The No. 1 seeds for the boys and girls state winter soccer tournaments (Divisions I through III) are literally all over the map.

Scottsdale (D- I Chaparral boys), Glendale (D-II Apollo boys), Chandler (D-III Seton boys and D-I Hamilton girls), Cave Creek (D-II Cactus Shadows girls) and Tucson (D-III Palo Verde girls) earned those honors through the power-point system and computer scheduling. Last year No. 1 seeds thrived, reaching  the finals in nine of the 10 winter tournaments. However, only three No. 1s won last year (six No. 2s won and one No. 3 prevailed).

Winter soccer titles were spread everywhere last year. Seven cities or towns were home to a title -- Phoenix (3), Tucson (2), Glendale, Scottsdale, Chandler, Flagstaff and Goodyear. A question over the next two weeks for the 2012 tournaments. Can this year's top seeds thrive as they did last year?

It's hard to answer, but it seems a tougher froad is ahead for schools with the chance to make that happen. With state titles now awarded to three boys teams and three girls teams rather than five with the reduction in divisions, the competition is intensified. Computer scheduling limited most teams to playing seven opponents or less. Most played home-and-home with five schools, which meant about  80 percent of a schedule was relegated to that many opponents.

It's rare to find a team that ended up playing half or more of its matches against teams that qualified for state. For example, Maryvale was the only Division I boys team to do so. The Panthers played eight of their 14 matches against playoff qualifiers (six opponents), explaining  in great degree why at 10-4 the Panthers ended up seeded No. 2. Tucson and  San Luis played noone that qualified. Most of the rest of the qualifiers played two or fewer teams that advanced to state in D-I.

Many teams that performed well last year at state are back for a shot at a repeat or to conclude unfinished business. The list for boys is Brophy (5A-I champ), Hamilton (5A-I runner-up), Ironwood (5A-II) champ), Catalina Foothills (4A-I champ); Glendale (4A-I runner-up), Notre Dame (4A-II champ), Verrado (4A-II runner-up) and Northwest Christian  (1A-2A-3A champ). Hamilton, Brophy and Ironwood are competing for the D-I title this year. Catalina Foothills, Glendale, Verrado and Notre Dame are in the hunt for D-II.

On the girls side it's Hamilton (5A-I champ), Xavier (5A-I runner-up), Pinnacle (5A-II champ), Ironwood Ridge (5A-II runner-up), Catalina Foothills (4A-I champ), Sabino (4A-I runner-up), Flagstaff (4A-II champ), Notre Dame (4A-II runner-up) and Estrella Foothills (1A-2A-3A champ). Hamilton, Xavier and Pinnacle are competing for D-I this year. Catalina Foothills, Notre Dame, Ironwood Ridge, Flagstaff and Sabino are fighting for the D-II crown.

Not one first-round match in any of the three boys divisions pits teams that played one another in a power-point match during the season. So along with increased competition from fewer divisions and more teams in a division comes unfamiliarity with opponents. That actually can spice up the matches. At least that's a way of looking at it.

Boys tournaments start  Tuesday (Jan. 31)  and girls tournaments open Wednesday (Feb. 1). The brackets, sites and game times for each tournament can be viewed by visiting aiaonline.org and clicking on the appropriate division. Here are the first-round matchups for each division and a brief outlook for each:

BOYS

DIVISION I

First-round matches -- #16 Millennium vs. #1 Chaparral; #9 Alhambra vs. Chandler; #12 Carl Hayden vs. #5 Ironwood; #13 Westview vs. #4 Hamilton; #14 Desert Vista vs. #3 Gilbert; #11 San Luis vs. #6 Brophy; #10 Tolleson vs. #7 Tucson and #15 Mesa Mountain View vs. #2 Maryvale.

DIVISION II

First-round matches -- #16 Flagstaff vs. #1 Apollo; #9 Glendale vs. #8 Nogales; # 12 South Mountain vs. #5 Salpointe; #13 Prescott vs. #4 Greenway; #14 Washington vs. No. 3 Marcos de Niza; #11 Independence vs. #6 Catalina Foothills; #10 Mohave vs. #7 Notre Dame; #15  Queen Creek vs. #2 Verrado.

DIVISION III

First-round matches -- #16 Scottsdale Christian vs. #1 Seton; #9 Fountain Hills vs. #8 Phoenix Christian; #12 Coolidge vs. #5 Cortez;  #13 Palo Verde vs. #4 Williams Field; # 14 Catalina vs. #3 Coronado; #11 Gilbert Christian vs. #6 Mingus; #10 Cactus vs,. #7 Douglas;  #15 Horizon Honors vs. #2 Northwest Christian

GIRLS

DIVISION I

First-round matches -- #16 Mesa Mtn. View vs. #1 Hamilton; #9 Boulder Creek vs. #8 Gilbert; #12 Desert Vista vs. #5 Red Mountain; #13 Marana Mtn. View vs. #4 Pinnacle; #14 Kofa vs. #3 Highland; #11 Centennial vs. #6 Millennium; #10 Chaparral vs. #7 Maryvale; #15 Trevor Browne vs. #2 Xavier.

DIVISION II

First-round matches -- #16 Greenway vs. #1 Cactus Shadows; #9 Thunderbird vs. #8 Notre Dame; #12 Sahuarita vs. #5 Apollo; #13 Coconino vs. #4 Raymond Kellis; #14 Liberty vs. #3 Catalina Foothills; #11 Sahuaro vs. #6 Ironwood Ridge; #10 Arcadia vs. #7 Queen Creek; #15 Sabino vs. #2 Flagstaff.

DIVISION III

First-round matches -- #16 Northwest Christian vs. #1 Palo Verde; #9 Safford vs. #8 Cortez; #12 Tanque Verde vs. #5 Mingus; #13 Valley Christian vs. #4 Seton; #14 Fountain Hills vs. #3 Verrado; #11 Douglas vs. #6 Higley; #10 Williams Field vs. #7 Estrella Foothills; #15 Phoenix Country Day vs. #2 Campo Verde.