Alright, so today’s thing was figuring out who I think is gonna win this Tennessee high school basketball thing in 2025. That TSSAA Boys Playoffs thing. Started because me and my buddy Greg were arguing about it over burgers last week. He swore CPA would repeat. I wasn’t so sure. Thought maybe Knoxville Catholic or East Nashville could sneak up.
Getting into the Weeds
First things first, I had to look at who was actually any good this season. Couldn’t just guess, right? Went digging through the TSSAA website. Total mess, honestly. Stats from some teams looked updated maybe last month, others were probably from Christmas. Figured I had to build my own simple list.
Here’s what I did:
- Printed out the brackets: Yeah, actual paper. Like in the old days. Spread it out on the kitchen table.
- Looked up game scores: Spent like an hour clicking through MaxPreps and local news sites. Wrote down who beat who, especially later in the season. Close games mattered more.
- Focused on the big dogs: Didn’t waste time with every single team. Tracked the division leaders and a couple of scary-looking underdogs I kept hearing about.
- Ignored the “experts”: Didn’t wanna get swayed by some sports writer. This was my own hot take.
The Gut Check Moment
Armed with my messy notes and a cup of cold coffee, I started matching teams up on my printed bracket. Crossed out who I thought would lose each round. Easy at first – first-round games usually aren’t upsets.
But then it got tough. Looking at CPA versus Brentwood Academy potentially in the semis? Felt like they played just last week. Was CPA slowing down? Brentwood looked hungry.
East Nashville… man, those guys are fast. But are they tough enough inside when it really counts? Against a team like Knoxville Catholic, who just bully people? That’s when you gotta trust your gut. I kept thinking about seeing CPA grind out a win in overtime last month. That stick-with-it-ness sticks with you.
Penciling it In
Round by round I went. Some picks felt solid:
- CPA gets past BA: Just barely. Defense wins out.
- East Nashville makes a run: Speed kills, and they draw teams that can’t handle it.
- Knoxville Catholic crashes the party: Big, experienced. Hard to ignore.
Finally, staring at the hypothetical championship matchups… It came down to CPA and Knoxville Catholic for me. CPA had been there, done that. Knoxville Catholic was bigger, maybe stronger.
But sitting there, remembering that CPA overtime game, thinking about their guards… I knew we had to stick with them. It’s boring picking the favorite sometimes, but I just couldn’t see them losing when it mattered most.
So yeah, final call: CPA takes it home again. Barely. Maybe in another nail-biter. Greg owes me a burger if I’m right. Whole process took about 3 hours from start to finish, mostly just wrestling with those late-round matchups in my head. Feels good to have a pick in the ground, even if it blows up in my face come playoffs!