The562’s standings, schedule, and rankings stories are sponsored by International City Plumbers.
We’re entering the third year of the new CIF-SS playoff format, and Long Beach teams made five CIF-SS championship appearances over the last two years under the competitive equity system. Clearly it’s been a big benefit to local schools with several teams making historic first title game appearances.
The trick with the new system is that divisions are decided at the end of the year, with a team’s CalPreps ranking used to determine which division they’re in. Those rankings go up and down each week via CalPreps’ computer formula, so consider this a snapshot after the first third of the season to see where a team’s fortunes currently lie.
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 that will change how many teams are taken off the top before the 16-team brackets Division 2-14 are assembled.
These projections go off a 10-team Division 1, which is how many teams made that bracket last year. 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. 8
The Jackrabbits have won their last two Moore League games by big margins (96-6) but have dropped two spots in the last two weeks to No. 8 in the rankings. They only lead San Clemente by 0.9 points to sit in that position, meaning another drop could happen as Poly faces Compton and Jordan in the next two weeks. That puts the Jackrabbits right on the edge of Division 1 and Division 2–sources as well as reading the tea leaves of the CIF-SS football playoff bulletin released on Wednesday suggest it will be an 8 or 10-team Division 1 group.
Poly, in an 8-team bracket, would get a bye then face St. John Bosco in the quarterfinals. In a 10-team bracket, they’d host San Clemente, then see Mater Dei or Bosco in the quarterfinals.
In an eight-team bracket where Poly drops another spot or two…well, they’d end up at the top of Division 2. Which spot is better or more deserved–that’s up for fans to decide, since the numbers will be what decides the reality.
Millikan: No. 31
Millikan is in the same spot as Poly, dropping spots (one this week) thanks to poorly-ranked Moore League opponents. Like Poly, the size of Division 1’s pool will have a big influence on Millikan as well, making the difference between whether they’re ranked low in Division 2 or high in Division 3. In a 10-team bracket, being No. 31 would put them No. 5 in Division 3.
Jordan: No. 106
The Panthers are up a few spots and are now the league’s third-highest ranked team, with a strong chance to earn an at-large even if they should end up in fourth place. They’d currently be at the bottom of Division 7.
Lakewood: No. 108
Lakewood’s down four spots this week but still have an inside track on third place and a guaranteed playoff spot; they’re currently No. 2 in Division 8.
St. Anthony: No. 129 144
The Saints have been the biggest movers all year, with big jumps and big falls. This week they’re up 15 spots to No. 129, which would put them in the middle of Division 9.
Wilson: No. 185
Wilson moved down five spots and are currently in Division 12, looking for a win over Lakewood to earn a playoff spot.
Compton: No. 267
Compton rose three spots and currently project in Division 14.
Cabrillo: No. 325
The Jags moved up one spot and currently project in Division 14.
