The Fumbler has been called a half-wit before. Maybe it's because people look at his championship picks every year at the start of the playoffs.

He's usually about half right.

Since The Fumbler started picking games for the Post-Gazette in 1993, he correctly has picked the championship teams at the start of the playoffs 29 of 64 times. That's about half, right? He correctly picked two of the four champions at the start of last season.

Well, this year his picks to win it all are Gateway (Class AAAA), Thomas Jefferson (AAA), Beaver Falls (AA) and Rochester (A).

Gateway has to win it one of these years, right? The Fumbler thinks Hopewell is definitely good enough to win the Class AAA title, but he can't bring himself to pick against the king -- Thomas Jefferson.

The Fumbler likes Beaver Falls to learn from losing in the Class AA title game the past two years. And The Fumbler had a lot of trouble picking between Clairton and Rochester in Class A -- so he flipped a coin.

The Fumbler continues to do back flips over his successful prognosticating this year. His best season of picking games continues as he was 54-7 (.885 pct.) last week. His season record is 479-101 overall (.826 pct.).

Here are his thoughts on the top two games in each WPIAL classification (all games at 7:30 p.m. today) and a City League semifinal (7 p.m. start).

Penn Hills (4-5) at Upper St. Clair (6-3) -- This is the 8-9 game in terms of Class AAAA seedings. Penn Hills has talent but has not beaten a winning team this season. Winner: Upper St. Clair.

Mt. Lebanon (5-4) at Shaler (8-1) -- Shaler beat Mt. Lebanon earlier this season. If Mt. Lebanon wants to win this time, it must find a way to control Shaler's Jesse Della Valle. Winner: Shaler.

Montour (5-4) at Franklin Regional (7-2) -- Franklin Regional tied Mars for the Greater Allegheny Conference championship but got only the No. 8 seed in Class AAA. The Panthers have something to prove, but so does Montour. Winner: Montour.

New Castle (7-2) at Greensburg Salem (8-1) -- A Keystone Conference team winning a playoff game? Nahhh. Winner: New Castle.

Aliquippa (8-1) at McGuffey (7-2) -- Aliquippa is in the playoffs for the 15th year in a row. In the previous 14 years, the Quips have been a first-round loser only three times. Winner: Aliquippa.

Sto-Rox (7-2) at Shady Side Academy (8-1) -- The Fumbler likes Shady Side Academy's defense. It will be staunch against Sto-Rox QB Paul Jones and Co. Winner: Shady Side Academy.

Brentwood (5-4) at Fort Cherry (7-2) -- The Fumbler wonders about any team that loses to Avella. Fort Cherry lost to Avella. Enough said. Winner: Brentwood.

Springdale (7-2) at Monessen (7-2) -- Can venerable coach Chuck Wagner take his Springdale team on the road and knock off the No. 5 seed in Class A? The Fumbler says no. Winner: Monessen.

Brashear (7-2) vs. Schenley (7-1) at Cupples Stadium -- Schenley is better than most people think. And Brashear is the No. 4 team from the City League. But The Fumbler still likes Brashear to win it all in the City. Winner: Brashear.

Here are the rest of his predictions for the playoffs (home teams in capital letters):

WPIAL CLASS AAAA -- GATEWAY over Plum; NORTH ALLEGHENY over Latrobe; MCKEESPORT over North Hills; WOODLAND HILLS over Baldwin; CENTRAL CATHOLIC over Seneca Valley; BETHEL PARK over Penn-Trafford.

WPIAL CLASS AAA -- THOMAS JEFFERSON over Laurel Highlands; WEST ALLEGHENY over Knoch; HOPEWELL over Derry; MARS over Trinity; CHARTIERS VALLEY over Hampton; BELLE VERNON over Uniontown.

WPIAL CLASS AA -- SOUTH FAYETTE over Beaver; BEAVER FALLS over Steel Valley; MOUNT PLEASANT over Kittanning; KEYSTONE OAKS over Burrell; CENTER over Washington; Greensburg Central Catholic over FREEPORT.

WPIAL CLASS A -- ROCHESTER over Carmichaels; NORTH CATHOLIC over Jefferson-Morgan; LAUREL over Burgettstown; Serra over BETH-CENTER; CLAIRTON over South Side Beaver; AVONWORTH over Monaca.

Mike White's "High School Sports Edition" videos are featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.