Eight teams have clinched spots in the Yeshiva League playoffs so far - Magen David, Flatbush, HAFTR, DRS in the East and Ramaz, TABC, Frisch and Heschel in the West - and five teams have been eliminated - Rambam and HANC in the East, Kushner, MTA and Hillel in the West.
That leaves six teams jockeying for the final four playoff spots - North Shore, Waterbury Yeshiva and YDE for two spots in the East and Ohr Yisroel, SAR and JEC for two spots in the West.
The only thing that is known for certain about the teams that are already in is that Magen David and Flatbush will get first round byes as the top two finishers in the East.
Once the playoffs are set, the opening round in each conference will pit #3 vs #6 and #4 vs #5, with the top two winner reseeded as #3 and #4 respectively. The quarterfinals then crossover conferences - with East #1 vs West #4, E #2 vs W #3, W #1 vs E #4 and W #2 vs E #3.
Here are some possible scenarios with a few weeks remaining in the regular season.
EAST
Magen David (11-1) and Flatbush (12-2) have clinched the first two spots and opening round byes. The Warriors hold the tiebreaker for 1st having beaten Flatbush in both regular season games. Flatbush, which has finished its regular season, can only win the division if Magen David loses its final two games (vs North Shore H.A. and HAFTR).
HAFTR (8-4) will clinch 3rd place if it wins one of its remaining two games (vs YDE and Magen David) or if DRS (7-5) loses one of its games against North Shore. If the Hawks lose out and DRS sweeps the Lions, DRS finishes 3rd and HAFTR 4th.
North Shore (5-6) has the toughest schedule remaining among East teams in the playoff hunt (2 vs DRS, one vs Magen David). But they could actually still finish as high as 3rd if they sweep their three games and HAFTR loses their two.
If North Shore sweeps DRS and HAFTR wins one of its games, North Shore will finish in 4th and DRS in 5th.
YDE and Waterbury Yeshiva (each 4-8) will both make the playoffs if they win out and North Shore loses all three of its games.
If either YDE (vs HAFTR, HANC) or Waterbury (vs Rambam, JEC) lose a game and the other wins out, the team that finishes 5-9 will be eliminated even if North Shore loses all of its games.
If all three teams finish tied, YDE would be eliminated, North Shore would get the 5th seed and Waterbury the 6th seed. Waterbury holds the head-to-head tiebreaker with YDE, having beaten them by 2 points in the only regular season meeting.
WEST
Ramaz (10-2), TABC (9-2) and Frisch (10-3) are all still in the running for a 1st round bye but only Ramaz or TABC can win the division.
TABC finishes 1st if they sweep Ramaz. Ramaz takes the division if they sweep TABC in their final two games or if the two teams split and TABC loses to SAR. If they both finish 11-3 (and Frisch loses to SAR to finish 10-4), the first tiebreaker would be point differential in their two games. If Frisch beats SAR and all 3 teams finish 11-3, TABC (3-1 in head-to-head tiebreaker) will get 1st, Ramaz (2-1) would be 2nd and Frisch (0-3) 3rd.
Frisch would jump to #2 if they beat SAR and there’s a sweep in the Ramaz-TABC matchups. They would also finish 2nd if they beat SAR, Ramaz and TABC split and TABC falls to SAR.
Heschel (8-4) clinched a spot when it beat SAR - and could still finish as high as 3rd if they win their final two games (vs JEC and HANC) and TABC loses its final three games (vs Ramaz (2) and SAR). Heschel could also finish third if they lose a game and TABC goes winless because the Heat hold the tiebreaker.
Ohr Yisroel (7-6) makes the playoffs for the first time ever with a win over Hillel - UNLESS there's a 4-way tie at 8-6. They'll also get in if they lose - as long as either SAR (6-6) or JEC (6-6) loses both of their games.
SAR certainly didn’t help themselves losing to Heschel but it wasn’t fatal. Their schedule is tough (vs TABC and Frisch) but they’re in if they win both. They would also make the playoffs if they lose one of the games and Ohr Yisroel or JEC lose. And the Sting could even sneak in if they lose out - but JEC would have to lose both of their games (vs Heschel and Waterbury Yeshiva) as well.
JEC is in if they win their two games. They need help if they split. And they’re out if they lose both.
The 4-way tie at 8-6 is a longshot but if it happens the head-to-head tiebreaker would put SAR (2-1) in 4th, Heschel (3-2) in 5th and JEC (2-2) in 6th, with Ohr Yisroel (1-3) on the outside looking in, still awaiting that first playoff berth.
