Tournament ranking WSJ Crossword Clue

Think of how plants are organized to grow optimally, and apply that to sports.

A '????' is a ranking given to a competitor in a tournament based on their perceived strength or past performance.

In a tournament, a '????' refers to a ranking given to a player or team based on their expected performance, often used to determine matchups. This term originates from the concept of 'seeding' in gardening, where seeds are planted in a way that optimizes growth, similar to how rankings aim to optimize competition.

Ranked player, Canary snack, Lentil, e.g., Kernel, March Madness placement