Recent upsets (categorized strictly by a lower seed beating a higher seed) in the 5A-I state football playoffs have come six times in the last three years and every time each of the last three seasons one of the upsets involved the No. 11 seed beating the No. 6 seed.

If one believes in omens, then 2010 could be the year for St. Mary's. The Knights are this year's No. 11 in 5A-I. They visit No. 6 Salpointe in Tucson on Friday night. The three-year history that goes with the 11-6 matchup in 5A-I is as follows:

In 2007 No. 11 Desert Vista topped No. 6 Chandler. Desert Vista went on to reach the title game, losing in the final to Brophy. In 2008 No. 11 Red Mountain knocked off No. 6 Mountain Ridge. Red Mountain reached the semis and lost in that round to eventual champion Hamilton. Last year No. 11 Mesa High beat No. 6 Red Mountain. Mesa went on to grab a spot in the championship game against Hamilton, losing there to the Huskies.

The biggest upset in the last five years ( that's the time frame of the current division split of 5A-I, 5A-II, 4A-I, 4A-II, etc, based on the above criteria) came in 2008 when No. 13 Highland beat No. 4 Desert Vista. All the other upsets in that period involved 10s beating 7s and 9s beating 8s.

Many pundits believe this year's 5A-I bracket is right for more upsets than any of the previous five. The 2007 playoffs had three such upsets in round one. Keep an eye on 5A-I games Friday. Records are made to be broken.