Sports
Examining Playoff Scenarios For Sheridan/Johnson County WY HS Football Teams 2026
One game remains in the 2026 Wyoming High School Football season.
Some teams are in the playoffs and have their spot locked up, others are in, but their spot could get better or worse, a few are still battling to get in the post season, and the rest are done for the season after this weekend.
With one game left, 2 teams from North-Central Wyoming (Sheridan and Big Horn) are assured of going to the playoffs and have locked up their seeds, Buffalo is in the playoffs and can get a better spot, while Tongue River has been eliminated.
For those teams that make it into the post season, which team could be their first round opponent?
Tie-Breaker Rules:
- Head-to-head.
- In a 3-way tie, did one team beat the other 2 or lose to the other 2? If so, that team moves up or down. Revert back to head-to-head for the remaining 2 teams.
- If tie hasn’t been resolved, check head-to-head record vs. highest team in the conference not involved in the tie (or next highest, next highest, etc…)
- Check point differential of when the tied teams each played each other (maximum 12 points…if team A beat team B by greater than 12 points, team A is credited with a +12, while team B is credited with a -12 (exception 6-man which is 24 points, instead of 12)).
- 3-way coin flip. Odd flip of the coin loses. Revert back to start of tie-breaking procedure for the remaining teams.
- In a 4-way tie (or more) check head-to-head record vs. other tied teams first (WHSAA rule 7.4.8). Whichever team(s) have an advantage or disadvantage, that team(s) moves up or down accordingly. Revert back to 3-way tie, or head-to-head tie if needed.
Click here to see standings through week 7
Class 4A:
The top 3 seeds are locked in…Natrona County, Sheridan and Cheyenne East in that order and it doesn’t matter if they win or lose in week 8 (East has head-to-head tiebreaker vs. Cheyenne Central).
Even if they win in week 8, Rock Springs and Cheyenne South have been eliminated.
That means Cheyenne Central, Laramie, Kelly Walsh, Thunder Basin and Campbell County are tangled up for seeds 4-8.
Central can do no worse than #5 and gets #4 seed with a win OR a Laramie loss.
Laramie gets #4 seed with a win AND a Central loss.
Week 8 games are between Cheyenne Central at Sheridan, Campbell County at Cheyenne East, Kelly Walsh at Laramie, and Thunder Basin at Cheyenne South.
There’s also Natrona County at Rock Springs, but that game is worthless are far as the playoffs are concerned, because NC will be the #1 seed and RS has been eliminated, no matter what happens.
Scenarios: (Not including any scenario where Thunder Basin loses vs. Cheyenne South)
Sheridan, East, Thunder Basin and Laramie win: Laramie gets #4 seed over Central due to head-to-head win and would host the Indians in the first round. TB gets #6 seed and travels to East. Campbell County gets #7 seed over KW, due to head-to-head win and travels to Sheridan. KW visits NC.
Sheridan, East, Thunder Basin and Kelly Walsh win: Central gets #4 seed due to better record. KW wins 3-way tie for #5 seed vs. TB and Laramie, due to head-to-head wins vs. both and would visit the Indians. TB gets #6 seed over Laramie due to head-to-head win and travels to East. Laramie would go to Sheridan and Campbell County visits Natrona County.
Sheridan, Campbell County, Thunder Basin and Laramie win: Laramie gets #4 seed over Central due to head-to-head win and would host the Indians in the first round. TB gets #6 seed over Campbell County due to head-to-head win. The Bolts travel to East, while the Camels go to Sheridan. KW visits NC.
Sheridan, Campbell County, Thunder Basin and Kelly Walsh win: Central gets #4 seed due to better record. TB, KW, Laramie and Campbell County would be in a 4-way tie with 4-5 records. Checking head-to-head records vs. the other tied teams, KW and TB move up due to 2-1 records, while the other 2 went 1-2. KW gets #5 seed over TB, due to head-to-head win and will visit Central, while TB goes to East. Laramie gets #7 seed over Campbell County due to head-to-head win and will visit Sheridan, while the Camels go to Natrona County.
Central, East, Thunder Basin and Laramie win: Central gets #4 seed due to better record. Laramie is #5 seed and visits Central. TB is #6 seed and visits East. Campbell County gets #7 seed over KW due to head-to-head win. The Camels visit Sheridan, while the Trojans go to NC.
Central, East, Thunder Basin and Kelly Walsh win: Central gets #4 seed due to better record, and Campbell County gets #8 seed due to worse record and would visit Natrona County. KW wins the 3-way for the #5 seed vs. TB and Laramie and would travel to Central, due to having head-to-head wins vs. both. TB gets #6 seed over Laramie due to head-to-head win and would travel to East, while the Plainsmen visit Sheridan.
Central, Campbell County, Thunder Basin and Laramie win: Central would be #4 and Laramie would #5. The 2 teams would play each other at Central. Thunder Basin gets #6 seed over Campbell County, due to head-to-head win and would travel to East, while the Camels visit Sheridan. KW would play at Natrona County.
Central, Campbell County, Thunder Basin and Kelly Walsh win: Central would be #4. TB, KW, Laramie and Campbell County would be in a 4-way tie with 4-5 records. Checking head-to-head records vs. the other tied teams, KW and TB move up due to 2-1 records, while the other 2 went 1-2. KW gets #5 seed over TB, due to head-to-head win and will visit Central, while TB goes to East. Laramie gets #7 seed over Campbell County due to head-to-head win and will visit Sheridan, while the Camels go to Natrona County.
Class 3A:
Riverton and Lander have locked up the East #1 and East #2 seeds respectively.
Buffalo plays at Rawlins and the winner will be the East #3 seed and the loser is East #4.
Douglas and Worland are out.
If Star Valley wins at Jackson, then the West top 3 seeds will be set…Star Valley, Cody, Jackson in that order.
An SV loss at Jackson, combined with a Cody win at home vs. Green River, creates a 3-way tie for the top 3 west seeds. The point differential tie-breaker may or may not work, depending on how many points SV loses by.
Jackson would get the West #1 seed with a win at home vs. SV, AND a Cody loss at home vs. GR. SV would be #2 and Cody #3.
Evanston gets West #4 seed with a win at Powell.
Green River gets West #4 seed with a win at Cody AND an Evanston loss at Powell.
A Powell win over Evanston AND a Green River loss at Cody, would create an Evanston-Green River-Powell 3-way tie for the West #4 seed.
Class 2A:
Big Horn and Cokeville have locked up the #1 seeds out of the East and West respectively.
Thermopolis and Mountain View have locked up West #2 and West #3 seeds.
Since there is an odd number of teams in the West, one team must finish conference play ahead of all other teams. Lovell is that team.
Burns and Torrington are in the playoffs, but seeding is TBA.
Newcastle would get the East #2 seed with a win at home vs. Big Horn. The outcome of the other games wouldn’t matter. The Dogies can still make the playoffs with a loss and the right kind of help.
Glenrock is out with a loss OR if Newcastle wins. The Herders can also be eliminated with a win, AND a Newcastle loss AND Wheatland and Torrington BOTH win.
Wheatland, Tongue River and Moorcroft have been eliminated.
East Scenarios: (BH at Newcastle, Glenrock at TR, Wheatland at Burns, Torrington at Moorcroft)
BH, Burns, Torrington, Glenrock win: BH #1 seed. Burns #2 seed over Torrington due to head-to-head win and would host Mountain View. Torrington #3 seed and travels to Thermopolis. Glenrock gets #4 seed over Newcastle due to head-to-head win and goes to Cokeville. Newcastle eliminated.
BH, Burns, Torrington, TR win: BH (#1), Burns (#2 and host Mountain View), Torrington (#3 and visit Thermopolis), Newcastle (#4 and travel to Cokeville). Glenrock eliminated.
BH, Burns, Moorcroft, Glenrock win: BH (#1), Burns (#2 and host Mountain View). Newcastle-Torrington-Glenrock 3-way tie for #3 and #4 seeds. Torrington wins #3 seed and would go to Thermopolis, due to head-to-head wins vs. both Glenrock and Newcastle. Glenrock gets #4 seed and travels to Cokeville, due to head-to-head win vs. Newcastle, who would be eliminated.
BH, Burns, Moorcroft, TR win: BH (#1), Burns (#2 and host Mountain View). Torrington gets #3 seed over Newcastle and travels to Thermopolis, due to head-to-head win. Newcastle (#4) go to Cokeville. Glenrock eliminated.
BH, Wheatland, Torrington, Glenrock win: BH (#1), Torrington (#2 and host Mountain View). Newcastle-Burns-Glenrock 3-way tie for #3 and #4 seeds. Newcastle wins point differential (+6, -3, -3) and gets #3 seed and would travel to Thermopolis. Burns gets #4 over Glenrock and would travel to Cokeville, due to head-to-head win. Glenrock eliminated.
BH, Wheatland, Torrington, TR win: BH (#1), Torrington (#2 and host Mountain View). Newcastle gets #3 seed over Burns and goes to Thermopolis, due to head-to-head win. Burns (#4 and goes to Cokeville). Glenrock eliminated.
BH, Wheatland, Moorcroft, Glenrock win: BH (#1), Newcastle-Burns-Torrington-Glenrock 4-way tie for seeds 2,3,4. Burns and Torrington move up, due to going 2-1 vs. the other teams involved in the tie. Glenrock and Newcastle move down, due to going 1-2 vs. the other teams involved in the tie. Burns gets #2 seed over Torrington and hosts Mountain View, due to head-to-head win. Torrington gets #3 seed and travels to Thermopolis. Glenrock gets #4 seed and will head to Cokeville over Newcastle, due to head-to-head win. Newcastle eliminated.
BH, Wheatland, Moorcroft, TR win: BH (#1). Newcastle-Burns-Torrington 3-way tie for #2, #3 and #4 seeds. Checking record vs. highest team in the conference not involved in the tie, Newcastle loses the 3-way tie, falls to the #4 seed and travels to Cokeville, because the Dogies lost vs. Glenrock, whereas the other 2 didn’t (Glenrock is #5 over Wheatland due to head-to-head win). Burns gets #2 seed and host Mountain View, due to head-to-head win over Torrington, who is #3 and goes to Thermopolis. Glenrock eliminated.
Newcastle, Burns, Torrington win: BH (#1). Newcastle-Burns-Torrington 3-way tie for #2, #3, #4 seeds. Checking record vs. highest team in the conference not involved in the tie, Newcastle gets #2 and hosts Mountain View due to having a win vs. BH, whereas the other 2 don’t. Burns gets #3 seed over Torrington and goes to Thermopolis, due to head-to-head win. Torrington (#4) visits Cokeville. The Glenrock-Tongue River game becomes irrelevant and Glenrock is eliminated.
Newcastle, Burns, Moorcroft win: BH (#1). Newcastle gets #2 seed over Burns and would host Mountain View, due to head-to-head win. Burns (#3) visits Thermopolis. Torrington gets #4 seed over Glenrock due to head-to-head win and visits Cokeville. The Glenrock-Tongue River game becomes irrelevant and Glenrock is eliminated.
Newcastle, Wheatland, Torrington win: BH (#1). Torrington gets #2 seed over Newcastle and hosts Mountain View, due to head-to-head win. Newcastle (#3) goes to Thermopolis. Burns gets #4 seed over Glenrock and will go to Cokeville, due to head-to-head win. The Glenrock-Tongue River game becomes irrelevant and Glenrock is eliminated.
Newcastle, Wheatland, Moorcroft win: BH (#1). Newcastle (#2) hosts Mountain View. There’s a Burns-Torrington-Glenrock 3-way tie for #3 and #4 seeds. Burns beat both Torrington and Glenrock, thus the Broncs get the #3 seed and travel to Thermopolis. Glenrock lost to both Burns and Torrington and are eliminated. Torrington (#4) will go to Cokeville. Nothing changes in this scenario if Glenrock loses to TR.
West Scenarios: (Kemmerer at Cokeville, Thermopolis at Lyman, Pinedale at Mountain View)
Lovell is at home vs. the Natrona County JV team, but this is a non-conference game, thus the outcome doesn’t matter.
Cokeville (#1 seed) won head-to-head vs. Thermopolis, and Thermopolis (#2 seed) won head-to-head vs. Mountain View. MV (#3 seed) won head-to-head vs. Lyman.
Lyman is first in line for the #4 seed and a trip to Big Horn. The Eagles need only to win to claim it, as they would have a better conference record compared to Lovell, Kemmerer and Pinedale. The outcome of the other 2A West games, become irrelevant. The team is eliminated with a loss.
If Lyman loses, Pinedale could get it with a win AND a Cokeville win vs. Kemmerer, while Lovell gets it if Lyman AND either Pinedale loses or Kemmerer beats Cokeville.
Kemmerer is eliminated regardless of the result of their game at Cokeville.
The following situations are IF Lyman loses:
Cokeville, Mountain View win: Lovell gets #4 seed over Lyman and would travel to BH, due to head-to-head win. Lyman, Kemmerer, and Pinedale eliminated.
Cokeville, Pinedale win: There’s a Lyman-Lovell-Pinedale 3-way tie for #4 seed. Checking record vs. highest team in the conference not involved in the tie (or next highest, next highest), Pinedale wins the tie-breaker, because the Wranglers would have won vs. MV, whereas the other 2 didn’t. Lyman, Lovell and Kemmerer eliminated. This is the only scenario that gets Pinedale in.
Kemmerer, Thermopolis, Mountain View win: There’s a Lyman-Lovell-Kemmerer 3-way tie for #4 seed. Lovell wins due to having head-to-head wins vs. both of the other 2 tied teams and would travel to BH. Lyman, Kemmerer and Pinedale eliminated.
Kemmerer, Thermopolis, Pinedale win: There’s a Lyman-Lovell-Kemmerer-Pinedale 4-way tie for #4 seed. Lovell and Lyman each went 2-1 vs. the other teams in the group, while Kemmerer and Pinedale each went 1-2. Lovell gets #4 seed over Lyman due to head-to-head win and travel to BH. Lyman, Kemmerer and Pinedale eliminated.
