Unlike the NCAA Tournament, there are no at-large bids into next week's high school basketball state tournaments. An early-round loss in this week's region tournaments sends teams home to stay. You want to qualify for state. It is tough when you have to play people for the third or fourth time. The top four survivors from each region move on to the first round of the state tournament, which begins Feb. 23.
Some regions reward their regular-season champion with a berth in the state tournament.
They play in the region tournament only to determine seeding for state. The Broncos must beat Meadowcreek to reach state. We had a great regular season, but right now, there are no No. 1 teams. Everybody is trying to get to that No. 1 ranking. Last year South Cobb lost in the championship game of the region playoffs before losing in the first round of state.