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Jason Schmitt is the editor of MIPrepZone.com, the high school sports website for The Oakland Press. He has served as the sports editor for a number of newspapers, including the Daily Tribune in Royal Oak and the Macomb Daily in Mount Clemens. In his time in the industry, he has covered every high school sport and has served a a beat writer for boys and girls soccer, boys and girls tennis, hockey, wrestling, bowling and cross country.

Monday, October 24, 2011

MHSAA playoff pairings announced - Oakland County well represented

The MHSAA playoff pairings were announced Sunday night, and a slew of Oakland County teams qualified. Though I haven't taken the time to break down every county in the state, I think you'd be hard pressed to find another county that collected 28 bids. Nearly half the field in Division 2 is from this county (14 teams).
The parity in many of the county's leagues spilled over across the state. There were just 29 undefeated teams (of 256 playoff qualifiers). The MHSAA does its best to disperse talented teams, while trying to geographically place them together. Doesn't always seem fair, though, as some districts are stacked, while others don't quite stack up.
There are seven 5-4 teams in Division 8, including three in one district (Region 2, District 2). On the opposite end of that, in the same Division, just one region down, there is a district that includes the Nos. 1-2-5 ranked teams in it.
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep finds itself in a similar situation. The No. 9 ranked Irish will face 10th-ranked Marysville in the first round. On the other half of their district is No. 1 ranked Marine City, and 7th-ranked Croswell-Lexington.
In Division 1, Novi Detroit Catholic Central (No. 3) will face No. 7 Northville in round one. Awaiting the winner of that game will be the winner of No. 2 Plymouth and No. 6 Canton. Too bad all that talent is in one district.
Check back in a day or two and I'll have predictions for all Oakland County games. And we'll be putting together some form of contest, a beat the experts here at The Oakland Press. I'll have the details here, but you can also follow us on Twitter @MIPrepZone or Like our MIPrepZone Facebook page to find out the latest.
Here's a look at all of Oakland County's first-round matchups.

Division 1
Region 2, District 2 - Northville (8-1) at Novi Detroit Catholic Central (8-1)
Region 3, District 1 - Pontiac (6-3) at Clarkston (6-3)
                                 - Walled Lake Central (6-3) at Lake Orion (6-3)
Region 3, District 2 - Romeo (7-2) at Troy Athens (7-2)

Division 2
Region 2, District 1 - Milford (6-3) at Walled Lake Western (8-1)
                                 - South Lyon (6-3) at Holly (7-2)
Region 2, District 2 - Ortonville Brandon (5-4) at Port Huron (8-1)
                                 - Rochester Adams (6-3) at Oxford (7-2)
Region 3, District 1 - Birmingham Seaholm (6-3) at Farmington Hills Harrison (9-0)
                                 - Birmingham Brother Rice (5-4) at North Farmington (7-2)
Region 3, District 2 - Farmington (5-4) at Detroit Henry Ford (7-2)
                                 - Southfield (6-3) at Birmingham Groves (6-3)

Division 3
Region 4, District 1 - Auburn Hills Avondale (5-4) at Lapeer East (7-2)
Region 4, District 2 - Bloomfield Hills Lahser (6-3) at Redford Thurston (8-1)
                                 - Detroit Pershing (7-2) at Orchard Lake St. Mary's (7-2)

Division 4
Region 4, District 1 - Birmingham Detroit Country Day (7-2) at Detroit Crockett (8-1)
Region 4, District 2 - Marysville (8-1) at Pontiac Notre Dame Prep (9-0)


Division 5
Region 3, District 2 - Clawson (6-3) at Almont (8-1)

Division 6
Region 4, District 2 - Detroit PEC (6-3) at Madison Heights Madison (7-2)

Division 7
Region 4, District 2 - Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett (9-0) at Royal Oak Shrine (8-1)

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