NEO DI Districts (East)

Using NEOSports rankings, here is how the East District would look:

1. Mentor
2. McKinley
3. Jackson
4. Hoban
5. Brush
6. Solon
7. Walsh
8. University

Others: Massillon, Boardman, Riverside, Green

The district pods are pretty balanced at the top, but it might be a little deeper on the West. The West has ten teams in the top 25 (East has eight). West has nine more teams in the next tier while the East has four. Out of the 46 teams listed on the poll, 12 are from the East and West has 19.
 
The two big games among East teams this week were Walsh/Hoban and Mentor/Solon. Walsh seemingly picked up the 54-46 upset victory. Mentor beat Solon 71-53. Voting is over in a week, so few games left to make a final impression.

My prediction? Whether Mentor gets the top seed or not (I personally think Stark County could push McKinley and/or Jackson to the top), I think Mentor will be "treated" like a top seed once coaches start placing themselves on the bracket. I predict that no more than one of the 4-8 seeds choose to go to Mentor's bracket. The other four teams will split between McKinley/Jackson. One team that I would be incredibly shocked to see choose to join the Mentor bracket is Brush. Mentor is 10-1 against Brush at the Euclid district since 2003. Solon gets a rematch with Mentor next week, so the result of that game should be a good indicator of how the Comets might go.

McKinley hosts Moeller, the favorite in DI, on Sunday. If the Pups pull off the upset, they deserve the top seed at the East District - no matter if Mentor comes in to the vote undefeated or or not.
 
cardzfan1234 said:
The two big games among East teams this week were Walsh/Hoban and Mentor/Solon. Walsh seemingly picked up the 54-46 upset victory. Mentor beat Solon 71-53. Voting is over in a week, so few games left to make a final impression.

My prediction? Whether Mentor gets the top seed or not (I personally think Stark County could push McKinley and/or Jackson to the top), I think Mentor will be "treated" like a top seed once coaches start placing themselves on the bracket. I predict that no more than one of the 4-8 seeds choose to go to Mentor's bracket. The other four teams will split between McKinley/Jackson. One team that I would be incredibly shocked to see choose to join the Mentor bracket is Brush. Mentor is 10-1 against Brush at the Euclid district since 2003. Solon gets a rematch with Mentor next week, so the result of that game should be a good indicator of how the Comets might go.

McKinley hosts Moeller, the favorite in DI, on Sunday. If the Pups pull off the upset, they deserve the top seed at the East District - no matter if Mentor comes in to the vote undefeated or or not.
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Also, Jackson plays at McKinley next Friday before the voting is completed.
 
Mackinbiner said:
Also, Jackson plays at McKinley next Friday before the voting is completed.
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That will depend on when the coaches actually do their voting.
The comment period ends on 2/3 at midnight. Coaches can vote from Thursday 2/4 at 12:01 AM to Saturday 2/6 at Noon.
If I was a coach, I would make sure to have an initial vote in on Thursday, this way I am not getting "fined" for failing to vote; then depending on if there are any Friday games that would impact my opinion of the teams, I might edit the vote after seeing those scores.
 
Figuring out the order of the top three seeds is really tough for me to guess. Mentor is undefeated but has only played about half of the games as Jackson. McKinley has beaten Jackson head-to-head (which has to count among the Stark/Fed voters), but has two more losses than Mentor/Jackson combined. McKinley/Jackson might split the Stark vote, which is an advantage for Mentor.

My prediction is Solon and Brush will go wherever Mentor is not. The higher seed of Hoban/Walsh will do the same. After that, I'm not sure. I think either the 7 or 8 seed will choose to have a chalk path to a district final against Mentor.

Historically, Mentor likes to play rather than take the bye. So expect Mentor to be playing a lopsided sectional semifinal against the 37 seed. By my count there can be 11 teams that take a first round bye. I do think more teams should consider taking the bye. The rewards of getting in another game, finding some rhythm, and staying on schedule are outweighed by the risk of injury, COVID spread, and a meaningless matchup where the 36 and 37 seeds aren't a whole lot better than the JV team they can scrimmage in practice.

How I think coaches will vote for the top teams:

1. McKinley
2. Mentor
3. Jackson
4. Brush (their injuries and how coaches vote for them based on that is a big unknown)
5. Solon
6. Walsh (beat Hoban head-to-head last week)
7. Hoban
8. University (beat Massillon head-to-head, but might not matter)
9. Massillon
10. Green
11. Riverside (7 other league members help boost)
12. Boardman
13. Hoover
 
cardzfan1234 said:
Figuring out the order of the top three seeds is really tough for me to guess. Mentor is undefeated but has only played about half of the games as Jackson. McKinley has beaten Jackson head-to-head (which has to count among the Stark/Fed voters), but has two more losses than Mentor/Jackson combined. McKinley/Jackson might split the Stark vote, which is an advantage for Mentor.

My prediction is Solon and Brush will go wherever Mentor is not. The higher seed of Hoban/Walsh will do the same. After that, I'm not sure. I think either the 7 or 8 seed will choose to have a chalk path to a district final against Mentor.

Historically, Mentor likes to play rather than take the bye. So expect Mentor to be playing a lopsided sectional semifinal against the 37 seed. By my count there can be 11 teams that take a first round bye. I do think more teams should consider taking the bye. The rewards of getting in another game, finding some rhythm, and staying on schedule are outweighed by the risk of injury, COVID spread, and a meaningless matchup where the 36 and 37 seeds aren't a whole lot better than the JV team they can scrimmage in practice.

How I think coaches will vote for the top teams:

1. McKinley
2. Mentor
3. Jackson
4. Brush (their injuries and how coaches vote for them based on that is a big unknown)
5. Solon
6. Walsh (beat Hoban head-to-head last week)
7. Hoban
8. University (beat Massillon head-to-head, but might not matter)
9. Massillon
10. Green
11. Riverside (7 other league members help boost)
12. Boardman
13. Hoover
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Jackson plays Mck on Friday. If Jackson wins, not sure how they aren't #1 seed. They are 15-1, #3 in AP poll. If they beat Mck, then Jackson, Mentor, Mck should be top 3. I agree with the rest.
 
SayMyName said:
Jackson plays Mck on Friday. If Jackson wins, not sure how they aren't #1 seed. They are 15-1, #3 in AP poll. If they beat Mck, then Jackson, Mentor, Mck should be top 3. I agree with the rest.
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As buckman pointed out above, a lot will depend on WHEN these coaches decide to vote. If they submit on Thursday, will they go back in and adjust it on late Friday/early Saturday? Who knows. I agree that if Jackson won and if the coaches all waited and took that victory over McKinley into consideration, I have no issues with the Polar Bears getting the top vote. In that case, they would have a 16-1 record that includes impressive wins over McKinley, Brush, and Hoban (three of the top seeds).

Mentor hasn't played enough games and their schedule isn't filled with any tough non-league games. Wins over Medina, Brunswick, and Solon are impressive around the Cleveland area. But so far their non-conference games are Kenston, Benedictine, WGH, and Hudson - four teams that aren't close to sniffing the top 25 in NEO. With all of the COVID-reshuffling constantly going on, it looks like Mentor plays Brunswick tonight and Medina on Thursday according to Arbiter.
 
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Baum's Page Event Voting Breakdown

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I love looking at some of these votes. With 37 coaches trying to figure out schools across ten counties, it can be a crapshoot. Kenmore-Garfield coach wins the award for not caring. Half of his votes were dropped...meaning that he voted extreme anomalies in either direction for 19 of the 37 teams. This included voting Mentor as the 29th seed. Second on the list for clueless voting was Kenston's, who had 17 of his votes dropped. Voting Dover as the lowest seed? Voting themselves as the 6 seed? Voting McKinley as the #29 seed? I understand Kenmore-Garfield not really caring about this. But Kenston? I expected better from that program.

Not surprisingly, most schools voted with familiarity. Almost all of the Stark County teams (plus Green in the Fed) gave McKinley their first place votes. Looks like the only exception was Alliance. Other first place votes were from former Fed members, Fitch and Boardman. Looks like all of the schools in Lake, Geauga, Ashtabula, and Cuyahoga voted Mentor #1.

I was a little surprised Solon was behind both Hoban/Walsh, but considering the geography of the schools - it makes sense.
 
I predict Mentor takes a top seed at District 1 (and they won't take a bye). McKinley will choose to go to District 3 and take on a West winner. Just a guess. That leaves Jackson as District 2.

Brush will no doubt join Jackson's district. Walsh will go to McKinley. Hoban has the first tough choice. Do they take a reasonable path to a district final against the team they voted #1 (Mentor) or do they prefer to take their chances with a tougher district semifinal with Brush? I think they take their chances with Brush (and then Jackson potentially in the final). Solon goes to McKinley/Walsh. University puts themselves in Mentor's district. Boardman probably follows suit and places themselves on the US half of the bracket at District 1. I personally will be surprised if Mentor plays any team in the top 15 before the district final.

My guess on how the top teams place themselves:

District 1 Upper Half: Mentor (#1); Lower Half: University (#8) and Boardman (#9)
District 2 Upper Half: Jackson (#3) and Massillon (#10); Lower Half: Brush (#4) and Hoban (#6)
District 3 Upper Half: McKinley (#2) and Dover (#11); Lower Half: Walsh (#5) and Solon (#7)
 
West ladder is: Eds, Iggy, Medina, Shaker Hts, Garfield Hts
I'm presuming Eds and Iggy both choose top lines in the NW regional feeding district brackets
 
Northeast #4. (winner goes to Cleveland Regional vs. Northeast #2)

top
3 Medina vs.
22 Westlake / 33 Firestone

8 Wooster vs.
15 Copley / 17 Barberton

bottom
4 Shaker Heights vs.
21 Berea-Midpark / 29 Maple Heights

28 Lakewood vs.
9 Cleveland Hts / 34 North Olmsted
 
SayMyName said:
Thanks for posting, but not sure who went after Jackson? They beat Hoban, Brush, Perry.. I guess if you can avoid the top 2 seeds and play in the bracket with #3 I would do the same. The brackets look pretty good, Mentor has an easy route.
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Brush, as the four seed, went to the top half of the district to face Jackson for a potential district semi matchup instead of waiting until the district final. That’s a clue they want to play Jackson.
 
CantonAnon said:
Brush, as the four seed, went to the top half of the district to face Jackson for a potential district semi matchup instead of waiting until the district final. That’s a clue they want to play Jackson.
Click to expand...

That was easily the strangest move. I understand wanting Jackson. But why not put yourself in line to play them in a final instead of a semifinal? I just don’t understand the rationale behind that choice.
 
Although Mentor got the top seed, I would say that McKinley was treated as the slightly more feared team. It started with the 7 seed Solon, who had a choice between Mentor (a team that beat the Comets, 71-53, a couple weeks ago) and McKinley. Even though Solon voted Mentor as the top overall seed, they chose to be in their district rather than McKinley's. I am surprised in their choice, but Solon coach Tony DeCesare obviously has some confidence in his ability to prepare for the Cardinals. Over the past five seasons, no team has gotten the best of Mentor more than Solon. The #11 seed Dover had the choice to put themselves on Mentor's half of the bracket or McKinley's, to set up a semfinal. Dover (who voted McKinley #1) chose the Pups. Considering the way they voted, not a surprise. The highest seed on McKinley's half of the bracket is #13 Riverside.

Four of the bottom five seeds are going to be playing Mentor/McKinley in the two sectional rounds. By pure seed alone, Mentor's path (#11 and #7) is slightly more difficult than McKinley's path (#13 and #8) if the chalk holds up.
 
By going for a game instead of a bye, all three "top seeds" (Jackson, Mentor, and McKinley) got two de facto "body bags" the first week of the playoffs.
 
CantonAnon said:
Brush, as the four seed, went to the top half of the district to face Jackson for a potential district semi matchup instead of waiting until the district final. That’s a clue they want to play Jackson.
Click to expand...
They lost the first time 81-73. They avoided the top 2 seeds, and put themselves in with the #3 seed. That makes sense, but agree with Cardzfan that they should have positioned themselves to play Jackson in the final vs. semifinal. I would love to hear the explanation on that one.
 
SayMyName said:
They lost the first time 81-73. They avoided the top 2 seeds, and put themselves in with the #3 seed. That makes sense, but agree with Cardzfan that they should have positioned themselves to play Jackson in the final vs. semifinal. I would love to hear the explanation on that one.
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What are the chances that Chet Mason misread the bracket? Considering how unusual that decision was, let’s not outrule that possibility
 
I think some picking slots in the brackets may be determined by proximity,
after all the higher seeded team hosts and while travel could be an issue
so are the costs associated to it; with limited income from game revenue.

:>---

SALT
 
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