Bloomfield Christmas Tournament is wide-open this year

Before I heard the seedings and pairings for the 51st Annual Bloomfield Christmas Tournament, I thought that it could be one of the most exciting tourneys in the history of the event.

Now that I've seen the seedings, I'm convinced of it.

With a dearth of elite, high-level talented basketball teams in southeast Missouri, that has made for more parity overall and especially at the BCT.

While the top two or three seeds are reasonably clear and the bottom one or two are also clear, the rest of the field is wide open.

A strong start -- its lone loss was to No. 2 Bernie -- has earned host school Bloomfield the No. 4 seed, the highest seed the Wildcats have had in recent memory. Meanwhile, perennial power Portageville is seeded ninth after losing to top-seeded Hayti and the No. 8 RIchland Rebels.

And that's not all. Portageville has a victory over No. 6 Twin Rivers. No. 14 East Prairie defeated No. 11 Puxico, while the 11th-seeded Indians took Bloomfield to overtime.

Adding to the interest is that No. 7 Malden hosts No. 10 Kennett on December 18, just eight days before the two schools meet at Bloomfield.

What does all of this mean? Expect a lot of upsets. People were surprised two years ago when 15th-seeded Richland downed No. 2 South Pemiscot in the first round, and when 12th-seeded Van Buren upended No. 5 East Prairie last year. Look for more of it this year. I think that any of the top 14 -- yes, I said 14 -- seeds have the capability of getting hot and winning the tournament. Even 14th-seeded East Prairie has size and talent and has shown the ability to upend a higher seed.

As I often say, one thing is certain: it will be interesting.