Thoughts/predictions? Below I have listed the teams in each district and how they would have finished (by head-to-head; if no head-to-head games, by record) in 2014 if in the same district, along with potential first round matchups.

 

District 5:

1- Russell (11-3 in 2014; Lost in State Semifinals)

2- Fleming County (7-4; Lost in first round of playoffs)

3- West Carter (5-6; Lost in first round of playoffs)

4- Lewis County (5-5)

5- Pendleton County (3-7)

6- Bath County (2-8)

 

District 6:

1- Belfry (13-2; State Champions)

2- Lawrence County (9-4; Lost in Regional Finals)

3- Pike County Central (6-6; Lost in second round of playoffs)

4- Sheldon Clark (1-10; Lost in first round of playoffs)

 

This would have resulted in the following playoff match-ups:

 

(D5;4) Lewis County at (D6;1) Belfry

(D6;3) Pike County Central at (D5;2) Fleming County

 

(D5;3) West Carter at (D6;2) Lawrence County

(D6;4) Sheldon Clark at (D5;1) Russell

 

 

How does everyone think it will shape up in 2015? Same? Similar? Some major changes? Remember the above is just a hypothetical projection based on how the teams finished in 2014.

If this had been the alignment in 2014, then I think Belfry, Lawrence and Pike Central and Russell would have won their first round games, and Belfry and Russell would end up facing off in the Regional Championship.

 

As far as next season, I expect District 6 to finish in the same order, 1. Belfry, 2. Lawrence, 3. Pike Central, 4. Sheldon Clark

 

I feel like Belfry will still be considerably better than the rest of the district.

 

In D5, Russell should be the heavy favorite, but I have no idea on the rest of the teams. What do you think LionEagle? How will D5 shape out next year?

If this had been the alignment in 2014, then I think Belfry, Lawrence and Pike Central and Russell would have won their first round games, and Belfry and Russell would end up facing off in the Regional Championship.

 

As far as next season, I expect District 6 to finish in the same order, 1. Belfry, 2. Lawrence, 3. Pike Central, 4. Sheldon Clark

 

I feel like Belfry will still be considerably better than the rest of the district.

 

In D5, Russell should be the heavy favorite, but I have no idea on the rest of the teams. What do you think LionEagle? How will D5 shape out next year?

 

District 5 in 2015 will be tough to call as Fleming and Lewis lose a lot. Lewis has quite bit of experience in the upcoming senior class, but varsity experience falls off hard after that. I think with Fleming, they graduated most of their impact players from the last two years, so 2015 may also be an uphill battle for them as well. Other than Russell, Bath and West Carter most likely bring the most back (I know nothing about Pendleton County). I think the two-seed and a home playoff game will be a dogfight between Lewis, West, and Fleming next year. I see Pendleton and Bath as the two looking in from the outside and Russell as the heavy favorite. That's for district 6, in distrct 5, I expect the teams to finish as they did in 2014 with Belfry beating Russell in the Regional Championship.

 

As for 2014 if this was a real scenario, the only place we disagree is I believe Fleming County would have beaten Pike Central in the first round.

West Carter brings quite a bit back from last season and they were fairly solid. It wouldn't surprise me to see them challenge for the #2 spot and a home playoff game. Bath County was very young this past season but also wasn't very good. I'm not sure if there is much talent in their pipeline or not. Pendleton has fought an uphill battle since initiating their program a decade ago. Moving to a manageable 3A district will help; how much I'm not sure. Fleming County lost something like 22 seniors from a solid team. Fleming is almost always good, though and I wouldn't expect them to completely fall off. Lewis has become a very steady program of late and should also be competitive.

 

If I were predicting way too early, I'd say something like this:

 

1. Russell

2. West Carter

3. Fleming County

4. Lewis County

5. Bath County

6. Pendleton County