Nixa, Ozark and Sparta all received top four seeds earlier this week for the 71st Annual Blue & Gold Tournament, to be held Dec. 26-29.
Nixa is the No. 1 seed in the Blue Division. The Eagles have been a top seed three straight years. They were also a No. 1 seed from 2015-17
Ozark is a No. 2 seed in the Gold Division. The Tigers will play as a second seed for the fourth time in six years. They have not been a No. 1 seed since 2017.
Nixa and Ozark haven’t been assigned to the same bracket since they met in a 2016 Gold Division semifinal.
Sparta is a No. 4 seed in the Gold Division. The Trojans debuted at the B&G as a No. 8 seed last year and made it all the way to the Blue Division championship game.
Nixa (3-1), last year’s Gold Division champion, will play Reeds Spring (1-2) in the opening round. The Eagles and Wolves haven’t played each other since a second-round of matchup at the B&G in 2017.
A possible second-round for Nixa is No. 8 Lebanon (3-1).
Nixa and No. 5 seed Fair Grove (2-1) are on the same side of the Blue Division bracket. They have already met at the B&G three of the past six seasons.
The bottom half of the Blue Division bracket is formidable, with No. 2 Republic (1-2), No. 3 Hartville (4-0), No. 5 Springfield Catholic (3-0) and No. 6 Willard (3-1).
Republic won the Gold Division title last season.
Hartville opened this season by taking the Clever Invite championship.
Ozark’s first two opponents will be against teams that struggled mightily last season. The Tigers (1-2) will play Clever (1-4) in the first round and up next will be either No. 7 Branson (3-0) or Ava (1-3). The Jays, Pirates and Bears combined to win only 16 games last season.
Last season, Ozark beat Branson on a Hudson Roberts 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Branson opened this season by winning the Forsyth Tournament title.
Ozark is in the same half of the Gold Division bracket as No. 3 Glendale (2-1) and No. 6 Strafford (3-1).
The Tigers’ most recent title was a Gold Division championship as the No. 4 seed in 2016. Overall, Ozark has 11 B&G titles.
Sparta (4-0) and Spokane (2-3) will meet in a Gold Division opening-round game. The Trojans and Owls will also play each other in Spokane on Friday.
The Sparta-Spokane winner will play either Crane (2-3) or Greenwood (4-0).
Sparta claimed the Strafford Tournament championship last weekend, while Greenwood captured the Marionville Tournament title.
Springfield Central (1-0), a 15-10 team last season that was 5-4 in the Ozark Conference, is the Blue Division No. 1 seed. The Tigers debuted by whipping defending Class 6 state champion Staley 80-44.
Central is playing in both the B&G and Tournament Of Champions this season.
Notables not part of the B&G field are Kickapoo (4-0), Parkview (3-1), Mansfield (3-0), Forsyth (4-1), Blue Eye (6-1), Norwood (2-0), Marionville (2-1) and Chadwick (4-1).
BLUE DIVISION FIRST-ROUND GAMES
No. 8 Lebanon vs. Mountain Grove
GOLD DIVISION FIRST-ROUND GAMES
No. 5 Greenwood vs. Crane
No. 4 SPARTA vs. SPOKANE
No. 7 Branson vs. Ava
No. 2 OZARK vs. CLEVER
No. 6 Strafford vs. Mount Vernon
No. 3 Glendale vs. Marshfield
