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 their rating only dipped slightly by 0.2 to 65.2. Two games into the Moore League schedule and their rating/ranking has not begun the slide that some anticipated–with this week’s matchup against Wilson (ranked sixth in the league) we will get a better sense of where Poly will end up divisionally. The Jackrabbits also earned the No. 25 ranking in the nation by MaxPreps.
Millikan: No. 52 (-5)
The Rams might have had a big loss to Poly last week, but CalPreps rewards teams for playing higher-ranked opponents, so they only drop five spots. They’d currently be the No. 12 team in Division 4 if the playoffs started today.
Lakewood: No. 117 (+15)
Lakewood is the team on the rise, jumping two divisions in two weeks after picking up a pair of wins. Their victory over Jordan last week jumped them up over the Panthers and into the Moore League’s third spot. They’d currently be No. 13 in Division 8.
Jordan: No. 125 (-23)
The Panthers took a big tumble after their loss to the Lancers and would now be No. 5 in Division 9 if the playoffs started today.
Compton: No. 172 (+/- 0)
Compton was on their bye last week and stayed at the same spot in the rankings–currently No. 4 in Division 12.
St. Anthony: No. 202 (-3)
The Saints’ narrow loss to Campbell Hall only dropped them three spots–they’d now be in Division 14.
Wilson: No. 234 (+10)
The Bruins would be in Division 14
Cabrillo: No. 309 (-25)
The Jaguars would be in Division 14
