Early look at playoff races in each region

Here's a look at each of the 12 regions with at least one team in rural West Tennessee and how they look going into the final three weeks of the season.

Since there are three weeks, we're primarily looking at who's already clinched a playoff berth, who's in contention for the region championship, who's out of the playoffs and what has to happen for each team to make the playoffs.Region 6-1A

McKenzie is in the playoffs. They can clinch the region championship with a win over Wayne County in Week 10 and a McEwen loss any of the next three weeks. McKenzie and McEwen meet in Week 11.

Bruceton can finish second if they were to win out and Wayne County were to lose both of of it remaining games. They will miss the playoffs if they lose both of their remaining games against McEwen and Perry County.

Region 7-1A

West Carroll and Gleason are out of the playoffs.

Greenfield is out of the playoffs if they lose one more game with Lake County and Gleason remaining.

Humboldt, South Fulton and Dresden are already in the playoffs. 

Humboldt clinches the region championship with a win over Lake County if they were to win.

There are a number of scenarios where Dresden, South Fulton and Lake County all shift depending on who wins the Humboldt-Lake County, Dresden-South Fulton and Lake County-Dresden games.

For Greenfield to make the playoffs, they need to win out and need Lake County to lose one of its other two games against Humboldt and Dresden.

Region 8-1A

The only way Middleton can win the playoffs is if they win their final two games and KIPP lose its final three games.

Region 5-2A

Scotts Hill is out of the playoffs with one loss in their remaining games against Riverside and Adamsville.

Adamsville secures a playoff spot with one more win.

Riverside would secure a playoff spot with a win over Scotts Hill or another loss by Scotts Hill, Loretto and Mt. Pleasant.

Riverside’s ceiling is region runner-up. That would happen if they were to win out, which would include a win over Summertown.

Adamsville has a win over Riverside. A three-way tie for first could happen if Riverside were to beat Summertown then Summertown beats Adamsville and all three teams win out in their remaining region games. If that were to happen, Riverside could finish second or third because its overall record would be 7-3 in that scenario. Summertown still has a non-region game against Richland, so if Summertown were to lose that game, Adamsville would be the region champion if there’s a three-way tie with Riverside owning the head-to-head tiebreaker over Summertown. If Summertown beats Richland, then they would be the champion if a three-way tie happens because they and Adamsville would each have an 8-2 overall record, knocking Riverside to third place and Summertown would have the head-to-head advantage over Adamsville.

Region 7-2A

Huntingdon is in the playoffs. Milan is in the playoffs with another win.

Huntingdon clinches the region championship with a win and a Union City loss, and they play in Week 11.

Milan can win the region if they win out and Huntingdon loses its final two games.

Peabody can win the region if it wins its final two games against Milan and Huntingdon and they both lose their final two games and Union City loses two of its last three.

Union City can win the region if it wins its final three games and Milan loses a game.

Peabody, Union City, JCM and Halls are all in contention for the playoffs behind Huntingdon and Milan.

Here’s each team’s bare minimum of what needs to happen to make the playoffs:

Region 6-3A

Camden can get into the playoffs with a win over Harpeth in Week 11 and a loss by Waverly. Camden, who’s currently in fourth in the region, has plenty of opportunity to improve its seeding as it has games remaining against region-leader Fairview and Stewart County, who’s tied for second with Cheatham County, who’s already beaten Camden.

Region 7-3A

Westview is in the playoffs. Dyersburg and Covington are in the playoffs with one more win.

No one is out of playoff contention. None of these three teams have played each other yet.

Here’s a look at the bare minimum of what needs to happen for each of the other four teams to make the playoffs. (Current region record and remaining opponents in parentheses.)

Obion County (0-4 - Ripley and Bolivar) - If they were to beat Bolivar and Ripley, Ripley were to lose one more and McNairy were to lose its remaining games, McNairy would fall to last place in the region with a three-way tie for fourth with Bolivar and Ripley, which Obion would win the head-to-head tiebreaker in.

Ripley (0-3 - McNairy, Obion County and Dyersburg) - They need to win all three and Bolivar to lose to Obion County.

McNairy (1-3 - Ripley and Covington) - They can get in with a win over Ripley and Obion beating Bolivar and Ripley, forcing a three-way for fourth. In that scenario, Bolivar would be the first team out because of their overall record being not as good as the other two. McNairy would then win the head-to-head with Obion County.

Bolivar (2-3 - Obion County) - They’re in if they beat Obion County. If they lose, they could get in still if Ripley were to beat Obion County and McNairy were to lose another game too.

Region 7-4A

Lexington secures the region championship with one more win. The only two other teams who could win the championship are Crockett County if Lexington loses out and they win out. Hardin County could force a three- or four-way tie for first if they win out and Lexington loses the rest of their games and Crockett were to lose another game. North Side could make it four teams if they were to win out.

Dyer County appears to be out of the playoffs because the best they could finish is 3-4, and they’d lose the head-to-head tiebreaker in every scenario except against Chester County.

Every other team in the region is still eligible for the playoffs. 

South Side (0-4 - Hardin County, Dyer County, Crockett County) - They need to win out. One more loss puts them out. Hardin County needs to beat South Gibson and both teams needs to lose the rest of their games. They also need Chester County to lose its remaining games. This would give South Side all the tiebreakers it can get and needs to get the fourth spot.

South Gibson (2-2 - Crockett County, North Side, Hardin County), Hardin County (2-2 - South Side, Lexington, South Gibson), Chester County (2-3 - Crockett County, North Side) and North Side (3-2 - South Gibson, Chester County) are all jumbled together in a four-way battle for third and fourth that South Side is trying to work its way into if it wins out or Crockett County could be pulled down into if it loses every remaining game.

Region 8-4A

Haywood is in the playoffs and will secure the region championship with one more win and one more loss by Kirby. They meet in Week 11.

Fayette-Ware (1-2 - Millington, Kirby and Craigmont) is very much in the hunt for fourth as Lakeland Prep has second locked up. Fayette-Ware could work its way to third place if it wins out because they’d have a tie-breaker over Kirby if they were to win this week.

Region 7-4A

Henry County (3-0 - Kenwood, Kirkwood) is in the playoffs. If they beat Kirkwood in Week 11, they’ll be region champion again.

Region 8-5A

Munford (2-0 - Brighton and Memphis Central) is in the playoffs and could win the region championship if they beat Memphis Central.

Brighton (1-1 - Munford, Overton) - is in the playoffs if they beat Overton. If they were to win out, they could force a three-way tie for first if Munford were to beat Memphis Central. But if that were to happen, Brighton has three non-region losses and would still fall to third, which would give Munford the championship and Central second place.

Division II-A West

USJ (4-0 - Tipton-Rosemark, JCS) and TCA (4-1 - Tipton-Rosemark) are in. 

JCS (2-1 - Harding Academy, FACS, USJ) secures a playoff spot if they beat Harding Academy, but they’re not out if they were to lose that game.

All three Jackson teams have a possible shot at the championship if they win out. If JCS wins out, they would need TCA to lose to TRA to give it the championship.

TCA needs to win its game and JCS to beat USJ to have a chance to win the championship.

If there’s a three-way tie for first (meaning TCA wins its game and JCS beats USJ), the overall records are the second tie-breaker. JCS has gone 4-0 in its non-region record. TCA is also unbeaten, but they lost a game when Westwood didn’t stick around to play on the stormy night on Sept. 11. That game is no longer listed on TCA’s or Westwood’s schedule on the TSSAA’s website as it wasn’t played. So the team with the most wins among the three will get the championship. In a three-way tie, where all are 5-1 in region play, JCS would get the championship because they’d have nine wins. USJ has a non-region loss with one more non-region game to play against Dyer County. TCA is off in Week 9 and travels to Donelson Christian in Week 10.

Fayette Academy (1-3 - Harding Academy, Tipton-Rosemark, FACS) still has a shot at fourth place. No matter how the Harding-JCS game goes the week before, the winner of Fayette-Harding will probably be in the playoffs because they’ve both already beaten Tipton-Rosemark. If Fayette were to lose to winless FACS, that could alter things.