With the new playoff format last year, the number question we got at every practice we went to was about playoff divisions. With that in mind we’re going to track where teams stand each week in the CalPreps rankings, which are used to determine the CIF Southern Section’s playoff divisions at the end of the year.
No team will know what playoff division they’re going to be in until that last day of the year–but following the rankings gives a good ballpark. This is not an exact science since not every team in the rankings makes the playoffs, and there’s no set number of teams in Division 1–if it’s a four team bracket versus an eight team bracket (which it was in 2021) that will change how many teams are taken off the top before the 16-team brackets Division 2-14 are assembled.
We are doing these projections based on an eight-team Division 1–remember the top three Moore League teams qualify for the playoffs, while anyone else has to apply for an at-large. St. Anthony is in the Del Rey League, where they’d need to finish in the top two to get an automatic qualifier for the playoffs.
A final reminder that these are not our rankings but the rankings taken from CalPreps.com’s power rankings–these are the numbers used to assemble CIF-SS playoff Divisions at the end of the year. You can see the whole list here.
Remember, these numbers will go up and down a lot this year–wins will move them up, losses will move them down. We’ll keep you updated and break down what the weekly changes mean.
Long Beach Poly: No. 4 (+/- 0)
The Jackrabbits are still No. 4 in the CIF-SS and the State and still No. 25 in the nation on MaxPreps. Poly’s rating on CalPreps is a 65.7, up a half point despite playing a lower-ranked opponent in Wilson. It appears at this point that the Jackrabbits will be a Division 1 team if they win out as expected–if they stay at four, right now that would mean a first-round game at home against Mission Viejo, the No. 5 team.
Millikan: No. 46 (+6)
The Rams are moving up after an impressive win, and they’d now be the No. 6 team in Division 4, a huge jump from last year (and only five spots below where Poly was entering the playoffs last season).
Jordan: No. 118 (+7)
How’s this for a weird turn? Jordan lost to Lakewood but leapfrogs the Lancers in the CalPreps rankings this week, with a seven-spot jump that would put them No 14 in Division 8 if the playoffs started today.
Lakewood: No. 119 (-2)
The Lancers dropped two spots after a rivalry loss to Millikan, and would now be No. 15 in Division 8.
Compton: No. 196 (-24)
Compton’s loss to Jordan was costly, dropping them two divisions as they’d now be No. 12 in Division 13.
St. Anthony: No. 215 (-13)
The Saints would be in Division 14
Wilson: No. 242 (-8)
The Bruins would be in Division 14
Cabrillo: No. 311 (-2)
The Jaguars would be in Division 14
