Bracketology: Division II Boys Basketball (Updated March 2)

A wild, crazy and often unpredictable Division II 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 D2 postseason will look like when the NHIAA release the playoff pairings. For continued coverage of the D2 boys basketball tournament, signup for a Sports Insider Membership.

Note: With the NHIAA’s 70-percent rule in place for the postseason, Division II will have 15 teams. Standings based off results reported to NHIAA.org and other media outlets. These are not official pairings.

Division II

Playoff field (record, rating)

1. Hollis Brookline (16-2, 3.5556)
2. Lebanon (15-3, 3.3333)
3. Pembroke (14-4, 3.1111)
4. Kearsarge (14-4, 3.1111)
5. Merrimack Valley (13-5, 2.8889)
6. Coe-Brown (13-5, 2.8889)
7. Oyster River (12-6, 2.6667)
8. Timberlane (10-8, 2.2222)
9. Milford (10-8, 2.2222)
10. Kennett (10-8, 2.2222)
11. Pelham (9-9, 2.0000)
12. Windham (9-9, 2.0000)
13. Souhegan (8-10, 1.7778)
14. Hanover (8-10, 1.7778)
15. John Stark (7-11, 1.5556)

Eliminated: Bow (7-11, 1.5556); Plymouth (7-11, 1.5556); ConVal (6-12, 1.3333); Bishop Brady (4-14, 0.8889); Manchester West (3-15, 0.6667); Goffstown (3-15, 0.6667); Kingswood (2-16, 0.4444).

Tiebreakers

• Pembroke wins the tiebreaker with Kearsarge thanks to a head-to-head victory.
• Merrimack Valley wins the tiebreaker with Coe-Brown thanks to a head-to-head victory.
• Timberlane (6-8, 1.7143) wins the three-way tiebreaker with Milford (5-7, 1.6667) and Kennett (4-7, 1.4545) thanks to a better rating against tournament teams.
• Milford wins the tiebreaker with Kennett thanks to a better rating against tournament teams.
• Pelham (5-8, 1.5384) wins the tiebreaker with Windham (5-9, 1.4286) thanks to a better rating against tournament teams.
• Souhegan wins the tiebreaker with Hanover thanks to a head-to-head victory.
• In the three-way tiebreaker, Bow (4-11, 1.0667) and John Stark (4-11, 1.0667) finish ahead of Plymouth (2-10, 0.6667) thanks to a better rating against tournament teams.
• John Stark wins the tiebreaker for the final playoff spot with Bow thanks to a head-to-head victory.

First-round bye (changes in bold)

• No. 1 Hollis Brookline

First-round matchups

• No. 9 Milford at No. 8 Timberlane
• No. 12 Windham at No. 5 Merrimack Valley
• No. 13 Souhegan at No. 4 Kearsarge
• No. 15 John Stark at No. 2 Lebanon
• No. 10 Kennett at No. 7 Oyster River
• No. 14 Hanover at No. 3 Pembroke
• No. 11 Pelham at No. 6 Coe-Brown