Beyond the Scoresheet

Suggested seedings, 2016 – Public A

February 15, 2016 on 12:01 pm | In analysis | Comments Off on Suggested seedings, 2016 – Public A

Just about every year, I take my own swing at seeding the NJSIAA Tournaments. These are not predictions, but suggestions; how I would seed the bracket, not how I think the seeding committee will.

For my seedings, I start with division standings, since finishing ahead of another team in a double-round-robin regular season is usually a very good indicator. Then I look at teams’ non-league results and try to compare them against each other. Finally, I try to avoid matchups that pit division rivals whenever possible.

Private | Public A | Public B

Here are my suggested seedings for this year’s Public A state tournament:

1. Morristown – 13-game win streak, Mennen Division champions
2. Randolph – Very tight race for No. 2, but Rams finished 9-1-1 down stretch.
3. Montclair – Whereas unbeaten Mounties were held to ties by Liv, Nut
4. Ridge – Lost 11-1 to Morristown-Beard. But tied Glen Rock
5. Howell – Lost to Glen Rock (thus behind Ridge), beat Mtgry, Cra, West
6. Bridgewater-Raritan – Split w/ HntC, lost close game to SJMet
7. Ridgewood – lost close games to Ran, GR but lost 6-0 to Montclair; also tied IH
8. Livingston – Key win over Summit, bad loss to WMC, but strong overall resume
9. Hunterdon Central – Higher than some have them, but they tied for 3rd and tied Pope John
10. * edit Jackson Memorial – Won Shore A South but lost to RBC, StR, PPB; I initially had them even lower
11. * edit Southern Regional – Finished behind JkMem, beat Sum, finished 3-3-3, split with RBC. Tempted to switch with Westfield to avoid all-Shore 5/12 matchup.
12. * edit Morris Knolls (at-large) – Really down year for them, but beat RBC and Wall and tied Lak, IH, Sum, Rox
    * edited because I overlooked MK-Rox result in comparison to Sthrn *
13. Westfield – Good Ws vs. Hboro, Ber, tough schedule (Mor, How, Rid in non-lg gms), but 0-2 vs. Sum
14. Watchung Hills – Not impressive in non-lg games but tied for 3rd in solid division
15. Montgomery – Finished just behind HntC, WatH
16. Freehold Township (at-large) – A question to even get in, but respect here for Shore A North schedule; wins over Old Bridge, Sparta
17. Manalapan – Tied FrT in standings, lost head-to-head; beat Sthrn head-to-head (which could drop Sthrn further), tied Wall, all losses to (tough) division opponents
18. Marlboro / Holmdel (at-large) – all losses to (tough) division opponents; tied Pri, Wood, 1-0-1 vs. FrT
19. Monroe – tied decent teams like WatH, Rbville twice, Men, Wood, lost to Mlpn
20. Robbinsville – tied Mnroe twice, no major non-lg wins
21. Ocean Township / Shore Regional – lost to Rbville, beat OB
22. Old Bridge – lost to Ocn, 1-0-1 vs. Mnroe, beat Wall, Cent, SB
23. River Dell / Westwood – beat PkV, which tied with Para in standings
24. Paramus / Lyndhurst / Hackensack – split with Mtville, beat NLV
25. Par Hills / Parsippany – tied NLV, but beat Sparta down stretch
26. West Essex / Caldwell – less competitive vs. Nut, Mill than Parsippany was; tied Johnson
27. Newton / Lenape Valley – lost to Johnson, 0-2 vs. Sparta
28. Scotch Plains-Fanwood – split with WE, likely to tie for division title
29. Lawrence / Hightstown – no way around it: they play in a bad division