By Michael Hicks

Berthoud Recorder

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I wrote about how the seeding would be determined in the 3A state football playoffs?

How Berthoud, despite finishing third in the Tri-Valley Conference, was going to play on the road no matter what in the first round?

How Berthoud, despite being highly ranked most of the season, might be headed for a first-round trip to Palisade, some four hours away?

How Berthoud, because of the way the Colorado High School Activities Association decides seeding in the first place, was going to be seeded lower than teams such as Pueblo County despite having a better record but higher than D’Evelyn and Summit, who both finished the regular season 9-1?

Well, throw all that information out the window. How a team finishes the regular season only decides where it’s seeded. It doesn’t, why I don’t know, determine who plays at home and who doesn’t from round to round.

You see, because CHSAA uses an orthodox way of determining who plays at home and who doesn’t, no matter who was to win Saturday’s opening-round playoff game between top-seeded Glenwood Springs and 16^th-seeded Roosevelt, the Spartans were guaranteed to play at home this week.

That’s because Berthoud is seeded higher than Roosevelt — both of whom played on the road in the opening round. Thus the Spartans would host the Roughriders.

But because Glenwood Springs won Saturday and played at home, the Spartans will host the Demons. CHSAA rules dictate that if two teams in the previous round played — one at home and one on the road — the road team would host the next week’s game.

What?

So let me get this straight. Glenwood Springs, which is 11-0, champions of the Western Slope League and the No. 1 seed in 3A, has to play on the road this week.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got no problem with making the trip over to Max Marr Field this week instead of a three-plus hour ride to Glenwood Springs. But that’s not the point.

Why even seed teams, give them a bonus of playing at home because they won or finished second in their conference if they have to go on the road to play at a lower seed and a team with a worst record?

That defeats the purpose of playing so well during the regular season. This isn’t a knock on Dan McGinn’s team. The Spartans, as defending 3A state champions, have earned the respect they deserve. But Glenwood Springs earned the right to play this game at home.

The Demons shouldn’t be playing on the road, but the situation is what it is. Whether it’s right or wrong is not for me to decide. CHSAA has spoken, now it’s up for each team to adjust accordingly.

And don’t get me wrong, I won’t complain. Any time we all can save a little gas money — even if prices have dipped below $2 in some locales — is a win-win situation.

But it still doesn’t make it right.