Defending champ:Central Catholic

The seeds: Gateway (9-0) first, Bethel Park (9-0) second, McKeesport (7-2) third and North Hills (8-1) fourth.

Best first-round matchups: Upper St. Clair at McKeesport and Woodland Hills at North Allegheny.

The skinny: The buzz about this division is how in the world did Upper St. Clair (6-3) get seeded 14th and have to play McKeesport? ... Gateway beat McKeesport, 31-27, last week for the Foothills Conference title and Gateway coach Terry Smith said he believes it was a preview of the WPIAL championship. That could happen because the WPIAL put Gateway and McKeesport on opposite sides of the bracket. McKeesport got the highest seed of any second-place team in any classification. ... Gateway has lost twice in the championship in Smith's seven years. But this is by far Gateway's best chance at winning the title. ... Bethel Park is good enough to play with Gateway and McKeesport, but are they good enough to beat those teams? Much will depend on how well Bethel Park runs the ball. ... Pine-Richland and Fox Chapel are fourth-place teams that could pose some problems. Both lost a handful of close games to good teams. ... North Hills is an intriguing team. The Indians play good defense, allowing only 12.2 points a game, and a lot will depend on whether quarterback Justin Heinauer is "on" or not. ... Penn Hills is a team no one seems to want to play. The Indians have a load of individual talent and seemed to be hitting stride in the final few weeks of the season. ... Mt. Lebanon made the playoffs at 2-7.

Defending champ: Thomas Jefferson.

The seeds: Thomas Jefferson (8-1) is first, Highlands (9-0) is second, Blackhawk (8-1) third and New Castle (6-3) fourth.

Best first-round matchups: Trinity at Indiana and Franklin Regional at New Castle.

The skinny: Thomas Jefferson is the prohibitive favorite. The Jaguars have been in the title game four consecutive years and have won 34 in a row against WPIAL teams. They seem to have everything in line for a shot at a second consecutive PIAA championship. The play of quarterback Tyler Wehner, who was kicked off the team in the middle of last season, has been one of the Jaguars' keys. ... Can the Keystone Conference win a game? The conference is 0-28 in the playoffs the past seven years and conference champ Yough got a tough first-round draw against Montour, a WPIAL finalist last season. ... Highlands shouldn't be underestimated. They are good enough to make it to the final, especially because of multitalented quarterback/defensive back Jeff Sinclair. Quarterbacks adept at running and passing are even more valuable in the postseason when weather can be a problem. ... New Castle started the season with three losses while trying to get accustomed to a new spread offense. They have won six in a row, averaging 40 points in the winning streak. Quarterback Mike Bongivengo could give opponents fits with his running and passing. ... It will be interesting to see how far Hopewell can go riding freshman running back Rushel Shell, who surpassed 1,000 yards rushing. ... Indiana and Montour are sleepers.

Defending champ: Jeannette

The seeds: Beaver Falls (9-0) first, Greensburg Central Catholic (9-0) second, Shady Side Academy (9-0) third and Jeannette (8-1) fourth.

Best first-round matchups: Center at Seton-LaSalle, Keystone Oaks at Ford City and Beaver at Sto-Rox.

The skinny: This is the best field, in terms of strong teams. Except for Bishop Canevin, Freeport and McGuffey, no team has more than two losses. ... Many believed Beaver Falls and Jeannette were headed for a championship rematch, but Jeannette was defeated by Greensburg Central Catholic, 28-14, in the regular-season finale. ... Beaver Falls lost in last year's title game, and the Tigers will be tough to beat because they have a strong, two-pronged running attack in Cody Cook and Todd Thomas, as well as a staunch defense. ... It seems no one is taking Shady Side Academy seriously, but how do you discount a team that has held eight of nine opponents to seven points or less. The Indians shut out six teams. Have you noticed the job Dave Havern has done at Shady Side? The Indians were 9-2 last year after being 6-22 in the three years before he took over. ... Look for Keystone Oaks, Sto-Rox or Seton-LaSalle to make some noise. All three tied for the Century Conference championship and it's tough to say who has the better team. ... Sto-Rox could present some problems, but only if the Vikings open up their offense and standout QB Paul Jones throws at least 25 times a game. The Vikings also need their offensive line to protect Jones. ... Ford City is a sleeper team worth watching.

Defending champ: Serra

The seeds: Clairton (9-0) is first, Avonworth (9-0) is second, Monaca (8-1) third and Beth-Center (8-1) fourth.

Best first-round matchups: Western Beaver at Beth-Center, North Catholic at Fort Cherry.

The skinny: It seemed everyone thought Clairton and Rochester were head and shoulders above the rest of the field, but that thinking has changed after Rochester was shut out by Monaca, 17-0, last week. Now it seems Clairton is head and shoulders above the field. The Bears averaged 47.7 points a game have allowed only 23 all season. While it's hard to believe Clairton won't at least get to the championship game, consider this: Everyone believed Clairton would get to the title game last year after running roughshod over the competition in the regular season. Then the Bears were upset in the semifinals by Springdale. ... Avonworth is undefeated, but it's highly questionable if the Antelopes would be able to stay with a team like Clairton. ... Monaca might be good enough to win it. The Indians stubbed their toe on a Saturday afternoon game against Western Beaver early in the season, but they proved they are championship caliber by what they did to Rochester. ... Beth-Center might be the most intriguing team in the field. The Bulldogs are obviously good, but their conference (Tri-County South) isn't strong and their only loss makes you scratch your head. It was to Carlynton in the season opener