9 Maricopa at Mariciopa and Flag could still be in the mix by beating D-IV Page should teams above Flag falter.
DIVISION IV
ON THE BUBBLE: No. 13 Payson; No. 14 Globe; No. 15 Chinle; No. 16 Fountain Hills; No. 17 Walden Grove and No. 18 Window Rock.
The top three in this group are looking good. Globe visits Payson and Chinle has finished its regular season and must wait for the other outcomes. Fountain Hills faces a tough home game against D-III No. 15 Paradise Valley. Walden Grove needs to beat higher seeded Emprie (D-IV No. 12). Window Rock has to beat D-IV No. 9 Monument Valley, which is coming off a loss to Winslow last week.
DIVISION V
ON THE BUBBLE: No. 14 Bourgade; No. 15 San Manuel; No. 16 San Tan Foothills; No. 17 Round Valley; No. 18 Pusch Ridge and No. 19 Valley Christian.
All appear on equal footing with this week's opponents. Bourgade faces Seton Catholic, one of the top D-IV teams; San Manuel takes on D-IV Florence and Round Valley meets D-IV Holbrook. San Tan Foothills plays a D-V opponent, but that's defending D-V champ Yuma Catholic in Yuma. Yuma Catholic is the No. 4 seed in D-V. Pusch Ridge hosts D-IV Rio Rico and Valley Christian is home to D-V No. 6 seed Arizona Lutheran.