How do you know too many playoff teams are making CIF Southern Section playoffs? Of the 17 undefeated teams, ten lost in the first round … two more lost in the second round. They were undefeated — but not very good (except for Mater Dei, the best team in California). These coaches did their teams a major disservice during the season by scheduling games against inferior teams, grabbing easy wins but leaving kids unprepared for actual contests on the field. The players just didn’t learn how to compete. They are arriving in the playoffs and getting creamed. Playing an easy schedule and racking up wins against non-competitive opponents makes a joke of the game … So does allowing weak teams into the playoffs.
This year’s playoffs are about which Division your team is placed in, not so much how good you are, as we will see … First, let’s give big congratulations to our local teams, then take a look at the action in some of the CIF Southern Section divisions.
9-0 St. Bonaventure (lost first round D2)
9-0 Simi Valley (lost first round D2)
5-4 Sierra Canyon (in semi-finals D2)
4-6 Oaks Christian (in semi-finals D5)
7-3 Rio Mesa (lost first round D5)
6-4 Pacifica (lost first round D5)
6-4 Camarillo (in semi-finals D6)
6-4 Thousand Oaks (lost first round D7)
Division I
D1 is real football. The Trinity League dominates … So why is CIF putting four Trinity teams in D1? These coaches love competing, but in my view, CIF should reward teams who make D1 by qualifying all D1 teams to play for the championship in each division, so the best teams play the best in the brackets. Teams should be placed in the order they place in D1. This would give us the best teams playing in the state and would incentivize teams to try to play in D1 instead of sandbagging and playing in weaker divisions to win bogus state championships … Again, D1 has only great teams, but we all know how it will end … Mater Dei will win the D1 championship,
and unfortunately, three outstanding Trinity League teams will not go to the state finals. These Trinity League teams could easily outplay any of the leading teams in lower divisions, so when you talk about “winning state” in the lower divisions, you’re not really talking about the best teams. For example, Norco made D1 and lost two games during the season, one to Sierra Canyon (35 -21). But Sierra Canyon is playing in a lower division — sandbagging … We don’t need another play-down team racking up W’s. Norco should have been in D2, and Sierra Canyon should be in D1… Why is Norco playing their first game vs. Mater Dei? It was one and done … ouch.
By the way, these top teams are private schools that take advantage of the age rule in CIF. Players turn 19 when the season starts. Yes, 19-year-old men are playing high school football against children … I’ve asked before and ask again: How is that safe?
Division II
D2 is a respectable division with good, solid teams … Poor 9-0 St. Bonaventure, with a weak schedule this year, got an eye-opening game against 9-0 Inglewood! In the last game of the season, Inglewood beat Morningside 106-0… Play “Taps” for St. Bonny. It’s sad to see teams with undefeated records lose badly in the first round of playoffs … Again, coaches need to play teams that are competitive during the season … Sierra Canyon, ranked #13, will have another easy run in the playoffs, opening with a rematch vs. J Serra, who they beat 40-14 … We really don’t need to see this game again … By the way, Sierra Canyon beat Oaks Christian 20-9, yet Oaks is way down in D5. I call that shenanigans …
Simi Valley played a weak schedule during the season and went undefeated, 10-0. That got them bumped up to D2 … It was an eye-opening experience facing a last place Trinity League team, Orange Lutheran, who was 1-4 in league play and last in the Trinity League. Yet Orange Lutheran easily beat undefeated Simi Valley … It’s a shame. Simi should be in a lower division, very obviously. But again, Simi Valley’s season was spent blowing out weaker teams — teams they have no business playing. Simi will move to the Marmonte League next year. Good luck. It will get more competitive for them, and I see the Marmonte League greatly improving next year … But Simi is not even close to Trinity League level of play …
Division III
St. Bonaventure and Simi Valley could do some damage and still be respectable in D3. They got moved to D2, and both finished one and done — even though they blew out teams every week during the season … It just makes the larger point … St. Bonny’s beat D5 playoff team, Pacifica, 70-7, but only beat Westlake by 10, and Westlake didn’t make the playoffs. SB beat Oaks Christian by 21, and right now, Oaks is in the D5 playoffs and barely beat Pacifica by 8. You see
how topsy-turvy these placements are …
Division V
The worst move by CIF (an organization run by coaches) was to put highly ranked Oaks Christian in D5. Oaks should be in D2, but they are playing three divisions lower. Why? A few years back, they won D1 … They should be embarrassed to be in such a low bracket now. This stresses my point that the coaches want to win and not compete.
How did Oaks Christian get into the D5 playoffs? Shenanigans at the CIF meeting. They have a good chance to run the table in D5. … Oaks losses for the season include against Chaminade (D3 playoff team), Sierra Canyon (D2 playoff team), Alemany (D2 playoff team), and St. Bonny (D2 playoff team) … Its losses this season were to top-50-in-the-state teams! My guess is they will win out until they meet La Habra in the championship game … Oaks Christian should do well with their gift of a D5 playoff spot … It makes no sense, but this is what happens when coaches run CIF and pick their own games and Divisions and the order they play …
Division VI
D6’s undefeated teams didn’t play anyone worth mentioning during the season and are the prime example of coaches padding their schedules with easy games … This division is not good enough to compete in a higher division, but coaches still want to get into the playoffs …
News flash for coaches: Playoffs are for elite teams. Your kids won’t always get a trophy. Learn to compete, and not just in games you think you can win …
Division VII
D7 teams are not that good, but I was pulling for Thousand Oaks High School. They won their first game in three years last year, and this season, they were a respectable 6-4. The biggest turnaround of the year! Sad to see them lose 50-13 in their first playoff game in years …
Just think of all the teams that didn’t make the playoffs but are better than the ones that did. Time is proving that winning in the playoffs all hinges on what Division you get placed into, who you play and the order you play in … Many teams that didn’t make the playoffs would beat these present playoff teams easily. And by the way, there are only five undefeated teams left in the playoffs, out of an original 17… Undefeated win-loss records look gaudy until they confront actual competition — then they look gauzy and get shredded by teams that tested their mettle against even competitors during the season.
Terrible take Frank. It shows you really had no grasp of the changes to CIF this season or how hard these teams worked to get where they were. Simi Valley for example; yes they were 10 – 0 but 4 short years ago they were the punching bag of Div 12 winning an average of 2 games each season for as long as anyone could remember. 2 years ago they had turned that program around and were competing for a Div 10 championship. The leagues will not be reformed until next year when they will be competing in the Marmonte League with St Bony, Oaks Christian, and Westlake. CIF bumping them from Div 10 to Div 2 against Orange Lutheran (which just blew out Sierra Canyon in the Semi-Finals) was a disservice to all the hard work those young men put into the season. St Bony is another example of a team that has made incredible leaps in its competitiveness. If you look at their history you will see that they had fallen on hard times as recently as 2 years ago were the bottom of the Marmonte League and barely were able to pull off a 500 season. Great coaching and hard work on the part of the players has brought those programs to into prominence. They should have been placed in Division 3 or 4 (still a major leap for these programs). By the way, Oaks did not win D1 at any point in their history. In 2018 they were blown out of a D1 playoff game with St John Bosco. The year before that they won a CIF championship D2 with the current Simi Valley coach. This season, teams were seeded based on computer ranking from Calpreps. Those computer rankings were flawed in my opinion and should have been tweaked to make the brackets more competitive. I would hope that in the future if you chose to write about a topic like this that you would put a little more effort into researching what actually goes into putting a schedule together and how the playoff brackets are actually put together.
Gary, Terrible Take??? It seems like you just want to vent, about how bad Simi was, and how much better they are now… I agree with you, that since Coach Benkert started coaching at Simi they have gotten better!! If you have read any of my other articles, I have always said good coaches, like Benkert is key to a winning season!! League play is set, but Simi picked bad non-league teams to play this season!! Fact!! Do you think Benkert picked Calabasas because he thought Calabasas was going to be competitive this season?? He is not stupid!!! He knew without the Clausen’s Coaching, Simi would smash them, and they did… 51-7!! NOT COMPETITIVE!! And it would look like Simi beat a powerhouse, (they are not anymore) Do you agree, Simi and St Bonaventure had no business playing in the D2 Playoff bracket?? They should have both been in D5!! This season and EVERY SEASON, CIF bracketing is done by the coaches… Coaches run CIF!! not a computer!! Both teams had no business playing in D2!! And Oaks Christian should have been in a higher bracket!! Orange Lutheran was the worst team in the Trinity League, yet they easily won D2 easily!! Again…
What do you think is terrible about wanting coaches to pick better competition!??