When the Arizona Interscholastic Association's conference boards went to a seven-conference format six years ago, the impetus was to give more teams the thrill of competing for state championships. In 2011, they will fully reverse course and philosophy, going to a six-conference format for football.
Increased travel and event costs, along with a sense that they had watered down the competition, convinced officials to make the switch.
Starting next season, there will be one less trophy available, so it's time to get while the getting is good. The state playoffs kick off this weekend in Classes 5A-I, 5A-II, 4A-I and 4A-II.
Click here to read about the 4A-I and 4A-II playoffs.Click here to read about the 3A and 2A quarterfinals and the 1A final.Click here to view MaxPreps' Arizona football playoff brackets.Here's a primer for classes 5A-I and 5A-II:
5A-IFavorite — Hamilton (Chandler): Other than quarterback
Kyren Poe, the Huskies don't overwhelm you at the skill positions. But their offensive line will wear you down and their defense (23 takeaways) is opportunistic. Over 48 minutes, we just don't see a team beating Hamilton without the aid of multiple turnovers.
No. 1 contender — Chandler: You could make an argument for Desert Vista
in this spot, but the Thunder beat Chandler when quarterback
Brett Hundley was out and that's a big asterisk. Hundley is 5A's most dynamic player – a game-changer who will make a big difference if Chandler can get past two brutal games in the first and second rounds against Desert Ridge (Mesa) and Basha (Chandler) to meet Desert Vista in the semifinals.
Darkhorse — Desert Vista (Phoenix): The Thunder put the memory of last season's 2-8 record behind them with a remarkable about-face and an 8-2 record. The problem? We only see one quality win among those eight, last week's victory over Red Mountain (Mesa). Desert Vista has the best draw of any high seed, but it had better be careful with first-round opponent Mountain View (Mesa).
Best first-round matchup — No. 10 Desert Ridge (Mesa) at No. 7 Chandler: Desert Ridge is so hot it rolled host Perry (Gilbert) in a game where both were playing for the region title and Desert Ridge was playing without its starting quarterback. Chandler has 5A's best player in the aforementioned Hundley. We'd like to be on the sidelines for what promises to be a shootout.
Final Four prediction: Hamilton vs.
Mountain Pointe (Phoenix); Desert Vista vs. Chandler
Championship pick: Hamilton over Chandler
5A-IIFavorite — Chaparral (Scottsdale): Davonte Neal,
Connor Brewer,
Lucas Petrullo and Co. form the best offense in the state. If you want to beat Chaparral, you'd better score points. Lots of points. Nobody's held them to less than 30 and only one — Mountain View — has held them to less than 48.
No. 1 contender — Centennial (Peoria): We would have been more excited about a Chaparral-Centennial championship game had the Coyotes not lost to Red Mountain late in the season, but this is a battle-tested program and if anybody can give Chaparral a game, it's Centennial.
Darkhorse — O'Connor (Phoenix): How is an unbeaten No. 2 seed a darkhorse? Check the schedule. We're not impressed by Eagles' body of work because they haven't beaten a ranked team. Quality opposition steels you for the playoffs. Fortunately for O'Connor, it has a good draw to the semifinals.
Best first-round matchup — No. 11 Perry (Gilbert) at No. 6 Marcos de Niza (Tempe): Perry shocked last year's state runner-up to earn some legitimacy earlier this season, but both teams fell on hard times late in the season. One of them will finish with that feeling.
Final Four prediction: Chaparral vs.
Westview (Avondale); Centennial vs. O'Connor
Championship pick: Chaparral over Centennial
Craig Morgan is a freelance writer who has covered professional, college and high school sports in the Phoenix area for the past 18 years. He currently serves as the Phoenix correspondent for CBSSports.com, covering the Arizona Cardinals and other local teams. He also writes a weekly column and other features for The Arizona Republic. You can reach him at craigsmorgan@gmail.com.
