Postseason Pick 'Em: Get your guesses in now! Oh, and playoff insight.

My semifinal picks:
5A: No. 1 Destrehan vs. No. 12 East St. John; No. 2 St. Thomas More vs. No. 3 West Monroe

4A: No. 1 Shaw vs. No. 4 Teurlings Catholic; No. 19 Helen Cox vs. No. 2 Bastrop

3A: No. 1 Parkview vs. No. 7 Lutcher; No. 6 Rayville vs. No. 2 Notre Dame

2A: No. 1 Curtis vs. No. 4 Evangel; No. 2 St. James vs. No. 3 Calvary Baptist

1A: No. Cedar Creek vs. No. 13 West St. John; No. 3 South Plaquemines vs. No. 2 Oak Grove

Let's take a look at all classifications and my take.

5A:
* Jesuit drew a bad draw. While the Blue Jays certainly have been playing well as of late, they matched against Mandeville, one of the hottest teams in the area. The Skippers have taken off since a midseason loss to St. Paul's, winning six straight by an average of 29.8 points per game. Mandeville hasn't scored fewer than 31 points since mid-September.

*Three of the four District 6-5A teams that made the playoffs are in the same half of the draw. Hahnville, in that regard, lucked out. It won't have to play Dutchtown, East St. John or Destrehan until the finals if they make it that far. East St. John, the hottest team in the district, will have to beat a good Sulphur team in the second round to even have a possibilty of setting up a rematch with Dutchtown in the quarterfinals. Get past that game, and East St. John - or Dutchtown for that matter - could be playing district foe Destrehan in the semifinals for a shot at the Dome.

*Speaking of Hahnville, we could be heading towards a Rummel vs. Hahnville second round clash. That could be one of the more entertaining second-round possibilities, as a really good Hahnville defense against a good Rummel offense would be fun to watch.

4A:
*It appears Shaw could have a good chance at walking into at least the quarterfinals. The Eagles face Istrouma to begin with, and that should be easy. Then a rematch against Belle Chasse is a possibility, and that game has a chance at being a breeze. But before you book it, remember that Shaw isn't playing nearly as well as it was at the beginning of the season. The defense is allowing points, and the offense is struggling in the pass game. Then again. as long as that beefy line makes even an inch for Steffon Gray, the Eagles should be fine until at least the quarterfinals.

*Cox certainly picked up the short end of the stick for losing to Shaw on the final weekend of the regular season. Holding onto a home seed going into that game, the loss dropped the Cougars into a road game at Breaux Bridge, a team that was ranked in the top 10 for a time this season. I still expect Cox to come out on top in that game, as it's playing some of the best football in the area right now.

*Holy Cross' five-seed is good for the Tigers. It keeps them away from Shaw until the semifinals if both teams make it that far. I'd like to see that matchup, personally. Shaw's run-game could have a big day in that matchup, but Holy Cross' pass-game could do well against a nicked up Shaw secondary. That's a long time off, though.

3A:
*Good for Ben Franklin for getting its first-ever playoff bid. The reward: A game against Amite, a team that hasn't lost since Sept. 14 to Class 5A Hammond. Going to Amite won't be easy for the Falcons, but then again, neither was reaching the playoffs.

*Lutcher goes in as a No. 5 seed. St. Charles goes in as a No. 12 seed. Know what happens if both win? A rematch of the Oct. 5 matchup between the two. Lutcher won that one 30-9. Lutcher hasn't lost or been tested since Sept. 21 when it lost in overtime to East Ascension.

2A:
* John Curtis remained the No. 1 seed despite losing to St. James in the penultimate week of the regular season. Guess where St. James is ranked? Yep, No. 2. Wouldn't you love to see a Curtis vs. St. James 2A final in the Superdome. St. James at least won't have to go through Evangel. Curtis will in the semis if both teams reach that far.

*Newman picked up a No. 5 seed even with a 50-0 final weekend loss to Curtis. That's a testament to Nelson Stewart and how well his team played for most of the season. Stewart, though, knows his program still has a way to go after losing to the top two seeds by a combined 77 points.

1A:
*South Plaquemines is a No. 3 seed. I feel sorry for anyone seeded 30, 14, 19, 11, 22, 6 or 27 -- Those are the schools that have a chance to face South Plaq to get to the semifinals. You might have already heard this, but the Hurricanes are good. They won their eight games by an average of 44.75 points. Their two losses came by a combined 12 points to two 4A teams in the playoffs.

*West St. John began the season 0-5. West St. John ended the season 5-5. West St. John is on a roll, that's what that means. It also means the No. 12 seeding is probably too low for the team. The Rams played one of the toughest non-district shedules in the state. They're a 1A squad. The five losses came to two 2A clubs, two 3A teams and 4A opponent. The combined records of the team that beat West St. John -- 38-12. I feel bad for Acadian Prep, West St. John's first-round opponent.

Comments? Questions? Want to add some discussion to this blog entry? We'd love to hear from you. Comment below or email me at bhandwerger@wwltv.com .