2021 NCHSAA Baseball Playoff Projections
Posted May 31, 2021 11:23 a.m. EDT
Updated May 31, 2021 12:26 p.m. EDT
As the abbreviated spring season winds down for baseball teams across North Carolina, HighSchoolOT is projecting the state playoff brackets for each of the four classifications.
These projections are not official and can change when the official brackets are released by the N.C. High School Athletic Association on Saturday, June 12. However, these projections are made using the protocols adopted by the NCHSAA Board of Directors and the results entered into MaxPreps by the schools.
It's important that teams keep their MaxPreps results updated so these projections will accurately reflect the field.
The playoffs are changing this year due to COVID-19. You can read the in-depth breakdown on how the playoff qualifiers will be determined and brackets created by clicking here, but here are the highlights:
- 32 teams will make the playoffs from each classification.
- Conferences have been assigned to the east or west region ahead of time. 16 teams from each region will make the field.
- Each conference will have at least one automatic qualifier depending on how many schools from that particular conference are participating in a particular sport this season, so the number of automatic qualifiers may be different in a conference from sport to sport.
- 1-6 teams = 1 automatic bid
- 7-8 teams = 2 automatic bids
- 9+ teams = 3 automatic bids
- Any spots left over will be filled by wildcard teams based on the best conference winning percentages of the teams that did not receive automatic bids.
- Every effort will be made to keep conference opponents away from one another in the first round.
Important note: We will not be able to project an actual bracket for the playoffs this year, only the qualifiers, the wildcard spots, the seeding tiers, and the bubble. Since the bracket will be built based on a random draw, it is impossible for us to project the eventual bracket with any level of certainty.
Here are some additional helpful resources:
- Nick Stevens: Here's how the NCHSAA playoffs will work during COVID-19
- NCHSAA generic playoff procedure
These playoff projections will be updated regularly throughout the final weeks of the regular season. To receive alerts when new projections are released, download the free HighSchoolOT app on your phone or tablet.
