As I sit here watching the AZHSFB top 25 show by @Ralph Amsden and @ChillyASU () I had a wild idea come to my mind... What if we had a 64 team March Madness style bracket for AZHSFB? Luckily the show gives us the top 25 according to Ralph and Chilly as well as five teams on the bubble. The only issue is that leaves 34 spots open. To fill those spots, I used CalPreps rankings for the remaining teams (31-64). The next question I had was, how do I balance the bracket so one "region" isn't overly stacked compared to the other? To answer that, I used the NCAA selection committee model of bracket making by giving the 1 seed the lowest #2 but highest #3, etc... That way the lowest #1 seed gets the highest #2 but lowest #3 for example.
But what's the point of making a bracket if you're not going to go all out and pick a winner? In order to avoid anything resembling personal bias, I used the CalPreps prediction model on their website for each matchup until a champion is crowned.
Let's introduce each "region" including the bracket in each one!
The "WhatUpWestside" Region (Liberty HS Peoria, AZ) *The Score is inside of the parentheses with the bolded score the winner*
1. Liberty *#1 Overall Seed* (62) vs 16. Casa Grande *last team in* (0)
8. Buckeye (28) vs 9. Mohave (35)
5. Brophy Prep (42) vs 12. Snowflake (7)
4. Williams Field (38) vs 13. Campo Verde (13)
6. Canyon Del Oro (42) vs 11. Paradise Honors (31)
3. ALA Queen Creek (42) vs 14. Arizona College Prep (7)
7. Horizon (38) vs 10. Boulder Creek (17)
2. Desert Edge (35) vs 15. ALA West Foothills (8)
"Round of 32"
1. Liberty (48) vs 8. Mohave (7)
4. Williams Field (28) vs 5. Brophy Prep (34)
3. ALA Queen Creek (35) vs 6. Canyon Del Oro (21)
2. Desert Edge (24) vs 7. Horizon (21)
"Sweet 16"
1. Liberty (40) vs 5. Brophy Prep (17)
2. Desert Edge (21) vs 3. ALA Queen Creek (28)
"Elite Eight"
1. Liberty (41) vs 3. ALA Queen Creek (17)
The "C-Town Rivals Podcast" Region (Chandler HS. Chandler, AZ)
1. Chandler (63) vs 16. Sabino (0)
8. Mountain View (23) vs 9. Chaparral (24)
5. Notre Dame Prep (42) vs 12. Verrado (22)
4. Perry (42) vs 13. Sunrise Mountain (27)
6. O'Connor (35) vs 11. Desert Ridge (20)
3. Desert Mountain (38) vs 14. Pusch Ridge (0)
7. Arcadia (31) vs 10. Cactus (33)
2. Saguaro (49) vs 15. Thunderbird (14)
"Round of 32"
1. Chandler (42) vs 9. Chaparral (6)
4. Perry (35) vs 5. Notre Dame Prep (36)
3. Desert Mountain (24) vs 6. O'Connor (17)
2. Saguaro (50) vs 10. Cactus (22)
"Sweet 16"
1. Chandler (42) vs 5. Notre Dame Prep (12)
2. Saguaro (31) vs 3. Desert Mountain (28)
"Elite 8"
1. Chandler (42) vs 2. Saguaro (21)
The "Inside The Numbers" Bracket (Centennial HS. Peoria, AZ)
1. Centennial (50) vs 16. Marana (0)
8. Apollo (24) vs 9. Corona Del Sol (35)
5. Casteel (34) vs 12. Eastmark (20)
4. Higley (48) vs 13. Pima (17)
6. ALA Gilbert North (52) vs 11. Cactus Shadows (31)
3. Pinnacle (42) vs 14. Walden Grove (8)
7. Mica Mountain (42) vs 10. Northwest Christian (34)
2. Hamilton (52) vs 15. Cesar Chavez (7)
"Round of 32"
1. Centennial (42) vs 9. Corona Del Sol (6)
4. Higley (35) vs 5. Casteel (31)
3. Pinnacle (42) vs 6. ALA Gilbert North (21)
2. Hamilton (50) vs 7. Mica Mountain (21)
"Sweet 16"
1. Centennial (41) vs 4. Higley (19)
2. Hamilton (35) vs 3. Pinnacle (34)
"Elite 8"
1. Centennial (28) vs 2. Hamilton (24)
The "Take It EZ Show" Bracket (Basha HS. Chandler, AZ)
1. Basha (50) vs 16. Mountain Ridge (6)
8. Millennium (28) vs 9. Queen Creek (34)
5. Mountain Pointe (31) vs 12. Mesa (28)
4. Red Mountain (42) vs 13. Valley Christian (6)
6. Central (28) vs 11. Bradshaw Mountain (31)
3. Salpointe Catholic (49) vs 14. Canyon View (28)
7. Buena (14) vs 10. Yuma Catholic (34)
2. Highland (56) vs 15. Lee Williams (7)
"Round of 32"
1. Basha (49) vs 9. Queen Creek (14)
4. Red Mountain (35) vs 5. Mountain Pointe (8)
3. Salpointe Catholic (42) vs 11. Bradshaw Mountain (17)
2. Highland (42) vs 10. Yuma Catholic (13)
"Sweet 16"
1. Basha (31) vs 4. Red Mountain (21)
2. Highland (40) vs 3. Salpointe Catholic (22)
"Elite 8"
1. Basha (31) vs 2. Highland (24)
According to CalPreps, they (in this scenario) would predict the Open Division to look like:
1. Liberty
2. Chandler
3. Centennial
4. Basha
5. Highland
6. Hamilton
7. Saguaro
8. ALA Queen Creek
Now we've reached the "final four" AKA: The Open Semifinals and our matchups are:
Liberty (35) vs Basha (21) @NAU
Centennial (17) vs Chandler (27) @UofA
Now AZHSFB Madness comes down to the championship game! Liberty vs Chandler (Let's say it's at State Farm Stadium just for fun). Also we shortened the season by three games to seven total regular season games that way the championship would still be game #14 that was people don't lose their mind at a possible 17 games... Remember this is just for fun!
CalPreps predicts that on a neutral field for the championship, the winner of AZHSFB Madness is...
Liberty in a 28-24 victory over Chandler!
You can predict any possible matchup you want for fun with this link: http://www.calpreps.com/cgi-bin/2023/project_matchup.pl
Let me know what you think and what your favorite hypothetical matchup was?
But what's the point of making a bracket if you're not going to go all out and pick a winner? In order to avoid anything resembling personal bias, I used the CalPreps prediction model on their website for each matchup until a champion is crowned.
Let's introduce each "region" including the bracket in each one!
The "WhatUpWestside" Region (Liberty HS Peoria, AZ) *The Score is inside of the parentheses with the bolded score the winner*
1. Liberty *#1 Overall Seed* (62) vs 16. Casa Grande *last team in* (0)
8. Buckeye (28) vs 9. Mohave (35)
5. Brophy Prep (42) vs 12. Snowflake (7)
4. Williams Field (38) vs 13. Campo Verde (13)
6. Canyon Del Oro (42) vs 11. Paradise Honors (31)
3. ALA Queen Creek (42) vs 14. Arizona College Prep (7)
7. Horizon (38) vs 10. Boulder Creek (17)
2. Desert Edge (35) vs 15. ALA West Foothills (8)
"Round of 32"
1. Liberty (48) vs 8. Mohave (7)
4. Williams Field (28) vs 5. Brophy Prep (34)
3. ALA Queen Creek (35) vs 6. Canyon Del Oro (21)
2. Desert Edge (24) vs 7. Horizon (21)
"Sweet 16"
1. Liberty (40) vs 5. Brophy Prep (17)
2. Desert Edge (21) vs 3. ALA Queen Creek (28)
"Elite Eight"
1. Liberty (41) vs 3. ALA Queen Creek (17)
The "C-Town Rivals Podcast" Region (Chandler HS. Chandler, AZ)
1. Chandler (63) vs 16. Sabino (0)
8. Mountain View (23) vs 9. Chaparral (24)
5. Notre Dame Prep (42) vs 12. Verrado (22)
4. Perry (42) vs 13. Sunrise Mountain (27)
6. O'Connor (35) vs 11. Desert Ridge (20)
3. Desert Mountain (38) vs 14. Pusch Ridge (0)
7. Arcadia (31) vs 10. Cactus (33)
2. Saguaro (49) vs 15. Thunderbird (14)
"Round of 32"
1. Chandler (42) vs 9. Chaparral (6)
4. Perry (35) vs 5. Notre Dame Prep (36)
3. Desert Mountain (24) vs 6. O'Connor (17)
2. Saguaro (50) vs 10. Cactus (22)
"Sweet 16"
1. Chandler (42) vs 5. Notre Dame Prep (12)
2. Saguaro (31) vs 3. Desert Mountain (28)
"Elite 8"
1. Chandler (42) vs 2. Saguaro (21)
The "Inside The Numbers" Bracket (Centennial HS. Peoria, AZ)
1. Centennial (50) vs 16. Marana (0)
8. Apollo (24) vs 9. Corona Del Sol (35)
5. Casteel (34) vs 12. Eastmark (20)
4. Higley (48) vs 13. Pima (17)
6. ALA Gilbert North (52) vs 11. Cactus Shadows (31)
3. Pinnacle (42) vs 14. Walden Grove (8)
7. Mica Mountain (42) vs 10. Northwest Christian (34)
2. Hamilton (52) vs 15. Cesar Chavez (7)
"Round of 32"
1. Centennial (42) vs 9. Corona Del Sol (6)
4. Higley (35) vs 5. Casteel (31)
3. Pinnacle (42) vs 6. ALA Gilbert North (21)
2. Hamilton (50) vs 7. Mica Mountain (21)
"Sweet 16"
1. Centennial (41) vs 4. Higley (19)
2. Hamilton (35) vs 3. Pinnacle (34)
"Elite 8"
1. Centennial (28) vs 2. Hamilton (24)
The "Take It EZ Show" Bracket (Basha HS. Chandler, AZ)
1. Basha (50) vs 16. Mountain Ridge (6)
8. Millennium (28) vs 9. Queen Creek (34)
5. Mountain Pointe (31) vs 12. Mesa (28)
4. Red Mountain (42) vs 13. Valley Christian (6)
6. Central (28) vs 11. Bradshaw Mountain (31)
3. Salpointe Catholic (49) vs 14. Canyon View (28)
7. Buena (14) vs 10. Yuma Catholic (34)
2. Highland (56) vs 15. Lee Williams (7)
"Round of 32"
1. Basha (49) vs 9. Queen Creek (14)
4. Red Mountain (35) vs 5. Mountain Pointe (8)
3. Salpointe Catholic (42) vs 11. Bradshaw Mountain (17)
2. Highland (42) vs 10. Yuma Catholic (13)
"Sweet 16"
1. Basha (31) vs 4. Red Mountain (21)
2. Highland (40) vs 3. Salpointe Catholic (22)
"Elite 8"
1. Basha (31) vs 2. Highland (24)
According to CalPreps, they (in this scenario) would predict the Open Division to look like:
1. Liberty
2. Chandler
3. Centennial
4. Basha
5. Highland
6. Hamilton
7. Saguaro
8. ALA Queen Creek
Now we've reached the "final four" AKA: The Open Semifinals and our matchups are:
Liberty (35) vs Basha (21) @NAU
Centennial (17) vs Chandler (27) @UofA
Now AZHSFB Madness comes down to the championship game! Liberty vs Chandler (Let's say it's at State Farm Stadium just for fun). Also we shortened the season by three games to seven total regular season games that way the championship would still be game #14 that was people don't lose their mind at a possible 17 games... Remember this is just for fun!
CalPreps predicts that on a neutral field for the championship, the winner of AZHSFB Madness is...
Liberty in a 28-24 victory over Chandler!
You can predict any possible matchup you want for fun with this link: http://www.calpreps.com/cgi-bin/2023/project_matchup.pl
Let me know what you think and what your favorite hypothetical matchup was?
