PLAYOFFS: Five teams we didn’t expect to miss the playoffs

With the opening round of the 2016 “Drive To December” playoffs here, here is a quick look of teams we didn’t expect to miss out on the playoffs this season. Put them all in the category of shockers, if you don’t mind.

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POLL

Which of the teams missing the playoffs surprises you the most?

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5. UNION COUNTY
A team we had projected to finish first in District 6A-1, ends up finishing in third place and out of the Class 1A playoff this season. It also marks the first time under Ronny Pruitt that the Tigers will miss the playoffs. Last time the Tigers missed the playoffs was in 2010, the year before Pruitt took over as head coach.

4. ORANGE CITY UNIVERSITY
A big shocker here as we projected the Titans to finish first in District 8A-2 – that was until they dropped back-to-back games against eventual district champion and runner-up Sanford Seminole and Lake Brantley respectively. That alone right there in the last three season (counting the record on the field from 2015) of where the Titans have finished with at least eight wins, only to miss the playoffs.

3. BOYD ANDERSON
This one is a strange one, because given the schedule, the Cobras should have been able to win District 6A-15. Boynton Beach not getting by the Cobras not once, but twice (regular season and district tiebreaker). The talent was there to repeat as district champions, but we know some will pin everything back to a last second head coaching change at the start of the season as a likely reason why for the miss.

2. DELRAY AMERICAN HERITAGE
A total collapse this year by the Stallions. Usually you don’t see a state runner-up fall off this much in the previous season going from winning 10-plus games to just winning two total games. Given the summer upheaval over at Oxbridge Academy, it was almost a sure pick by us they would not only win District 3A-7, but make another run to Orlando. However, we were wrong.

1. MIAMI CENTRAL
The last team we thought we would be writing for this. Look at Rockets record and you see 6-2. Look at their district record for District 6A-16 and you see 1-2. That district record was all it took to keep the Rockets out of the playoffs denying them a chance to make history as potentially being one of the first teams to win five straight state championships. Now with the playoffs here, the Rockets are already looking ahead to the 2017 season which is certainly going to be an interesting one with the new playoff format on the way.