After Wednesday's games, Round 1 of the Class AA state playoffs is complete. As
, I made predictions for how the tournaments would shake out. I made a few bold predictions, and all of them have turned out to be obvious mistakes with the benefit of
Credit: Craig Sager
Credit: Craig Sager
hindsight.
All tournaments feature upsets (i.e. Georgia State topping Baylor in last year's NCAA men's tournament), but trying to pinpoint which teams are upset is next to impossible, as proven by my brackets.
So let's take a look at where I was right, and where I was wrong so far:
The boys bracket is where my bold predictions really backfired. Already, half of my final four teams have been eliminated, with Seminole County and Chattooga losing to Crawford County and GAC, respectively.
With No. 9 Seminole County, the logic was the Indians represented top-ranked Thomasville's only loss to date, were once ranked No. 2 this season and that they'd beat Crawford County last season in the state title game. In reality, No. 3 Crawford County won with ease.
With Chattooga, I saw a GAC team that has struggled to gain any sort of sustained momentum this season, despite its No. 6 state ranking. In unranked Chattooga, I saw a team that finished 20-4 to close out the season, which included a 19-game win streak. I also consider this corner of the bracket as the easiest path to the semifinals. Though I wasn't too far off - GAC only won by six points - I overlooked the fact Chattooga entered the tournament having lost four of its last five games.
In addition, I was wrong about the Jefferson County-Benedictine and Union County-Bowdon matchups, but I didn't have the winners of those games advancing past the second round anyway.
As my colleague Todd Holcomb pointed out here, Jefferson County's win was its first ever in the state playoffs.
Credit: Adam Krohn
Credit: Adam Krohn
My picks are looking much better in this bracket, though I whiffed on my one bold prediction of unranked Lovett beating undefeated No. 4 Model. I figured the Lady Blue Devils' youth and inexperience, coupled with Lovett playing stronger opponents during the regular season would be a combination that primed the Lady Lions for an upset. Though the game was close - Model won by five - I was wrong. I had Lovett advancing to the quarterfinals.
I also missed the mark on Social Circle beating Manchester, but had them losing in the second round to Pelham. Other than that, this bracket is well intact.
Credit: Adam Krohn
Credit: Adam Krohn
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