Football Playoff Predictions, Week 3

So far I'm 68-24 for the past two weeks-- good enough for a 73.9 percent success rate. Teams in bold are my predicted winners. I went 38-10 in my playoff predictions this week-- a .792 percentage.

Notes: R - MHSAA Region; Number immediately after R refers to individual region; #n - Ranking in region.

Winners of the first two games in each class will play each other for the North State championship. Winners of the last two games will play each other for the South State championship.

MPSA Championship Finalists are set and the games will be played on December 1 & 2 at Mississippi College.

MHSAA Quarterfinals

Class 1A

R2 #2 Coffeeville @ R2 #4 Durant
R2 #1 Ray Brooks @ R2 #3 Weir
R4 #2 St. John @ R3 #1 Puckett
R3 #2 Lake @ R4 #1 Mount Olive

Notes: Four of the eight schools alive in the 1A playoffs have won state championships: Weir, Puckett, Lake, and Mount Olive. Region 1-1A schools all won their first round contests. St. John and Lake competed in Class 2A last year. Last year's champion, Mize, moved up to Class 2A. Weir was the runner-up last year. Durant is the only regional 4-seed alive in the quarterfinals.

Class 2A

R3 #1 West Bolivar @ R1 #1 Baldwyn
R4 #1 Simmons @ R2 #1 Calhoun City
R5 #1 Philadelphia @ R8 #3 Perry Central
R7 #2 Mize @ R8 #1 Lumberton

Notes: Four of the eight schools alive in the 2A playoffs have won state championships: West Bolivar (as Rosedale), Calhoun City, Mize, and Lumberton (defending 2A champion). Calhoun City and Mize both competed in Class 1A last year. Mize won the Class 1A football title last year. Calhoun City lost to Weir in the 1A semifinals. Perry Central is one of two regional 3-seeds still alive in the playoffs. The Bulldogs are the only non #1 or #2 seed to win their first two playoff games this season.

Class 3A

R4 #2 East Side @ R3 #1 Senatobia
R4 #1 Charleston @ R2 #1 Amory
R5 #1 Morton @ R7 #1 South Pike
R8 #1 Greene County @ R6 #1 Hazlehurst

Notes: Four of the eight schools alive in the 3A playoffs have won state championships: Senatobia (defending 3A champion), Amory, South Pike, and Greene County. South Pike dropped from 4A to 3A this year and has been predicted by many prognosticators to win the 3A title.

Class 4A

R1 #1 West Point @ R2 #2 Clarksdale
R4 #1 West Lauderdale @ R2 #1 Oxford
R5 #1 Wayne County @ R6 #2 Mendenhall
R6 #1 Terry @ R5 #2 West Jones

Notes: Four of the eight schools still alive in the 4A playoffs have won state championships: West Point, Clarksdale, Wayne County, and Mendenhall. West Point dropped from 5A to 4A this season. In their last appearance as a 4A school, West Point finished as runners-up to D'Iberville in 2002. West Lauderdale rose from 3A to 4A after appearing in last year's 3A title game. Last year's 4A champion, Brookhaven, lost in the first round of the 2005 4A playoffs. Last year's runner-up, Clarksdale, is still alive. Oxford finished as the 2003 runnerup to Wayne County and were the first and so far only regional 4-seed to ever appear in a MHSAA championship football game.

Class 5A

R1 #1 South Panola @ R1 #3 Columbus
R1 #2 Olive Branch @ R2 #1 Madison Central
R4 #2 Ocean Springs @ R3 #1 Oak Grove
R3 #2 Meridian @ R4 #1 George County

Notes: Three schools still alive in the 5A playoffs have previously won state championships: South Panola (the defending 5A champion), Madison Central, and Meridian. George County moved up from 4A to 5A this season. The Oak Grove-Ocean Springs game is a contest between schools that finished as runners-up to South Panola in 2003 & 2004. Oak Grove was runners-up in 2003. The Greyhounds were runners-up in 2004. South Panola's last loss came in the 2002 Class 5A championship game to Wayne County. Wayne County has since moved to Class 4A.