This week's newest installment of the five teams that had a taste of success last week, and how I prove it's not a coincidence:

1. Worland girls soccer: Quietly, the Warriors have put together a solid streak. They haven't lost in almost a month and are 5-0-1 in their past six games. Worland won a pair of road games last week -- 4-1 over Newcastle and 9-1 over Torrington -- but the critical stretch is coming next. Worland's last three games of the regular season are all 3A West games.

2. Cheyenne boys soccer: Combined, the boys from East and Central won their four road games last week by a combined four goals. Central had identical 3-2 victories over Sheridan and Gillette, while East beat Sheridan 2-1 and Gillette 1-0. Ever so stealthily, these two have creeped up on conference leader Laramie (Laramie has 20 points, East 19 and Central 18), and guess who Laramie plays this week? East on Thursday, Central on Saturday. The term "big week" is an understatement.

3. Natrona County track: When is the last time a single team swept the top four spots in the throwing events at the Wyoming Track and Field Classic? I'm asking because I don't know. But NC did just that on Monday, as Carson Rowley and Baillie Gibson swept the top spots in the shot and disc.

4. Lander track: The Tigers swept the team titles at the rescheduled Bobcat Invitational in Thermopolis on Monday. Thirteen event titles -- including all three girls relay races -- helped Lander break out the brooms. With their own meet coming up this weekend, Lander has set the standard.

5. Gillette wrestling: Yes, it's not wrestling season. But now is when champions are made. Tyler Cox, for example. He won his weight bracket at the FILA Junior Greco-Roman Nationals. Now he's the top seed for the FILA Junior World team. What's more is that his teammate, Tyler Juby, finished seventh in his Greco-Roman bracket. It's no wonder team titles always seem to find their way up Highway 59.

This week's five. Discuss or add to it with a comment.

Posted by patrick.schmiedt@trib.com

The Wyoming Track and Field Classic, originally scheduled for today in Casper, has been postponed to Monday. The meet will start at 4 p.m.

Saturday's Casper Invitational has been canceled.

Also, today's Bobcat Invitational in Thermopolis has been moved to Monday. It'll start at 10 a.m.

Update, 4:12 p.m.: Worland has canceled its boys soccer games this weekend against Newcastle and Torrington due to weather and field conditions.

If you know of any more postponements or cancellations, give me a shout.

Posted by patrick.schmiedt@trib.com

After a week off, the Trio is back and better than ever. This week's trio is pretty intense, pointing out three events you shouldn't miss:

Boys soccer: Buffalo at Cody, Friday. The first time these two teams played each other this season was in the Worland Jamboree, and they played to a 1-1 tie. That's the only non-victory for the Broncs in their 8-0-1 season. Buffalo's had similar success, piling up a record of 7-0-3. It should be no surprise that these two teams are the top two ranked teams in Class 3A..... Ramble, ramble, ramble, ramble. I could go on and on. But I'll stop here with this: It's the biggest 3A boys soccer game so far this year.

Girls soccer: Riverton at Laramie, Saturday. Can you believe that Laramie has already secured at least a tie for first in the 4A East? Me neither. With two weeks to go in the regular season, the Lady Plainsmen can do no worse than tie for the top spot in the conference. But Laramie would rather not worry about tiebreakers. A win or tie on Saturday would give Laramie the outright conference title and the top seed at regionals.

Track and field: This one's easy. Wyoming Track and Field Classic, Friday, Casper. The 10 best competitors in each event (top eight in sprints and hurdles) all on one track, competing together regardless of classification. It's a pretty awesome setup, and for the track junkies and casual fans alike it's a can't-miss event.

There are the ones that have me excited. Where are you headed this weekend? Post a comment below and let the world know.

Posted by patrick.schmiedt@trib.com

Six-player football is here.

Write it down.

April 22, 2008: The re-birth of six-player in Wyoming.

Right now, the baby is only one day old. And plenty of growing remains between the time the baby grows up to be a center that's also an eligible receiver.

But for now, we can revel in the fact that this six-player idea might actually become a reality.

The eight schools that have committed (Guernsey, Hanna, Midwest, Meeteetse, Ten Sleep, Fort Washakie, Kaycee and Rock River) are tiptoeing into what's more or less uncharted territory for Wyoming football.

The state hasn't sponsored six-player football since 1956 (and by that I mean REAL six-player, the kind that has conferences, playoff systems and a real state champion at the end of it all). And the state hasn't sponsored anything less than 11-player since 1994.

But on Tuesday, the Wyoming High School Activities Association gave its first-reading approval to state-sponsored six-player to start in the 2009 season. The WHSAA still has to pass it again in September, but the unanimous decision by the board to keep this proposal moving was encouraging.

It was also encouraging to see the WHSAA set up the system to succeed, rather than to fail. Rather than by mandating that certain schools play either 11- or six-player, the WHSAA wisely gave small schools the choice of what they wanted to play. Those 21 current programs (plus any new ones, like Fort Washakie, Kaycee and Rock River) can choose whether they want to play in a six-player league or in an 11-player league. Giving schools the choice like that is the right way to set up a new system -- those with the enthusiasm can start the "pilot program," those who still have a bit of trepidation can wait it out a couple years to see how it flies.

No matter what, six-player football is here, and I think it's here for good.

Although only seven or eight schools may sponsor the sport in its inaugural season, I think by 2013, six-player football could have as many as 13 or 14 schools participating -- a figure that includes several start-up programs.

This six-man thing is gonna get big.

And Tuesday was the unofficial berth of something great.

Posted by patrick.schmiedt@trib.com

This week's list of the fab five, the teams that caught my attention and should be catching yours, too, if you know what's good for you...

1. Lingle girls track: The Doggers placed third at the Scottsbluff (Neb.) Twilight Invitational. That doesn't sound like much, but consider this: Lingle (school population of about 100) beat the likes of Kelly Walsh, Torrington, both Cheyenne schools, Alliance and Gering, Neb., and Sterling, Colo. -- all of which are at least five times the size of Lingle, if not more. The Doggers' Candace Wollert won the 400 and 800 and the 400 relay team won as well.

(Oh, and by the way, I couldn't help but smile when I saw the results of the girls' 100 hurdles final from Scottsbluff. KW's Jordan Merback was first at 14.53 seconds, while Lingle's Maggie Ochsner was second at 14.57. If you've followed Wyoming track and field, even casually, over the past three years, you know what kind of race this was.... For me, though, it was still a little bit disappointing, too, to see these times, because... well... after I saw those times, I really wanted to have been there there to SEE that race. Wow. As far as I know, they'll meet again on Friday at the Wyoming Track and Field Classic in Casper.)

2. Laramie boys track: While we're at it, let's recognize the Plainsmen, who came up half a point short in Scottsbluff to the hosts. Stephen Michel scored 40 of Laramie's 95 points, winning the 100, 200, long jump and triple jump, but he got quite a bit of help from his teammates. Ryan Ivy proved he can jump and run at the same time, winning the 300 hurdles while finishing third in the 110 hurdles, while Alex Walker, Alex Bradfield and Morgan Asay all added top-six finishes.

3. Rock Springs boys soccer: The Tigers picked up an important victory on Thursday, knocking off rival Green River 2-0. So what made it so important? Well, the Tigers still have a chance to grab the No. 2 seed out of the 4A West, and every conference victory is key. Rock Springs has now won three of those league games in a row and four of five.

4. Natrona County girls soccer: New goalie? No problem. With regular goalkeeper Ashley Akers likely done for the season with a hand injury, the Fillies moved defender Hannah Chapman into goal for their road swing in Evanston and Star Valley. The result was two more shutouts, as the Fillies beat Evanston 3-0 and Star Valley 2-0. NC has only given up one goal through 10 games this season.

5. Normative Services boys track: Friday was vintage Wolves at the Scott Hardy Invitational in Gillette. NSI didn't have a single individual winner, yet won the meet by 13.5 points over Big Horn. The two events the Wolves did win were both relays (the 400 and 1600 relays). From there, it was superior depth -- lots of seconds, thirds, fourths, fifths and sixths -- that boosted the Wolves to the strong finish. It's nothing new, but it's always fun to see.

There are my five. Feel free to highlight another team's accomplishments last weekend by posting a comment below.

Sweet.

Posted by patrick.schmiedt@trib.com

For some reason, I've had a ton of requests for this. It was released back in February but somehow a lot of people missed it the first time around. So here it is again:

Head Coach: Shawn Rogers, Kemmerer
Assistant coaches: Darrell Bullington, Kemmerer; Brick Cegelski, Cheyenne Central; Jay Rhoades, Douglas; Matt VandeBossche, Lusk; Mark Bullington, Southeast.
Players
BIG PINEY: Greg Eiden. BURNS: Jay Leininger. CHEYENNE CENTRAL: Brock Hayden, Matt Cook. CHEYENNE EAST: Alex Stratton, Darren Neely, Jared Walla, Jason Simmer. COKEVILLE: Devon Pope. DOUGLAS: Brian Bull, Scott Boner. EVANSTON: Cody Saloga, Jake Spero, Justin Willard, Kyle Crandall. GLENROCK: Jim Downs, Trenton Blakeman. GREEN RIVER: Kelly Garvin. GUERNSEY: David Moats. KEMMERER: Evan Nishi, Jason Easley, Rem Roberts; LARAMIE: Cody Suder, Mike Poulos. LUSK: Ben Hanson, Skyler Hoopes. LYMAN: Dustin Condos. ROCK SPRINGS: Drew Rollin, Ron Halstead. SARATOGA: David Capozzoli. SOUTHEAST: Aaron Weglin, Stephen Easton. STAR VALLEY: Jordan Abrams, Zack Booth. TORRINGTON: Keenan Zimmerman. WHEATLAND: Chase Tyson.

Posted by patrick.schmiedt@trib.com

It's back... sort of. The Class of 2008's college commitments. We had this list going for quite a while back on "Old Goulash" but, unfortunately, the list never came back on "New Goulash" because we never had a way to permalink it.

Well, we still don't, but I'm tired of holding on to a list that's not seeing the light of day. So here it is.

Disclaimer: This list contains both verbal and written commitments and is subject to change.

To add or change a commitment, e-mail me at patrick.schmiedt@trib.com

Cheyenne Central: Josh Creel, golf, Colorado.
Cheyenne East: Jeremy Kurz, football, Air Force; Kelly Kougl, cross country, Augustana (S.D.).
Cody: Clinton Boutelle, golf, Wyoming; Afton Balling, golf, Mesa State.
Dubois: Jeremy Brandl, football, Dickinson (N.D.) State.
Evanston: Nicole Kallas, volleyball, Central Wyoming.
Gillette: Tiffany Izatt, swimming, Wyoming; Ryan Hutchison, basketball, Iowa Western CC; Braden Benson, football, Sioux Falls; R.J. Boylan, football/wrestling, Chadron State; Casey Sullivan, football, Dickinson (N.D.) State.
Glenrock: Jim Downs, football, Wyoming.
Green River: Kelsey Podlesny, golf, Wyoming.
Kelly Walsh: Erik Heiss, football, Carroll College; Kristen Getter, volleyball, Casper College; Jordan Merback, track and field, Stanford; Kristin Glisczinski, volleyball, Casper College; Taylor Diller, soccer, Laramie County CC; Sarah Gillett, soccer, Laramie County CC.
Lander: Siarra Nicholas, volleyball, Central Wyoming; Larkin Guenther, track and field, Montana State.
Laramie: Stephen Michel, track and field, Wyoming; Jason Alworth, football, Chadron State; Michael Poulos, wrestling, Wyoming.
Lingle: Trae Patch, track and field, Chadron State; Maggie Ochsner, track and field, Weber State.
Natrona County: Brianna Wood, volleyball, Casper College; Sean Robison, baseball, Sioux Falls; Carson Rowley, track and field, Colorado State; Travis Kulhavy, football, Dickinson (N.D.) State; Briston Brenton, wrestling, Northwest College.
Pinedale: Lincoln Proud, track and field, Chadron State.
Powell: Kenny Smith, track and field, Wyoming; Tyler Dahlgren, football, Dickinson (N.D.) State.
Riverside: Kasey Garnhart, wrestling, Wyoming; Toby Wood, football, Wyoming (walk-on).
Riverton: Kyle Blumenshine, footballe, Jamestown (N.D.) College.
Rock Springs: Drew Rollin, football, Wyoming; Willie Padilla, football, Black Hills State; Kelly Gray, track and field, Wyoming.
Sheridan: Katie Malin, volleyball, Black Hills; Josh Dunkelberger, football, Sioux Falls; Dustin McCalla, football, Sioux Falls.
Shoshoni: Chase McNamee, football, Sioux Falls; Isaac Fitzgerald, football, Black Hills State.
Southeast: Stephen Easton, football, Black Hills State.
Star Valley: Danette Warren, volleyball, Sheridan College.
Sundance: Ray Moore, football, Sioux Falls.
Torrington: Jared Hatley, wrestling, Wyoming.
Worland: Scott Soderstrom, football, Black Hills State.
Wright: Randall Haefele, football, Dickinson (N.D.) State.

This week's Five on the Rise, five teams that have impressed some short, balding guy working at some newspaper in central Wyoming:

1. Cody track: Boys, girls, whatever. Let the sweep talk begin in earnest. The Broncs swept the L.A. Kohnke Invitational in Powell on Saturday, marking the second straight week in which Cody swept the top spots at a large meet (it also swept the Roy Peck Invite in Riverton). This week, Cody is heading to the Dan Hansen Invitational in Sheridan.... Can they sweep again?

2. Worland boys soccer: After an inauspicious 0-2-3 start, the Warriors won two in a row last week, beating both Powell and Sheridan to pick up their first two victories of the season. Then the Panthers beat Lander on Tuesday night. But this sudden uprising probably is no fluke. Worland has been tested a lot early this season, and that should pay off big for the rest of the year.

3. Dubois girls track: Let's let the Rams enjoy this one. They won the Wyoming Indian Invitational on Saturday by 21 points over Thermopolis, besting an eight-team field with their depth. Yes, Dubois got 20 points from winning events that no one else had anyone competing in (the 1600 relay and the high jump). And yes, Lindsay Copeland did her usual amazing job, winning the 100, 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles. But the Rams proved they have the numbers to pick up some points here and there along the way and win a meet every now and then -- and in 1A, that's extremely important.

4. Pinedale boys track: Pinedale had a solid finish at the Tiger Invitational in Rock Springs, finishing third while sandwiched between a whole bunch of 4A teams. The Wranglers finished with 93 points, with 40 of those coming off first-place finishes by two athletes (Lincoln Proud in both hurdles events, Abe Pearce in the high jump and pole vault.

5. Buffalo girls soccer: They can't win big, but they sure can win. With a 6-0-2 record, the Bison are tied for the top spot in the 3A East -- and all six of their victories have been by no more than two goals. One of those two-goal victories -- a 4-2 victory last week over 4A Sheridan -- came in overtime. The Bison are proof that it doesn't matter how many goals you score, all that matters is if you score more than the other team.

By no means is this list complete; lots of teams had great weeks last week. Add your thoughts by commenting below.

Posted by patrick.schmiedt@trib.com

Here on the sports desk tonight, we received two extremely different accounts of the girls soccer game between Riverton and Cheyenne Central. The only thing that sounded similar in both calls was that Riverton won the game 1-0. Everything else was up in the air.

Central claimed a 37-6 shot advantage, and a 21-2 advantage in shots on goal. Riverton, meanwhile, claimed a shot difference of 11-7 for Central.

It's just like Spandex: The critical areas are covered, yet it still doesn't fit right.

How can two people wtching the same game end up with such drastically different numbers? Well, it has to do with subjectivity.

Remember, the coaches themselves don't normally take the team's stats -- instead, they leave that task (rightfully so) to the team manager, or, sans manager, to some random JV player. Usually, with clipboard and pencil in hand, they're more than eager to give a shot on goal to one of their friends, and probably less than eager to do so to someone on the other team.

That doesn't make it right or wrong. That's just how it is, especially in a sport like soccer where stats can be as different as the people taking them.

Put two statisticians next to each other at the exact same game, and chances are high that their stats won't be identical at the end of the day. While the difference may only be a few yards in football or a couple rebounds in basketball, in soccer, stats can be widely different based on interpretation. Is that long through ball picked up by the goalkeeper a shot? Is it a shot on goal? Is that crossing pass that goes out of bounds and ends up as a goal kick a shot? Is that mis-struck kick that goes wildly away from the goal still a shot?

Variance is common and understandable. And when you realize that it's usually untrained JV players taking the stats that'll end up in the paper, variances like the big one we saw here on the desk on Friday night are for the most part excusable.

(In situations like this, we at the Star-Tribune tend to use the stats of the home team by default, although we will use visiting team stats to augment any missing info from the home team. However, if the home team doesn't send or phone in its stats to us, we will use visiting stats exclusively. Hope that explains the differences you'll see in the recap in Saturday's paper. As always, you can call or e-mail me with any questions that you ever have about how we do stuff.)

Posted by patrick.schmiedt@trib.com

Here it is, this week's trio, three events that'll make you give sunflowers to random strangers....

Track and field: The I-80 duo. Rawlins has about a dozen teams scheduled to attend its meet on Friday, while Rock Springs has about 15 or so ready to come to the Tiger Invitational on Saturday. The only question mark on the meets is if they'll happen -- last I looked, I-80 wasn't in great shape.

Boys soccer: Cheyenne Central at Laramie, Saturday. The 4A East Conference has left all but these two teams with a league loss. Central's 3-0-0 league mark has only a slight edge on Laramie's 2-0-1, and both teams still have to play Friday. But Saturday's game in the Gem City -- if it gets played -- looks like it could be a dandy. And it could help solidify just who is the favorite in the East.

Girls soccer: Powell at Cody, Friday. The complexion of Class 3A soccer is something new and unusual to everyone involved. Thus far, the calling card of 3A play has been defense, and Powell -- the last of the 3A teams to play its first conference game -- recorded two shutout victories last weekend. We'll see if that trend continues this weekend.

Honorable mention to Friday's big soccer games in Casper. Friday's winners, be they Kelly Walsh or Natrona County, will have control of their own destinies in the 4A West Conference standings, and that's key for seeding at regionals.

Although it's not exactly put-the-top-down weather, where are your wheels taking you this weekend? Comment below.

Posted by patrick.schmiedt@trib.com

Through 5:30 p.m. Thursday. If you know more, e-mail them to me at patrick.schmiedt@trib.com.

-- Glenrock has canceled Friday's Tony Lehner Invitational track meet. The meet will not be made up.
-- Kelly Walsh and Natrona County moved their junior varsity soccer games from Thursday to Saturday. The games will be played at the North Casper Soccer Complex, with the girls playing at 9 a.m. and the boys at 11 a.m.

.... for Nebraska. And it's no surprise to see some Wyoming teams on there.

If you're really interested in, like, corn and stuff, all of Nebraska's football schedules for 2009 are available by clicking here. But if you don't have time to surf, just look below for the scheduled games involving Wyoming teams for 2009:

Sept. 3: Lingle at Morrill, Neb.
Sept. 4: Wheatland at Sidney, Neb.; Chadron, Neb., at Torrington; Pine Bluffs at Kimball, Neb.
Sept. 11: Torrington at Gering, Neb.; Mitchell, Neb., at Pine Bluffs.
Sept. 18: Wheatland at Gering, Neb.; Alliance, Neb., at Torrington; Douglas at Chadron, Neb.
Sept. 26: Laramie at Scottsbluff, Neb.

(It's worth noting that, at least in the WHSAA's eyes, these aren't official dates. The WHSAA won't release its 2009 football schedule until this November, and between now and then there could be some minor changes.)

You can get the 2008 Wyoming schedules here and the 2008 Nebraska schedules here.

Posted by patrick.schmiedt@trib.com.

Montana has finalized its rosters for the Montana-Wyoming all-star basketball series in June.

The games will be June 20 at Sheridan College and June 21 at Billings (Mont.) West High School.

Here are Montana's rosters, courtesy of the Associated Press:

BOYS
Brandon Boltz, Butte; Cole Conway, Butte; Grant Fink, Helena; D.J. Fish, Browning; Brian Foran, Winifred; Andy Garland, Missoula Sentinel; Jim Mee, Libby; Daniel Pearson, Billings Central and Casey Rogers, Billings West.
GIRLS
Torrie Cahill, Miles City; Kezia Ford, Great Falls; Jeni Guertin, Bozeman; Ali Hurley, Anaconda; Sage Indendi, Livingston; Brianne McClafferty, Butte; Joey O'Neill, Butte; Laramie Schwenke, Malta; Kalli Stanhope, Glendive and Kirsten Tilleman, Bozeman.

The shortest player on the Montana boys roster is 6-foot-1; the girls team has three Division I recruits in Tilleman, Guertin and Hurley. For more on Montana's chances, click here.

Posted by patrick.schmiedt@trib.com

Wyoming's high school football playoff system allows 40 teams into its brackets each season.

There are only 57 teams playing 11-man football in Wyoming right now.

That means 70.2 percent of the state's football teams make the playoffs.

That's a lot. And Wyoming's football playoff system could mean more if fewer teams participated.

Consider this: Since 1990, 142 teams have played in state championship games after advancing in eight-team brackets. Of those:

-- 16 teams (11.3 percent) played their first playoff game on the road.
-- 2 teams (1.4 percent) won state championships after opening the playoffs on the road.
-- 1 team (0.70 percent) won a state championship by playing all three of its games on the road.

So is it really worth it to open up an eight-team bracket if only 1.4 percent of the first-round road teams will end up winning the state championship?

Wyoming has two answers:

1. Reduce the number of teams in the playoffs for each division to four. This was the mode in the old Class 3A for 10 years (1991-2000) -- those teams had an extra game at the end of the regular season, but only the top two teams from each conference qualified for the playoffs. It makes sense to do that. Not only would every team play an extra game (one tacked on to the end of the regular season to make up for the loss of a quarterfinals), but the playoff pool is free of those teams that, 98.6 percent of the time, aren't going to win the state championship.

("But it's not about the winning and the losing! It's about giving teams the opportunity to play in that playoff atmosphere!" Sounds familiar, right? Well, if that's the case, let's...)

2. Drop the charade and let every single team participate in the playoffs. With as few teams as Wyoming has playing football, all of them might as well make the playoffs. It makes no sense to leave only 17 teams out of it if 40 are moving on. Encourage teams to play their final regular-season game on a Thursday, then let those 17 extra teams in and play the first-round games at neutral sites on the Monday before the quarterfinals.

Right now, "making the playoffs" in Wyoming doesn't mean much. All but three teams have made the playoffs at least once in the past five years.

It's time for some kind of change. Either the playoffs need to be a reward, or they need to be a given. They can't be in between any more.

For reference, here are the 16 teams that played in the state championship game after opening up their playoff run on the road (eight-team brackets only, since 1990):

The two state champions
Big Piney, 2006 (quarterfinals on the road, semifinals at home)
Glenrock, 2003 (all three games on the road)
The 14 other state runners-up
Evanston, 1993 and 2007; Cheyenne East, 2006; Gillette, 2003; Lovell, 2003 (hosted title game) and 1990; Lusk, 2003; Normative Services, 2001; Mountain View, 2000; Sheridan, 1996 and 1997; Pine Bluffs, 1991 and 1994; Wind River, 1992.

Posted by patrick.schmiedt@trib.com.

Finally! We have the chance to dust off an old Goulash relic, the Sports Goulash Trio. This week, the trio is looking forward to some sunny days and chasing the clouds away:

Boys soccer: Riverton at Laramie, Saturday. There are still four remaining unbeaten teams in Wyoming's 4A soccer division, and the Wolverines and Plainsmen are two of those four. Both played the Gillette-Sheridan swing on the road last week and both emerged successful (Riverton at 2-0, Laramie at 1-0-1), so Saturday's game will in part be for the early lead in the East Conference (lest we forget Central and East, who played their first conference games against each other on Wednesday).

Girls soccer: Jackson's homestand -- vs. Lander on Friday; vs. Buffalo on Saturday. It can't be this easy for Jackson, can it? The Broncs are out to their typical quick start (4-0-1 so far) and have outscored their opponents 17-2 so far. But a few teams have the chance to stick with Jackson on the pitch. Both Buffalo and Lander are 2-0-2 and played each other to a 1-1 tie last week. And if Jackson sweeps this weekend, watch out.

Track and field: Riverton Invitational, Saturday. The Invite has 22 Wyoming teams scheduled to attend, most from the west side of the state, and should be a good gauge for everyone to see how they'll likely stack up for the rest of the season. The early part of the track season is all about trying new things, so don't be too surprised to see some unusual results come out of this huge meet.

So there it is, from the place where the air is sweet... What are your plans for the weekend?

Posted by patrick.schmiedt@trib.com

I'm not sure what made me think about it, but somehow I forgot to do my annual look back at the basketball preseason picks we made. Sorry. Anyway, you know how this works: I take a look back at the rankings I made way back in November, before the first tip-off, you laugh at how wrong I was, everyone's happy.

Boys
4A
1. Natrona: Right on.... up until the state tournament semifinals.
2. Green River: Not too far off. The Wolves were part of the West's three-headed monster (Green River, Rock Springs, Evanston) behind NC, and any one of those three could have easily ended up in the state championship game.
3. Gillette: A bit low. The Camels obviously had a strong finish to the season -- 10-0 in the East Conference, regional champs and state champs.
4. Evanston: A tad high. The Red Devils lost in the first round at state.
5. Cheyenne Central: Pretty close! The Indians were the 4A consolation champions.
 
3A
1. Buffalo: Right on... up until the state tournament semifinals.
2. Lander: Looking back, we figured Lander would be pretty good. The Tigers didn't have the greatest regular season and barely qualified for state, but made up for all that by winning the state championship.
3. Kemmerer: A tad high. Kemmerer was one of the coaches' early favorites, and I made this pick out of the respect the coaches had for the Rangers. Kemmerer went 0-2 at state.
4. Wheatland: Pretty close! Wheatland finished "fourth" at state after losing the third-place game.
5. Cody: Too high. Cody failed to make it to state; I thought their 4A experience would pay off more than it did.
 
2A
1. Lusk: Right on! The Tigers didn't stay atop the rankings all season, but they won three games at state and won the trophy for the first time since '82.
2. Sundance: Right on! The Bulldogs finished as state runners-up.
3. Tongue River: A tad high. The Eagles were one of the four 2A semifinalists this year but lost the third-place game to...
4. Wind River: A tad low. Wind River was 28-0 entering the state semis before losing to Lusk. However, I think the East was stronger than the West this year in 2A, something that might have caught up with the Cougars at state.
5. Rocky Mountain: Too high. The Grizzlies failed to make it to state.
 
1A
1. Kaycee: I had high hopes for the Buckaroos and their three-headed senior monster. And if Kaycee somehow beats Encampment in the first round, maybe this pick comes true.... Maybe.
2. Burlington: Pretty close. The West Regional champs got tripped up by Encampment in the state semis and finished third.
3. Saratoga: Pretty close. Saratoga won the East Regional and lost the third-place game at state after losing to Southeast in the semis.
4. Southeast: Turns out a tad low. Southeast entered state with a losing record but finished three points away from the 1A championship.
5. Encampment: Turns out a tad low. After winning the Southwest Conference, the Tigers turned their third-place finish at the West Regional into the fuel for their state championship run.

Girls
4A
1. Sheridan: A bit high. Sheridan slipped up in the first round at state.
2. Gillette: Right on! Gillette finished second at state.
3. Natrona: A bit high. NC won the West Regional, but lost in the first round at state.
4. Central: A bit low. Central was one of the toughest teams in the state all year and won the three games that mattered most -- the three at the end of the season.
5. East: Pretty close! After finishing fourth in the East Regional, East knocked off NC in the first round at state and finished the season by winning the third-place game.
 
3A
1. Jackson: Right on! Jackson went wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team in 3A, capping it all off with a state championship.
2. Douglas: A tad high. Douglas did win the East Regional championship but got knocked off by Worland in the first round at state.
3. Torrington: A tad low. Torrington went undefeated in East Conference play and finished as the state runners-up to Jackson.
4. Lander: Too high. The Tigers' steam ran out in league play and they failed to make it to state.
5. Lovell: Pretty close. Lovell was in the mix all season and lost the consolation championship game.
 
2A
1. Big Horn: Right on! The Rams won the state championship.
2. Mountain View: Pretty close. The Buffalos lost their top scorer mid-season, but almost beat Big Horn in the state semis.
3. Sundance: Too high. Sundance finished fourth in the Northeast Conference and missed out on a trip to state.
4. Wyoming Indian: Pretty close. The Lady Chiefs won the consolation championship at state after losing to Big Horn in the first round.
5. Thermopolis: Pretty close. The Bobcats swept their Northwest Conference schedule, but lost the consolation championship at state.
 
1A
1. Burlington: Right on... up until the state tournament semifinals.
2. Southeast: A bit low. Southeast never really got the respect it deserved until the postseason, but it proved it was the best team in 1A when it had the chance.
3. Cokeville: A tad high. Cokeville didn't lose a game in conference play, but lost in the first round at state before winning the consolation title.
4. Hulett: Too high. Hulett made it to state, but went 0-2 in Casper.
5. Arvada-Clearmont: Too low. A-C beat Burlington in the state semis before losing in the championship to Southeast.

There it is, about a month late. Sorry. Anyway, take a quick look back at the hoops season, then focus your energy back on track and soccer again. Cool.

Posted by patrick.schmiedt@trib.com