In 8-man football action, Fresno Christian beat Sierra handily, 56-27. The Eagles are in the driver’s seat to win their league.
By Gabe Camarillo
By the end of this month, we will know the high school football playoff brackets. Through seven games, I took a snapshot of what they look like right now.
The actual brackets come out on Saturday, October 29. Before we dive into projected brackets, here are some things to know:
1. These are NOT my rankings or brackets. These were pulled from CalPreps.com, and I applied the head-to-head and common opponent tiebreakers like the Central Section will do on 10/29.
2. Speaking of tiebreakers, here are the rules for them. If two teams are within two rating points of each other on CalPreps.com, the first tiebreaker is head-to-head result between them. The next tiebreaker, if both teams are in the same league, is finish in league standings. The final tiebreaker is record vs. common opponents.
3. Every team has a base division. They can either play one division higher or lower than their base, depending on where they are ranked by CalPreps’ computers. No higher and no lower.
4. I highlighted select teams in BOLD. BOLD teams are currently 1-6 and need to win twice in the final three games or they will miss playoffs. The minimum winning percentage to compete in playoffs is .300, or a record of 3-7.
5. One more interesting twist, something I learned last season — the CalPreps predicted score plays a factor into ratings, especially if the predicted winner loses.
** IMPORTANT NOTE: If there aren’t enough qualified teams to fill Division 2 through 6 with 16 teams, D2 might have 12 teams with the top four receiving byes.
Updated as of 10/10/2022, 2:00 P.M. PST
Division 1:
1 Clovis West
2 Buchanan
3 San Joaquin Memorial
4 Liberty-Bakersfield
5 St. Joseph
6 Clovis East
7 Central
8 Centennial
9 Clovis North
10 Clovis
11 Redwood
12 Hanford
Notes: Central falls behind Clovis East, but the Grizzlies can change that on the field Thursday… Clovis North leaped Clovis because of the head-to-head win… Hanford jumped into D1 because of Garces suffering its 6th loss.
Division 2:
1 Central Valley Christian
2 Kingsburg
3 Lemoore
4 Bakersfield Christian
5 Frontier
6 Garces
7 Washington Union
8 Dinuba
9 Bullard
10 Paso Robles
11 Golden West
12 Ridgeview
13 Lompoc
14 Bakersfield
15 Sanger
16 Tehachapi
Notes: A lot of changes! It’s safe to say CVC, Kingsburg, and Lemoore are locked into the top three, with CVC vs. Kingsburg determining the top seed… Frontier is ranked three spots behind Garces but jumps ahead of them because of the head-to-head result… Washington Union is ranked two spots behind Dinuba but jumped ahead of them because of head-to-head result… since Ridgeview is more than two rating points below Frontier, they would face Titans on the road in playoff rematch despite beating them in regular season… Edison dropped out of the playoff picture.
Division 3:
1 Mission Prep
2 Santa Ynez
3 Mission Oak
4 Kerman
5 Chavez
6 Porterville
7 Arroyo Grande
8 San Luis Obispo
9 Kennedy
10 Sunnyside
11 Highland
12 Tulare Union
13 Wasco
14 Atascadero
15 Mt. Whitney
16 Madera
Notes: Even though Highland beat Kennedy, because they are separated by more than two rating points, Highland is still seeded below Kennedy… The same is true for Tulare Union and Mt. Whitney. The Tribe are rated higher because of their superior strength of schedule, as perceived by the computers… despite losing to San Joaquin Memorial 56-0, Madera jumped into D3 because of its boost in strength of schedule.
Division 4:
1 Liberty (Madera)
2 Torres
3 Taft
4 Caruthers
5 Independence
6 Tulare Western
7 Shafter
8 Fowler
9 Garza
10 Reedley
11 Strathmore
12 Coalinga
13 Morro Bay
14 North
15 Dos Palos
16 Templeton
Notes: Righetti fell out of the playoff picture; they are based in D2 but appeared among the D4 teams… Dos Palos jumped into D4 after its third straight win.
Division 5:
1 Bishop
2 Monache
3 Exeter
4 Corcoran
5 Immanuel
6 Madera South
7 McLane
8 Golden Valley
9 Arvin
10 Santa Maria
11 Pioneer Valley
12 Mendota
13 Delano
14 Woodlake
15 Selma
16 Chowchilla
Notes: Corcoran jumped ahead of Immanuel since it defeated Fowler, which beat Immanuel… despite beating Golden Valley, Delano is more than two rating points below, so the head-to-head doesn’t come into effect… Roosevelt dropped out of the playoff picture.
Division 6:
1 Hanford West
2 Avenal
3 Firebaugh
4 Sierra Pacific
5 Cabrillo
6 Riverdale
7 Kern Valley
8 Orosi
9 Boron
10 Lindsay
11 Yosemite
12 Farmersville
13 Foothill
14 Mira Monte
15 McFarland
16 Orange Cove
First team out: Tranquility (1-6)
Notes: Riverdale is more than two rating points lower than Avenal. Even though they won the head-to-head matchup, they are seeded lower.. Same goes for Farmersville, which beat Orosi. Farmersville lost to Lindsay last week, 36-14… Yosemite joins the playoff picture after beating Riverdale, 52-47.
