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Breaking down the Section 1 Class A basketball “split bracket” system

The very complex and unpredictable formula for seeding in Section 1 has suddenly become a little more difficult to comprehend.

Starting this season — and likely for the first and final time — Section 1 adopted a new wrinkle into the Class A tournament, beginning this winter with the boys and girls basketball playoffs. Here’s the baseline of what you need to know:

  • If 23 out of the possible 29 teams in boys basketball — or out of the 27 girls teams — Section 1 will run it’s normal tournament to determine it’s champion.
  • If 24 or more teams qualify, the section will split the field in Class A into a Large School bracket and a Small School bracket based on BEDS enrollment numbers.

If 23 teams or less qualify, the brackets can be found here.

So if 24 or teams qualify, what would this all like? Here’s the full breakdown:

The Full Standings

Here is the latest Section 1 Class A overall standings:

Boys Basketball: Class A (click to expand)

RNKTEAMvs Sec 1OverallBonusPointsIndex
1SOMERS18-221-320924.600
2TAPPAN ZEE17-226-219874.579
3LAKELAND18-120-315874.579
4PANAS16-316-521854.474
5PEARL RIVER14-515-624804.211
6YORKTOWN15-517-619793.950
7FOX LANE12-515-714623.647
8RYE13-714-817693.450
9ALBERTUS MAGNUS10-912-1021613.211
10PELHAM10-711-914543.176
11NYACK12-812-915633.150
12HEN HUD10-1011-1121613.050
13EASTCHESTER8-912-1019513.000
14HORACE GREELEY12-812-910582.900
15NANUET8-119-1221532.789
16ROOSEVELT10-1011-1113532.650
17POUGHKEEPSIE7-88-1410382.533
18JOHN JAY-CR6-148-1526502.500
19MAHOPAC9-1110-1213492.450
20HARRISON8-109-1212442.444
21BREWSTER8-128-1315472.350
22PEEKSKILL7-137-1416442.200
23CLARKSTOWN NORTH6-137-1514382.000
24SAUNDERS5-155-1613331.650
25SLEEPY HOLLOW3-173-1716281.400
26YONKERS4-164-1611271.350
27GORTON3-173-1712241.200
28RIVERSIDE2-152-1610181.059
29LINCOLN1-191-1915190.950
Girls Basketball: Class A (click to expand)

RNKTEAMvs Sec 1OverallBonusPointsIndex
1HARRISON14-419-523794.389
2MAHOPAC15-417-520804.211
3PEARL RIVER17-318-416844.200
4TAPPAN ZEE11-414-917614.067
5RYE14-615-724804.000
6PANAS15-523-520804.000
7JOHN JAY-CR16-417-516804.000
8PELHAM15-515-618783.900
9HEN HUD13-714-822743.700
10LAKELAND11-912-1022663.300
11YORKTOWN13-714-814663.300
12HORACE GREELEY11-912-1012562.800
13BREWSTER9-1110-1219552.750
14FOX LANE9-119-1218542.700
15SOMERS7-128-1323512.684
16EASTCHESTER7-137-1424522.600
17NYACK8-129-1319512.550
18ROOSEVELT10-911-108482.526
19CLARKSTOWN NORTH8-129-1315472.350
20YONKERS7-117-1213412.278
21SLEEPY HOLLOW7-137-1414422.100
22NANUET6-137-1414382.000
23GORTON6-146-1512361.800
DNQPOUGHKEEPSIE1-171-1822261.444
DNQRIVERSIDE3-153-1511231.278
DNQLINCOLN2-172-1714221.158
DNQSAUNDERS0-200-2015150.750
IndPEEKSKILL7-107-115331.941


How do you Qualify?

To gain entrance into the Section 1 tournament in basketball, a team must accumulate 32 Qualifying Points. Those points are tabulated:

  • 4 Points per victory in ALL games (including out of section and out of state contests)
  • 1 Bonus Point for every Section 1 opponent with an overall record winning percentage of .500-.749
  • 2 Bonus Points for every Section 1 opponent with an overall record of winner percentage .750 or better

Find the full Qualifying Charts for boys basketball here. For the girls basketball Qualify Chart, click here.


Enrollment Rankings

The breakdown of Class A enrollments:

Note: Albertus Magus is in Class A for boys only; Class AA for girls

Once the 24 (or more) teams qualify, they’ll be split evenly based on the rankings above. In the event there is an odd number of schools that qualify (25, 27 or 29), the extra team will go into the bracket OPPOSITE of the No. 1 seed.

Unfortunately, you cannot know for sure who will be in the Large and Small school brackets without knowing which schools qualify on each side.

Example: Let’s say 25 team qualify and Lakeland finishes as the No. 1 overall seed. They’ll be in the Small School by enrollment. Therefore, the Small School bracket will have the 12 lowest enrollment school that qualifies and the Large School bracket will have the 13 largest schools that qualify.


Seeding the Split Tournament fields

Now the fun part: Slotting the teams into the Large and Small school tournament.

Here’s the latest breakdown:

Projected Two Bracket Seeds: Boys Basketball

If 24 teams qualify

Projected Two Bracket Seeds: Girls Basketball

If 24 teams qualify


The Projected Brackets

This is the projected bracket if 24 teams qualify. As of Jan. 26, I don’t feel that a 25th team will reach the qualifying standard in either boys or girls. If that changes, I will update the projected brackets.

Project Brackets: Class A Boys Basketball

Projected Brackets: Class A Girls Basketball

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