As March Madness was taking hold around the country with its usual maddening upsets and drama, here at MaxPreps we were hard at work crunching numbers and seeding the Cornhusker State's girls basketball teams into their own versions of March Madness.
Since many basketball fans aren't as familiar with the Division I hoops programs as they are with their own high school basketball programs, the goal here is to demonstrate just how wacky the women's basketball tournament has played out to this point using that familiarity for the fans.
Here is how we set it up. Forty-seven district champions in Classes A (7), B (8), C1 (8), C2 (8), D1 (8) and D2 (8) were given automatic bids to the tournament. The 21 highest ranked girls basketball programs, that did not win a district basketball title, were then given at-large bids. The girls were allowed four more bids since the tournament does include the four play-in contests.
Once the field was set, the 68 girls basketball teams from around Nebraska were seeded according to their ranking in MaxPreps' Nebraska Rankings. For example, the schools ranked 1-4 were given the top seeds, Nos. 5-8 the 2-seed, Nos. 9-12 the 3-seed and so on. Then they were placed into Regionals based on their geographical location in the state.
Teams advanced through their bracket identical to the movement of their college counterparts last weekend. For example, in the Women's Greensboro Regional No. 10 seed Creighton played its way into this weekend's Sweet 16. Therefore, Beatrice, the No. 10 seed in the girls Greensboro Regional, advanced to the Sweet 16 after upending No. 7 seed Sutton and second-seeded Lincoln Lutheran.
Since No. 10 seed South Dakota knocked off second-seeded Baylor in the second round of the women's Wichita Regional, girls Wichita Regional No. 10 seed Pender moved by No. 2 seed North Bend Central and into the Sweet 16. When it comes to this year's Sweet 16, there haven't been too many surprises, yet. Three of the top four seeds in the girls Spokane, Bridgeport and Wichita Regionals are all safe entering this weekend's action.
Now let's take a look at how our make-believe brackets are taking shape. To the left of each team is its seed and to the right, in parenthesis, is the school's record and its final MaxPreps Nebraska Ranking. Two wins were tacked onto each school's record to represent the two wins each school would have acquired in advancing to the Sweet 16.
Girls Sweet 16 Matchups
Greensboro Regional 1.
Skutt Catholic (Omaha) (28-2, No. 4) vs. 5.
Lincoln Southwest (Lincoln) (23-6, No. 17)
3.
Norris (Firth) (23-5, No. 11) vs. 10.
Beatrice (18-6, No. 38)
Wichita Regional 1.
Fremont (27-2, No. 2) vs. 4.
Crofton (25-6, No. 13)
3.
Adams Central (Hastings) (25-4, No. 12) vs. 10.
Pender (22-7, No. 37)
Spokane Regional 1.
St. Cecilia (Hastings) (28-2, No. 3) vs. 4.
Scottsbluff (24-4, No. 14)
6.
York (23-5, No. 22) vs. 2.
Guardian Angels Central Catholic (West Point) (27-2, No. 6)
Bridgeport Regional 1.
Elkhorn North (Elkhorn) (28-1, No. 1) vs. 5.
Omaha Central (Omaha) (26-4, No. 18)
3.
Lincoln High (Lincoln) (24-3, No. 9) vs. 2.
Millard South (Omaha) (29-1, No. 5)
