With the third round of the playoffs approaching its the perfect time to get the blog back in action. Many of the traditional powers are still alive, and the race for eight state titles should be a thrill.
Class 6A match ups were completely predictable but perfect, with the eight teams remaining the best eight teams all season in my opinion. All four games are rematches, and only four districts are represented.
Maryville hosts Farragut in the east in a District 4-AAA rematch, with the Rebels winning the regular season tilt 35-32. I’ll take Maryville at home.
The mid-east bracket finds Oakland crossing town to tangle with Riverdale in a District 7-AAA rematch. This installment in the ‘Battle of the Boro’ will be long-remembered regardless of the outcome. I cannot pick against the defending champs.
District 11-AAA provides Brentwood at Franklin in the mid-west quadrant. Again I like the road team. The Rebels just keep getting better.
Out west White Station and Whitehaven have been on a collision course all season. Whitehaven has had a much-tougher path to the third round, but I think White Station gets it done.
These four districts – 4, 7, 11, and 16 have an opportunity to dominate the state’s largest classification for years to come.
I said multiple times on GuruTV that I thought Class 5A was the most wide-open bracket, and that proved to be true. Columbia is the only #1 seed to survive, and has to be favored against Anderson Co.
Fourth seed Daniel Boone travels to Sullivan South in the Class 5A east. After upsetting Tennessee last week Boone has to be sky high, but South at home is so hard to beat, and for the first time in a long time Maryville is not standing in the Rebels’ way. I give this 1-AAA rematch to SS.
In the mid-east Columbia hosting Anderson Co. is the only non-rematch in 5A or 6A. AC stunned Clinton and their confidence will be up. The Lions have enjoyed the drop in classification as much as anyone, and I think they advance to the semifinals.
Beech and Gallatin is a 9-AAA rematch, and while I think Beech ends Gallatin’s excellent season I believe this could be an overtime finish.
Mitchell hasn’t been stopped, and I don’t think Melrose has enough to become the first to accomplish that. But at The Mound it is hard to win. Along with the two 6A quarter finalists from 16-AAA, these two may have played in the toughest overall district in AAA. I like Mitchell.
Moving to 4A, Red Bank is the overwhelming favorite to beat Greeneville, and I don’t see them slipping up here although this won’t be a blowout.
Whites Creek at Maplewood is a 10-AA rematch. Maplewood played a very tough early schedule outside the district, and was rewarded with a top seed. The Cobras tossed multiple shutouts this year, but they won’t shut out the Panthers, nor will they beat them.
The mid-west has Giles Co. hosting Lexington, one of the true cinderellas left