Week 8 prep football playoff projections

A headache for the Iowa High School Athletic Association is rumbling in the distance.

Waterloo West is the feel-good story of Class 4A football. The Wahawks have their best team in years and are 7-0.

Yet, because of the condensed playoff format (back to 16 teams in each class instead of 32), it's very possible they could miss the playoffs at 8-1.

Only district games go into the playoff formula, and if Cedar Rapids Washington beats West in Week 9 and form holds elsewhere, that would cause a three-way tie for first place in Class 4A District 5 among Washington, West and Cedar Falls at 4-1. If Washington wins by a significant margin — say, 10 points or more — that would probably give the Warriors the point-differential tie-breaker and put Cedar Falls second.

Unlike the other 11-player classes, there is no at-large pool in 4A, and the third-place team in the Washington-Cedar Falls-Waterloo West trio would be sitting home for the postseason, regardless of overall record.

The playoff field will be determined and televised Oct. 22, with the first round scheduled for Oct. 28.

I am projecting the playoff field, with all future results (Weeks 8 and 9) determined by the BC Moore computer.

After determining the 16 teams, I tried to place the teams in bracket order based on seeding and geography, with every effort made to separate the champion and runner-up from each district so they would not play until the semifinals.

CLASS 4A

West Bracket

Lewis Central (7-1, D-3 runner-up) at Waukee (7-2, D-1 champion)

Southeast Polk (5-4, D-4 runner-up) at West Des Moines Dowling (8-1, D-2 champion)

Ankeny Centennial (8-1, D-2 runner-up) at Ankeny (6-3, D-3 champion)

Johnston (5-4, D-1 runner-up) at West Des Moines Valley (9-0, D-4 champion)

East Bracket

Iowa City High (7-2, D-7 runner-up) at Cedar Rapids Washington (8-1, D-5 champion)

Western Dubuque (7-2, D-6 runner-up) at Cedar Rapids Prairie (8-1, D-8 champion)

Iowa City West (7-2, D-8 runner-up) at North Scott (5-4, D-6 champion)

Cedar Falls (6-3, D-5 runner-up) at Bettendorf (7-2, D-7 champion)

CLASS 3A

West Bracket

Glenwood (7-2, wild card) at Storm Lake (9-0, D-1 champion)

Norwalk (8-1, D-6 runner-up) at Creston/Orient-Macksburg (9-0, D-7 champion)

Sergeant Bluff-Luton (7-2, D-1 runner-up) at Webster City (8-1, D-2 champion)

Carroll (8-1, D-7 runner-up) at Pella (9-0, D-6 champion)

East Bracket

Boone (7-2, D-2 runner-up) at Clear Creek Amana (8-1, D-4 champion)

Benton Community (7-2, D-3 runner-up) at Solon (8-1, D-5 champion)

Waverly-Shell Rock (6-3, wild card) at West Delaware (8-1, D-4 runner-up)

Oskaloosa (7-2, D-5 runner-up) at Cedar Rapids Xavier (9-0, D-3 champion)

CLASS 2A

West Bracket

South Central Calhoun (7-2, D-7 runner-up) at Dike-New Hartford (7-2, D-3 champion)

Central Lyon/George-Little Rock (7-2, D-1 runner-up) at Monroe PCM (8-1, D-6 champion)

Roland-Story (7-2, D-3 runner-up) at Carroll Kuemper (8-1, D-7 champion)

Southeast Valley (6-3, wild card) at Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley (8-1, D-1 champion)

East Bracket

North Fayette Valley (8-1, D-3 runner-up) at Crestwood (7-2, D-2 champion)

Central Lee (7-2, wild card) at Williamsburg (8-1, D-5 champion)

Mount Vernon (6-3, D-5 runner-up) at New Hampton (8-1, D-2 runner-up)

Centerville (6-3, D-6 runner-up) at Union (9-0, D-4 champion)

CLASS 1A

West Bracket

Hinton (8-1, D-1 runner-up) at Madrid (9-0, D-6 runner-up)

West Lyon (7-2, wild card) at Logan-Magnolia (8-1, D-7 champion)

Avoca AHSTW (8-1, D-7 runner-up) at Western Christian (8-1, D-1 champion)

Pleasantville (8-1, D-5 runner-up) at Van Meter (8-1, D-6 champion)

East Bracket

Clayton Ridge (7-2, D-3 runner-up) at Iowa City Regina (8-1, D-4 champion)

Sigourney-Keota (7-2, wild card) at Denver (9-0, D-2 champion)

South Winneshiek (7-2, D-2 runner-up) at Bellevue (9-0, D-3 champion)

Wilton (8-1, D-4 runner-up) at Pella Christian (9-0, D-5 champion)

CLASS A

West Bracket

Earlham (6-3, D-7 runner-up) at West Sioux (9-0, D-1 champion)

Akron-Westfield (5-4, wild card) at Algona-Garrigan (9-0, D-2 champion)

Westwood (7-2, D-1 runner-up) at West Hancock (7-2, D-3 runner-up)

Ridge View (6-3, D-2 runner-up) at Council Bluffs St. Albert (9-0, D-7 champion)

East Bracket

Wapsie Valley (6-3, D-4 runner-up) at Lynnville-Sully (9-0, D-6 champion)

Hudson (8-1, D-5 runner-up) at Saint Ansgar (9-0, D-3 champion)

New London (7-2, D-6 runner-up) at East Buchanan (7-2, D-4 champion)

Lisbon (8-1, wild card) at Gladbrook-Reinbeck (9-0, D-5 champion)

8-PLAYER

West Bracket

Lenox (7-2, D-6 runner-up) at Harris-Lake Park (9-0, D-1 champion)

Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton (6-3, D-7 runner-up) at Audubon (9-0, D-8 champion)

Coon Rapids-Bayard (8-1, D-8 runner-up) at East Union (8-1, D-6 champion)

Newell-Fonda (7-2, D-1 runner-up) at Fremont-Mills (9-0, D-7 champion)

East Bracket

Don Bosco (8-1, D-3 runner-up) at Twin Cedars (9-0, D-5 champion)

Ackley AGWSR (7-2, D-2 runner-up) at Lone Tree (9-0, D-4 champion)

Midland (7-2, D-4 runner-up) at Elkader Central (7-2, D-3 champion)

HLV (7-3, D-5 runner-up) at Turkey Valley (9-0, D-2 champion)

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com