When building a playoff bracket, you have to start at the top.
Who gets the No. 1 seed?
That is usually a question the WPIAL basketball steering committee hits like a breakaway layup.
However, there was plenty of discussion as to who would garner the top seed in nearly half of the district’s 12 boys and girls tournaments.
“There was a lot of discussion about each of those (tough) brackets,” retired Hampton athletic director and longtime district basketball steering committee member Bill Cardone said. “The other ones may have had some clear-cut (choices).”
On Monday, the brackets were unveiled for the upcoming WPIAL basketball playoffs, and there were some great debates in just getting several brackets started.
One was in Class 6A boys, where New Castle was outright Section 1 champion with a 19-1 record, and two-time defending champion Upper St. Clair was 20-1 after sharing the Section 2 crown with Central Catholic (19-2).
“The 6A boys bracket, you’ve got two really good basketball teams, and I’m not slighting the rest of the field, but you have two well-coached basketball teams with a great tradition,” Cardone said. “They’ve had great seasons and their records are nearly identical, so what it came down to was you have a defending champion in Upper St. Clair, so that’s where we came up with Upper St. Clair No. 1 and New Castle No. 2.
“When all things are equal, the defending champion gets a little bit of credence. They may not have the same team, but they are the champions.”
That logic was used in boys Class 2A as well, trying to determine who would be No. 1 between 2025 winner Jeannette (19-1) and undefeated Sewickley Academy (21-0).
“Sewickley is a very good team and Jeannette is a very good team,” Cardone said. “(The Jayhawks) were a young team last year and they have pretty much their whole team back. It came down to the same thing where you have the champion in Jeannette and Sewickley, who has had a great year.
“It came down to last year; Jeannette beat Sewickley in the semifinals, so we gave (Jeannette) the nod there.”
However, one defending champion did not get the benefit of the doubt.
In girls Class 4A, undefeated Blackhawk (20-0) and 2025 champ Oakland Catholic (18-2) were in line for the top seed.
“It was situational with a lot of discussion with the top four teams in Blackhawk, Oakland Catholic, North Catholic and Belle Vernon,” Cardone said. “We put Blackhawk at No. 1 because of their body of work this year.”
In boys Class 4A, three teams were in the hunt not only for the No. 1 seed, but also the No. 2 seed, which also carries a first-round bye.
Section 2 outright champion Quaker Valley (17-3) is the top seed, while Section 1 co-champion North Catholic is No. 2 and Knoch is No. 3.
“North Catholic and Knoch splitting and Quaker Valley winning it (section title) helped (Quaker Valley),” Cardone said. “Plus Quaker Valley has had some injuries this year, and they have one of their big players back and in the last three or four games he’s played in, it’s made a big difference.”
The other top seeds were Chartiers Valley in 5A boys, Mohawk in 3A, Neighborhood Academy in A boys, South Fayette in 5A girls, Shady Side Academy in 3A girls, Neshannock in 2A girls and Aquinas Academy in A girls.
As expected, the top three finishers in Section 4-5A boys basketball earned three of the top four seeds in the 5A bracket with defending champion Chartiers Valley (19-2) at No. 1, Lincoln Park (16-5) at No. 2 and Moon (18-3) at No. 4.
Section 3-5A winner Thomas Jefferson (20-2) is No. 3.
One of the biggest surprises in the brackets came in girls Class 6A.
Section 2 outright winner Canon-McMillan (17-4) was No. 1, runner-up Norwin (16-4) was No. 2 and third place and 2025 district champ Upper St. Clair was No. 3, seeded ahead of the Section 1 co-champs in Pine-Richland and Seneca Valley.
“In 6A girls, we put Upper St. Clair pretty high up (No. 3) ahead of Pine-Richland and Seneca Valley with the reason being Upper St. Clair beat both of those teams,” Cardone said. “So we went with the consensus of the committee.”
WPIAL playoffs
Boys
Class 6A
Monday’s schedule
First round
Norwin (11-11) at Fox Chapel (12-9), 7 p.m.
Pine-Richland (11-11) at Mt. Lebanon (13-8), 7:30 p.m.
Imani Christian (6-16) at North Hills (15-7), 7 p.m.
Quarterfinals
Thursday, Feb. 19
Norwin/Fox Chapel winner vs. Upper St. Clair (20-1), TBA
Seneca Valley (13-8) vs. Hempfield (15-7), TBA
Pine-Richland/Mt. Lebanon winner vs. New Castle (20-1), TBA
Imani Christian/North Hills winner vs. Central Catholic (19-2) at Fox Chapel, TBA
Class 5A
Preliminary round
Thursday’s schedule
Montour (8-13) at McKeesport (10-11), 7 p.m.
Laurel Highlands (13-8) at Ringgold (12-9) , 7 p.m.
Mars (9-13) at Latrobe (9-12), 7 p.m.
First round
Tuesday, Feb. 17
Montour/McKeesport winner at Chartiers Valley (19-2) , 7 p.m.
Shaler (13-9) at Franklin Regional (13-8), 7 p.m.
Penn-Trafford (11-11) at Moon (18-3), 7 p.m.
Indiana (13-7) at Gateway (14-7), 7 p.m.
Laurel Highlands/Ringgold winner at Lincoln Park (16-5), 7 p.m.
Hampton (12-7) at Peters Township (16-5), 7 p.m.
Mars/Latrobe winner at Thomas Jefferson (20-2), 7 p.m.
South Fayette (10-11) at Penn Hills (15-6), 7 p.m.
Class 4A
First round
Friday’s schedule
Burrell (10-12) at Belle Vernon (13-9), 7 p.m.
Deer Lakes (10-11) at Derry (15-6), 7 p.m.
Greensburg Salem (10-11) at Hopewell (14-8), 7 p.m.
Avonworth (10-11) at Elizabeth Forward (13-8), 7 p.m.
East Allegheny (10-9) at Knoch (18-4), 7 p.m.
Highlands (11-11) at Central Valley (14-7), 7 p.m.
Byes: Quaker Valley (17-3), North Catholic (17-4)
Class 3A
First round
Tuesday, Feb. 17
Waynesburg (6-15) at Mohawk (19-1), 7 p.m.
Ellwood City (12-10) at South Allegheny (13-8), 7 p.m.
Shady Side Academy (8-14) at Bishop Canevin (13-8), 7 p.m.
Washington (11-10) at Southmoreland (14-7), 7 p.m.
Sto-Rox (7-14) vs. Aliquippa (14-6) at South Fayette, 7 p.m.
Charleroi (13-9) vs. Seton LaSalle (16-5) at Peters Township, 6 p.m.
Riverside (15-7) at South Park (18-3), 7 p.m.
Ligonier Valley (11-10) at Keystone Oaks (16-4), 7:30 p.m.
Class 2A
Preliminary round
Thursday’s schedule
Beth-Center (12-10) at Brentwood (12-9), 7 p.m.
Greensburg Central Catholic (6-16) at Union (9-13), 7 p.m.
West Greene (7-13) at Bentworth (14-6), 7 p.m.
First round
Monday, Feb. 16
Beth-Center/Brentwood winner at Jeannette (19-1), 7 p.m.
Eden Christian (16-5) at Laurel (14-8), 7 p.m.
Fort Cherry (12-8) at Neshannock (17-3), 7 p.m.
Shenango (15-6) at Clairton (16-3), 7 p.m.
Greensburg Central Catholic/Union winner at Sewickley Academy (21-0), 7:30 p.m.
Winchester Thurston (15-6) at Chartiers-Houston (18-4), 7 p.m.
West Greene/Bentworth winner at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (18-4), 7 p.m.
Springdale (12-9) at Jefferson-Morgan (20-1), 7 p.m.
Class A
Quarterfinals
Wednesday, Feb. 18
Summit Academy (11-8) vs. Neighborhood Academy (18-3) at Fox Chapel, 6 p.m.
Aquinas Academy (9-11) at Monessen (11-8), 7 p.m.
St. Joseph (8-12) vs. Nazareth Prep (8-11) at Fox Chapel, 7:30 p.m.
Serra Catholic (11-9) at Avella (17-5), 7 p.m.
Girls
Class 6A
First round
Monday, Feb. 16
Mt. Lebanon (6-14) at North Hills (7-13), 6 p.m.
Quarterfinals
Thursday, Feb. 19
Mt. Lebanon/North Hills winner at Canon-McMillan (17-4), 6 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 20
Seneca Valley (13-6) at Pine-Richland (15-7), 7 p.m.
Hempfield (13-9) at Norwin (16-4), 7 p.m.
North Allegheny (10-11) at Upper St. Clair (11-10), 7 p.m.
Class 5A
First round
Friday’s schedule
Kiski Area (11-10) at South Fayette (21-1), 7:30 p.m.
Trinity (15-6) at West Allegheny (17-4) , 7 p.m.
Chartiers Valley (8-14) at Baldwin (17-4), 7 p.m.
Peters Township (12-9) at Plum (17-4), 7 p.m.
Penn Hills (11-10) at Thomas Jefferson (20-2), 7 p.m.
Latrobe (11-7) at Fox Chapel (14-8), 7:30 p.m.
Mars (9-12) at Indiana (19-3), 7 p.m.
Franklin Regional (12-10) at Penn-Trafford (16-5), 7 p.m.
Class 4A
First round
Monday, Feb. 16
Burrell (15-7) at Hampton (14-7), 7 p.m.
Lincoln Park (10-12) at Belle Vernon (19-3), 7 p.m.
Hopewell (6-14) at Elizabeth Forward (16-5), 7 p.m.
Freeport (12-9) at South Park (14-8), 7 p.m.
Laurel Highlands (8-14) at North Catholic (17-5), 7 p.m.
Mt. Pleasant (10-11) at Beaver (14-7), 7 p.m.
Byes: Blackhawk (20-0), Oakland Catholic (18-2)
Class 3A
First round
Friday’s schedule
Riverside (14-7) at Avonworth (11-11), 7 p.m.
Keystone Oaks (12-8) at Quaker Valley (15-6), 7 p.m.
Sto-Rox (8-11) at Seton LaSalle (14-7), 6 p.m.
South Allegheny (7-15) at Beaver Falls (20-1), 7 p.m.
Deer Lakes (11-9) at Waynesburg (19-2), 7 p.m.
Mohawk (8-13) at Greensburg Central Catholic (16-6), 6 p.m.
McGuffey (12-10) at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (16-6), 7 p.m.
Bye: Shady Side Academy (19-2)
Class 2A
First round
Tuesday, Feb. 17
Brentwood (6-15) at Neshannock (18-3), 7 p.m.
Laurel (12-10) at California (11-9), 7 p.m.
Riverview (10-8) at Fort Cherry (16-5), 7 p.m.
Apollo-Ridge (12-10) at Rochester (12-8), 7 p.m.
Bentworth (9-12) at Winchester Thurston (17-3), 6 p.m.
Jeannette (15-6) at Burgettstown (16-6), 7 p.m.
South Side (9-12) at Chartiers-Houston (18-3), 7 p.m.
Beth-Center (10-10) at Aliquippa (14-7), 7 p.m.
Class A
First round
Monday, Feb. 16
Eden Christian (10-9) at Bishop Canevin (9-11), 7 p.m.
Monessen (7-13) at Sewickley Academy (13-9), 6 p.m.
Clairton (8-10) at West Greene (15-6), 7 p.m.
Quarterfinals
Thursday, Feb. 19
Eden Christian/Bishop Canevin winner at Aquinas Academy (19-2), TBA
St. Joseph (13-8) at Geibel Catholic (20-1), TBA
Monessen/Sewickley Academy winner vs. Serra Catholic (15-5), TBA
Clairton/West Greene winner vs. Union (18-4), TBA