Winter Sports

Bracketology: Division I Boys Basketball (Updated March 2)

A wild, crazy and often unpredictable Division I boys basketball regular season is in the books, but the madness may just be beginning.

To get you ready as soon as possible, here is our best guess at what the D1 postseason will look like when the NHIAA release the playoff pairings. For continued coverage of the D1 boys basketball tournament, signup for a Sports Insider Membership.

Note: With the NHIAA’s 70-percent rule in place for the postseason, Division I will have 13 teams. Standings based off results reported to NHIAA.org and other media outlets. These are not official pairings.

Division I

Playoff field (record, rating)

Portsmouth (16-2, 3.5556)
Exeter (14-4, 3.1111)
Bedford (14-4, 3.1111)
Manchester Memorial (13-5, 2.8889)
Manchester Central (13-5, 2.8889)
Londonderry (12-6, 2.6667)
Alvirne (12-6, 2.6667)
Winnacunnet (12-5, 2.6667)
Spaulding (10-8, 2.2222)
Merrimack (8-10, 1.7778)
Dover (8-10, 1.7778)
Salem (8-10, 1.7778)
Nashua South (7-11, 1.5556)

Eliminated: Concord (6-12, 1.3333); Pinkerton (5-13, 1.1111); Keene (4-14, 0.8889); Nashua North (4-14, 0.8889); Bishop Guertin (3-15, 0.6667); Trinity (2-16, 0.4444).

Tiebreakers

Exeter wins the tiebreaker with Bedford thanks to a head-to-head victory.
Manchester Memorial wins the tiebreaker with Manchester Central thanks to a head-to-head victory.
Londonderry (2-0, 4.0000) wins the three-way tiebreaker with Alvirne (1-1, 2.0000) and Winnacunnet (0-2, 0.0000) thanks to a better rating in head-to-head games.
Alvirne wins the tiebreaker with Winnacunnet thanks to a head-to-head victory.
Merimmack (2-0, 4.0000) wins the three-way tiebreaker with Dover (1-1, 2.0000) and Salem (0-2, 0.0000) thanks to a better rating in head-to-head games.
Dover wins the tiebreaker with Salem thanks to a head-to-head victory.

First-round byes (changes in bold)