6A Review & Look Ahead to the 2022 Season
Today, we take a look back and ahead to the 2022 season and the off-season. #nmpreps
2021 Preseason Rankings - 6A Football
#1 Cleveland (finished #1)
#2 Rio Rancho (finished #2)
#3 Cibola (7-seed; reached the Quarterfinals)
#4 Volcano Vista (6-seed; reached the Quarterfinals)
#5 Clovis (12-seed; reached the 1st Round)
#6 La Cueva (3-seed; reached the semifinals)
#7 Eldorado (9-seed; reached the 1st round)
#8 Las Cruces (5-seed; reached the semifinals)
#9 Carlsbad (11-seed; reached the 1st round)
#10 Centennial (4-seed; reached the Quarterfinals)
#11 Hobbs (9-seed; reached the Quarterfinals)
#12 West Mesa (finished 3-6; missed the playoffs)
#13 Sandia (10-seed; reached the 1st Round)
#14 Santa Fe (finished 6-4; missed the playoffs)
#15 Albuquerque (finished 2-8; missed the playoffs)
#16 Atrisco Heritage (finished 2-7; missed the playoffs)
#17 Organ Mountain (finished 4-6; missed the playoffs)
#18 Manzano (finished 1-8; missed the playoffs)
Missed: Clovis, Centennial, and Cibola. We missed on the following three schools by three spots or more. Clovis may have been the biggest miss as they entered the season preseason ranked 5th (despite graduating some serious talent) and finished 3-7 overall but did find a spot in the 2021 playoffs. Centennial improved, earning the 4-seed and Cibola fell to the 7-seed after finishing fourth in the difficult district 1.
Look Ahead: Cleveland is likely going to enter 2022 where they've been since 2019 - number one. We will also see some new teams in 6A football next season but it shouldn't shake-up the top teams. Rio Rancho has some pieces to fill, La Cueva could be a pick to return to the semifinal and possibly title game, and Cibola, well maybe they were just a year away.
Two Champs, One Class: Los Lunas, the 2021 5A state champions, have been discussed about with a potential move up to 6A based on the growing enrollment. Can they continue their success as they return to the biggest enrollment classification? We should know in a couple weeks on December 2nd.
11 of 12: Well, we did have 11 teams ranked in the top 12 that eventually made the playoffs. Sandia was the odd team out however, they did lose to West Mesa who was our 12th ranked team (Sandia was 13th).
More Alignment Talk: Will Gadsden or Rio Grande return to a classification? I think a lot depends on the alignment of the classifications. I wouldn't be surprised if both decided to use another two years as an independent and could have more join. Should there have only been 16-teams in the top classification? 16 in 5A? with only 8 teams making the playoffs in both? Only have 3-team districts or two regions - a north and a south? So many options but likely we will stay the same with the addition of more teams. What about 18 teams, 9 make the playoffs which includes a 8-9 play-in game? Just fun things to answer.
November 28th, 2021 Final Four Picks for 2022: Cleveland (1), La Cueva (2), Cibola (3), Centennial (4). Sleeper - Carlsbad/Hobbs, Darkhorse - Rio Rancho, Rebound Team - Clovis. Sleeper is a team that could improve from their 2021 seed and challenge for a district title. Darkhorse is a team that graduates a lot, could take a step back, but stays at or near the top. The rebound team is a team that improves drastically from their 2021 spot.
2022 Way-too-early Rankings: We will release these after the new alignments are announced.
Who are your picks?
What will the alignment look like?
Who are your sleepers and dark horse teams?
Today, we take a look back and ahead to the 2022 season and the off-season. #nmpreps
2021 Preseason Rankings - 6A Football
#1 Cleveland (finished #1)
#2 Rio Rancho (finished #2)
#3 Cibola (7-seed; reached the Quarterfinals)
#4 Volcano Vista (6-seed; reached the Quarterfinals)
#5 Clovis (12-seed; reached the 1st Round)
#6 La Cueva (3-seed; reached the semifinals)
#7 Eldorado (9-seed; reached the 1st round)
#8 Las Cruces (5-seed; reached the semifinals)
#9 Carlsbad (11-seed; reached the 1st round)
#10 Centennial (4-seed; reached the Quarterfinals)
#11 Hobbs (9-seed; reached the Quarterfinals)
#12 West Mesa (finished 3-6; missed the playoffs)
#13 Sandia (10-seed; reached the 1st Round)
#14 Santa Fe (finished 6-4; missed the playoffs)
#15 Albuquerque (finished 2-8; missed the playoffs)
#16 Atrisco Heritage (finished 2-7; missed the playoffs)
#17 Organ Mountain (finished 4-6; missed the playoffs)
#18 Manzano (finished 1-8; missed the playoffs)
Missed: Clovis, Centennial, and Cibola. We missed on the following three schools by three spots or more. Clovis may have been the biggest miss as they entered the season preseason ranked 5th (despite graduating some serious talent) and finished 3-7 overall but did find a spot in the 2021 playoffs. Centennial improved, earning the 4-seed and Cibola fell to the 7-seed after finishing fourth in the difficult district 1.
Look Ahead: Cleveland is likely going to enter 2022 where they've been since 2019 - number one. We will also see some new teams in 6A football next season but it shouldn't shake-up the top teams. Rio Rancho has some pieces to fill, La Cueva could be a pick to return to the semifinal and possibly title game, and Cibola, well maybe they were just a year away.
Two Champs, One Class: Los Lunas, the 2021 5A state champions, have been discussed about with a potential move up to 6A based on the growing enrollment. Can they continue their success as they return to the biggest enrollment classification? We should know in a couple weeks on December 2nd.
11 of 12: Well, we did have 11 teams ranked in the top 12 that eventually made the playoffs. Sandia was the odd team out however, they did lose to West Mesa who was our 12th ranked team (Sandia was 13th).
More Alignment Talk: Will Gadsden or Rio Grande return to a classification? I think a lot depends on the alignment of the classifications. I wouldn't be surprised if both decided to use another two years as an independent and could have more join. Should there have only been 16-teams in the top classification? 16 in 5A? with only 8 teams making the playoffs in both? Only have 3-team districts or two regions - a north and a south? So many options but likely we will stay the same with the addition of more teams. What about 18 teams, 9 make the playoffs which includes a 8-9 play-in game? Just fun things to answer.
November 28th, 2021 Final Four Picks for 2022: Cleveland (1), La Cueva (2), Cibola (3), Centennial (4). Sleeper - Carlsbad/Hobbs, Darkhorse - Rio Rancho, Rebound Team - Clovis. Sleeper is a team that could improve from their 2021 seed and challenge for a district title. Darkhorse is a team that graduates a lot, could take a step back, but stays at or near the top. The rebound team is a team that improves drastically from their 2021 spot.
2022 Way-too-early Rankings: We will release these after the new alignments are announced.
Who are your picks?
What will the alignment look like?
Who are your sleepers and dark horse teams?
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