During the wee hours of the night, I took a look at how the 3A playoff landscape looks like and as well as what it will take to get the 3A #2 auto bid out of the Big South. After looking at the current standings of all 3A teams and their remaining games, some 5-5 teams may not make the playoffs. There are already 40 teams with 6 or more wins; 14 with 5 wins, and 12 with 4 wins - with two weeks to go.
As things stand, South Point has locked up the conference championship and the #1 3A spot no matter what happens the next two weeks as they have beaten any teams that could end up in a nominal conference tie. The 3A #2 will probably have to wait until the final week of the regular season as Ashbrook, East Gaston and Forestview are all 3-2.
Ashbrook is currently leading the pack by virtue of their wins over Forestview and East Gaston. To keep that spot they need to win both of their remaining games. Should the Green Wave lose to either Lake Norman Charter or Hunter Huss, East Gaston can snag the #2 auto bid if they win out over Stuart Cramer and Forestview. The only way for Forestview to do so requires them not only to win out (Hunter Huss and East Gaston) but for Ashbrook to lose their last two matches; without both wins the Jaguars could find themselves on the playoff bubble depending on how the rest of the 3A teams fare the next two weeks. North Gaston needs to win out to have any hopes of a post-season run and even that is no guarantee.
In 2A, the playoff picture is muddier than ever. Hunter Huss could actually miss the playoffs if they do not finish 4-7 overall, despite being #1 in their half of the division and likely to finish in that position. NCHSAA requires at least a 34% winning percentage to qualify for the automatic bid. This means they need to win one or more games. Adding to the irony is that Stuart Cramer by finishing 2nd could go to the playoffs without winning another game. That 3-way tie I mentioned last week in another post is still remotely possible if HH and SC both go winless and Lake Norman Charter upsets either Ashbrook or North Gaston.
As of 10/23/2015
Rank Team Overall Conference Games Remaining
3A
1 (1) South Point 7-2 5-0 NG / SC
2 (2) Ashbrook 5-4 3-2 LNC / HH
3 (3) East Gaston 5-4 3-2 SC / FV
4 (4) Forestview 4-5 3-2 HH / EG
5 (8) North Gaston 3-6 1-4 SP / LNC
2A
1 (6) Hunter Huss 3-6 2-3 FV / Ash
2 (5) Stuart Cramer 5-4 2-3 EG / SP
3 (7) Lake Norman Charter 3-5 1-4 Ash / NG
