This week, The562’s coverage is sponsored by Long Beach Gives. Visit LongBeachGives.org to find your cause! Donations will be accepted through Sept. 22.
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 remain No. 4 in the State and in the Southern Section, and their rating has ticked up from 60.7 to 63.1 after their win over Lakewood to improve to 5-0. The question is if they’ll slide down during the Moore League even as they win games. CalPreps currently shows Poly’s trend as “sharp downward” because of the drop in strength of schedule from playing Lakewood. Poly has a bye this week then Millikan (the second-highest ranked team in the league) so we won’t know what’s happening with Poly playoff wise for a few weeks.
Millikan: No. 49 (-1)
A good example of what happens with CalPreps’ ratings system and how important strength of schedule is: Millikan defeated Wilson handily last week, but dropped a spot in the rankings because of Wilson’s low number. The Rams would still be No. 9 in Division 4, representing a jump of three full divisions from where they were last year.
Jordan: No. 101 (-6)
The Panthers moved down six spots on their bye week and are now No. 13 in Division 7–much higher than they’ve been in years, fitting as they’ve posted the first 4-0 win in school history. Jordan faces Millikan this week.
Lakewood: No. 151 (+9)
As a result of playing highly-ranked Poly, Lakewood’s ranking jumps up and moves them into a higher division. They’re currently No. 1 in Division 10.
Compton: No. 176 (+6)
After sliding the last three weeks, Compton got a win and a bump in the rankings–they’d be No. 8 in Division 12 if the playoffs started today.
St. Anthony: No. 214 (+5)
The Saints took a five-spot jump on their bye week but would still be in Division 14 if they make the playoffs.
Wilson: No. 246 (+9)
The Bruins would be in Division 14
Cabrillo: No. 273 (-5)
The Jaguars would be in Division 14
