CAP-8 Chaos For Third Place Auto Bid

PHOTO BY ROBERT WILLETT - THE NEWS & OBSERVER

It certainly feels like we are rounding that final corner and with just three games and in some cases two games remaining for most of the area teams, conference automatic bids are at stake and reaching the four win playoff qualification plateau is in the forefront for a number of teams.  Every Friday night during the fall is a great one to get out and watch a football game, but with the weather appearing to move even more into those 40's and 50's and with teams angling for a top three conference finish - tonight is guaranteed to be a great night for Football Friday.

In the following capsules (this post and others to follow and already submitted), we'll briefly hit on the 4A conferences around the area and talk playoff implications for this evening's games.

CAP-8

Leesville Road and Wake Forest-Rolesville are in the drivers' seat as we close out the season, both are 4-0 in conference with three conference games remaining for each and culminating with the match-up between the two to close out the 2011 regular season.  The Cougars are playing a Sanderson squad that is barely hanging onto playoff chances, as they'll need to win their final three to have a chance at being in a multi-team tie for the third position in the conference.  The Pride has a much more intriguing match-up against 2-2 in conference Millbrook.  The Wildcats along with Wakefield and Broughton all sit at 2-2 in conference play and essentially control their own chances of at the very least snagging a third place automatic bid or quite possibly scratching to a bit higher in the conference pecking order.  Millbrook sits in a great position, with Leesville tonight and WFR next week.  String together two wins and they are sitting in a strong spot to not only snag that third place finish put based on the LR/WFR game to close the season with a great shot at snagging the number two finish.  As for taking on the top of the conference to close out the season, why not, if you get the victories, most likely those will be the teams you have beat in tie-breakers at the end - so in affect a double win for Millbrook if they can pull it off.


Broughton takes on the newcomer in Heritage and with a 1-3 mark in conference for the Huskies and a 3-5 overall mark they have a real chance of clawing up into an automatic bid, but with Wakefield and Leesville still ahead, this game is a must this evening.  For the Caps, a win against Heritage places them in a strong position as they'll close with another 2-2 squad in Wakefield and winless Sanderson.

Wakefield has Enloe this evening, another 1-3 team in conference trying to get into that conference race. The Wolverines should be favored in their three remaining games against Enloe, Broughton and Heritage. Broughton and Wakefield clearly have the edge over Millbrook when it comes to ease of schedule to close it out, but Millbrook has those big time games against the top of the conference which could be huge tie-breakers if they can notch victories.

How Heritage, Enloe and Millbrook do this evening are probably the most intriguing of the group.  If they were all to notch victories there would certainly be Chaos in the CAP-8.

Odds and Ends

Tonight is a Playoff Night in the PAC-6  [Link to Article]
Playoff Update - Only 94 Remain   [Link to Article]
the Work Week Quarterback (WWQB) - Thoughts and Notes   [Link to Article]
Talking Playoffs and Conference Winning Percentages   [Link to Article]
When Does 4 Wins Not Equal 4 Wins?   [Link to Article]
Multiple Endowments, Oh My!   [Link to Article]

Photographs courtesy of newsobserver.com (The News & Observer)

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