2012 Sac-Joaquin Section football playoff projection

By Steve Montoya Oct 28, 2012, 12:00am

MaxPreps takes a look at the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section playoff outlook. A total of 48 teams have clinched a postseason spot.

(Editor's note: Steve Montoya is the Executive Editor at MaxPreps.com. He also has a weekly newsletter each week he sends out to the Sac-Joaquin Section football coaches. This is only a projection. We will update every week.)

Updated on October 28, 2012

Look for a bracket projection on Monday.

Josh McCreath, Ripon
Josh McCreath, Ripon
Photo by Gerardo Coronado
In order to earn an at-large bid you need to have a minimum of two league wins. (Some leagues have an advantage because they have seven total teams in the league compared to others that have five). And at-large teams will be selected solely on the basis of regular season victories if they meet the two league-win minimum. Based off last year, the teams with five total wins and at least two league wins got in.

Teams that have clinched in my opinion

Division I-IV



Yellow=new this week

Sorted from smallest to largest school size (school, wins, size of school enrollment)
  1. Capital Christian (Sacramento) 8 377
  2. Central Catholic (Modesto) 7 410
  3. Argonaut (Jackson) 9 589
  4. Summerville (Tuolumne) 7 661
  5. Amador (Sutter Creek) 7 668
  6. Hilmar 6 684
  7. Sacramento 7 846 (must be no lower than DIII)
  8. Bear River (Grass Valley) 7 851
  9. Escalon 7 912
  10. Ripon 10 921
  11. St. Mary's (Stockton) 7 976 (must be no lower than DII)
  12. Calaveras (San Andreas) 7 1,133
  13. Los Banos 7 1,145
  14. Dixon 8 1,148
  15. Center (Antelope) 8 1,341
  16. Placer (Auburn 9 1,346
  17. American Canyon 8 1,382
  18. Sierra (Manteca) 8 1,383
  19. Vista del Lago (Folsom) 8 1,428 
  20. Inderkum (Sacramento) 7 1,561
  21. Oakdale 8 1,613
  22. Patterson 7 1,632
  23. El Camino (Sacramento) 6 1,656
  24. Benicia 7 1,672
  25. Cosumnes Oaks (Elk Grove) 7 1,691
  26. Yuba City 8 1,771
  27. Whitney (Rocklin) 8 1,777
  28. Antelope 8 1,780
  29. Atwater 6 1,786
  30. Elk Grove 8 1,801
  31. Rio Linda 8 1,802
  32. Buhach Colony (Atwater) 7 1,827
  33. Tracy 6 1,880
  34. McNair (Stockton) 7 1,901
  35. Vacaville 1,925
  36. Del Campo (Fair Oaks) 7 1,953
  37. Folsom 9 1,969
  38. Downey 8 1,986
  39. Burbank (Sacramento) 9 2,002
  40. Stagg (Stockton) 8 2,088
  41. Granite Bay 6 2,164
  42. Pitman (Turlock) 7 2,165
  43. Napa 2,256
  44. Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) 8 2,262
  45. Pleasant Grove (Elk Grove) 6 2,482
  46. Lincoln (Stockton) 6 2,710
  47. Merced 6 2,771
  48. Franklin (Elk Grove) 9 2,816

Teams with 5 wins and two league victories

I don't want to pull the trigger and say these teams have clinched. The majority of the 16 seeds and even a few 15 seeds had five wins total in 2011.

Yellow=new this week

(school, size of school enrollment)

  1. Enochs (Modesto) 2,472
  2. Pacheco (Los Banos) 1,539
  3. River Valley (Yuba City) 1,621
  4. Bethel (Vallejo) 2,081
  5. Nevada Union (Grass Valley) 2,255
  6. Modesto Christian 212
  7. Manteca 1,566
  8. Liberty Ranch (Galt) 1,143
  9. Davis 3,181
  10. Beyer (Modesto) 2,022
  11. Christian Brothers (Sacramento) 977
  12. Hughson 750
  13. Livingston 1,158
  14. Rocklin 1,843
  15. Rosemont (Sacramento) 1,609
  16. Wood (Vacaville) 1,507

Teams that must win to have a chance to get in (only 1 league win)

  1. Tokay (Lodi) 6 2,127
  2. Jesuit (Carmichael) 5 2,120
  3. Monterey Trail (Elk Grove) 5 2,172
  4. Ponderosa (Shingle Springs) 5 1,901
  5. Orestimba (Newman) 5 771
  6. Bella Vista (Fair Oaks) 4 2,055
  7. Central Valley (Ceres) 4 1,692
  8. Colfax 4 785
  9. Lincoln 4 1,507
  10. Pioneer (Woodland) 4 1,586
  11. Turlock 4 2,128

Teams that must win to have a chance at league runner-up

    1. Marysville 2 1,012
    2. Woodland 2 1,361
    3. Mesa Verde (Citrus Heights) 3 1,061
    4. Lodi 3 2,091
    5. Vallejo 3 2,255 

    Teams that must win to have a chance at league runner-up or 5 wins

    1. Grant (Sacramento) 2,039
    2. Rio Americano (Sacramento) 1,632
    3. Vintage (Napa) 2,112
    4. Weston Ranch (Stockton) 1,209
    5. Del Oro (Loomis) 1,699
    6. Kimball (Tracy) 1,961
    7. Sonora 1,108
    8. Gregori (Modesto) 1,963
    9. River City (West Sacramento) 1,992

    Teams that have been eliminated

    Armijo 2,262
    Bear Creek 2,059
    Bret Harte 737
    Casa Roble 1,536
    Ceres 1,405
    Chavez 2,508
    Cordova 1,772
    Davis, Grace 1,465
    East Union 1,464
    Edison 2,303
    El Dorado 1,465
    Fairfield 1,463
    Florin 1,668
    Foothill (S) 1,185
    Franklin (S) 2,456
    Galt 995
    Golden Valley 2,124
    Johansen 1,834
    Johnson 1,843
    Kennedy 2,432
    Laguna Creek 1,672
    Lathrop 1,138
    Linden 723
    Lindhurst 1,223
    McClatchy 2,501
    Mira Loma 1,638
    Modesto 2,468
    Natomas 1,283
    Oakmont 1,610
    Riverbank 699
    Rodriguez  2,156
    Roseville 1,996
    Sheldon 2,341
    Union Mine 1,046
    Valley 1,507
    Vanden 1,641
    West 2,193
    West Campus 894
    Woodcreek 2,198

    Divisions V and VI will be comprised of teams from the following 4 leagues: CCAA, SDL, SL and SMAL

    • There are 8 automatic qualifiers.
    • The 4 league champions and the 4 runners-up.
    • There are 4 at-large qualifiers.

    Minimum of 6 wins (school, size of school enrollment)

    1. Foresthill 8 240
    2. Le Grand 8 478
    3. Brookside Christian (Stockton) 7 118
    4. Woodland Christian 7 130
    5. Ripon Christian 7 224
    6. Waterford 7 607
    7. Elliot Christian (Lodi) 6 224
    8. Golden Sierra (Garden Valley) 6 563
    9. Highlands (North Highlands) 6 905

    Important playoff information

    Divisions I-IV
    • There are 40 automatic qualifiers.
    • The 20 league champions and the 20 runners-up. 
    • There are 24 at-large qualifiers. (NOTE: A school must win at least two league games to be eligible.)
    • At-large teams will be selected solely on the basis of regular season victories.
    Seeding the tournament
    • Schools will be listed in order by number of wins, regardless of league finish. 
    • If two or more teams are tied for a particular seed (same number of total wins), the following criteria will be applied, in this order:
    1. Head-to-head
    2. League standing. Note - Teams that win or share a league title will be seeded higher than non-championship teams. League standing will not be used for teams that did not win or share a league title.  
    3. Combined wins of all opponents.
    4. Calpreps/MaxPreps rankings.

    Important Playoff Dates


    November 9-10: First round, all divisions
    November 16-17: Second round, all divisions
    November 23-24: Third round, Divisions I-IV;
    Nov. 30-Dec. 1: Championship Games, Divisions I-IV
    December 7-8: Regional Football Games
    December 14-15: State Championship Bowl Games

    (Information used from www.cifsjs.org)