Trying to figure out the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs is sort of like working a Sudoku puzzle. At first, trying to fill all those empty spaces seems somewhat hopeless, but when you break the puzzle down into it smaller components, everything becomes a little bit clearer.
Such is the case with the new playoff format in the Sac-Joaquin Section, which has eschewed the preformatted playoff bracket of the past in favor of an enrollment-based system that sticks with overall record as the main criteria for determining seeding.
The overall premise seems simple enough. In Division I and II, a total of 32 teams will be chosen based on their league placement, with consideration also given to a team’s overall record. The 16 largest teams will compete for the Division I championship, and the next 16 largest will play for the Division II title.
Finding the 32 qualifiers is also not too difficult to determine. Ten league champions and 10 runner-ups from the 10 largest leagues in the section automatically qualify. Third-place teams from the Delta Valley, Monticello Empire, Metro and Sierra Foothill also earn an automatic bid.
Eight at-large teams will be chosen based on overall record, but a team must win at least two league games to qualify for consideration. There are a number of tiebreakers the section will use to determine these at-large teams that we won’t get in, but suffice to say, the final tiebreaker is the CalPreps rankings, which is the same ranking system that powers the MaxPreps Freeman Ratings. 
Dalton Dyer, Placer
Photo by Todd Shurtleff
That being said, here’s a look at the teams that could qualify for the Division I playoffs based on their current league placement and/or overall records: Tracy (8-0), Nevada Union (7-1), Monterey Trail (6-2), Sheldon (6-2), Pleasant Grove (6-2), Lincoln (6-2), Los Banos (5-3), Burbank (5-3), Modesto, Grace Davis (5-3), Oak Ridge (5-3), Edison (5-3), Franklin of Elk Grove (4-4), Napa (4-4), Merced (3-5), Enochs (3-5).
In Division II we find the following teams: Grant (8-0), Rocklin (8-0), St. Mary’s (8-0), Folsom (7-1), Vacaville (7-1), Del Oro (7-1), Fairfield (6-2), Granite Bay (6-2), Tokay (6-2), Stagg (6-2), Atwater (6-2), Buhach Colony (6-3), Rosemont (5-3), Vista del Lago (5-3), Christian Brothers (5-3), Elk Grove (3-5).
The above teams are not seeded, but once the 16 teams are placed in their respective divisions, teams will be seeded by overall record, with ties broken through the use of head-to-head competition, league standings, combined wins of all opponents and the CalPreps rankings.
Taking a look at the potential playoff teams listed above, one thing becomes immediately obvious – Division II is loaded. The division has three current unbeaten teams while Division I has just one. Division II also has three teams with a record of 7-1 while Division I, again, has just one.
Last year’s top two division champions, St. Mary’s and Grant, are now both in Division II for the playoffs and will likely be seeded on opposite sides of the brackets. That wasn’t always the case in the old Sac-Joaquin Section format. Last year, the top two Division II teams appeared to be Grant and Granite Bay, but an upset loss in league play dropped the Grizzlies to a No. 2 seed from the Sierra Foothill League, and that meant a first-round game against Grant, which went on to win a state championship.
The section officials have put verbiage in place in their new playoff rankings system to hopefully avoid that type of first-round matchup in the future. The powers that be now have the ability to "move a team two spots maximum up or down within the tournament bracket to correct a serious injustice in the seeding," according to the new section playoff by-laws.
Another consequence in the placement of both St. Mary’s and Grant in Division II is that only one of them (or possibly neither of them depending on the play of teams like Rocklin and Folsom, among others) will have a chance to return to the state bowl championship games. Both teams qualified last year because St. Mary’s won the Division I section championship and Grant won the Division II title. Ironically, Grant was then awarded the Open Division berth for the state finals, and St. Mary’s dropped down to the Division II game.
The method for populating the Division III and IV playoffs is essentially the same. Nine medium-sized leagues will automatically qualify their champion and runner-up, with six of the leagues also getting a berth for their third-place team. Eight other at-large teams will also make the grade.
Once those 32 teams have been chosen, they will be divided into the 16 largest and 16 smallest. The 16 largest schools compete for the Division III championship. The 16 smallest will be divided again, separating the eight largest and the eight smallest. The eight larger teams will be in the Division IV-A bracket and the eight smaller teams will be in the Division IV-B bracket. The winners of those two 8-team brackets will play for the Division IV championship.
So what might those brackets look like? Glad you asked. Take a look.
Division III: Inderkum (8-0), Rio Linda (8-0), Vanden (8-0), Del Campo (7-1), Oakdale (7-1), Sierra (7-1), Bella Vista (7-1), Whitney (6-2), Benicia (6-2), Casa Roble (5-3), Mira Loma (5-3), Pioneer (5-3), Manteca (5-3), Patterson (5-3), Natomas (5-3), Rodriguez (4-4).
Division IV-A: Lincoln (8-0), Placer (7-1), Dixon (7-1), Sonora (7-1), Foothill (5-3), Livingston (5-3), Bear River (4-4), Calaveras (4-4).
Division IV-B: Modesto Christian (8-0), Escalon (8-0), Central Catholic (7-1), Hilmar (7-1), Summerville (7-1), Ripon (6-2), Colfax (6-2), Argonaut (5-3).
Once again, we have not "seeded" the above teams, we've only listed them in descending order by overall record. With two weeks still left in the season, things can still change drastically. We’ll revisit this list next week to see who moves in, who moves up and who moves out.
Northern Section
A pair of games tonight will determine the No. 1 seed in the Northern Section Division I and II playoffs, which get started next week. Paradise, the defending Northern Section Division I champion, hosts Enterprise, which is currently undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the Northern Section.
In Division II, Wheatland is ranked No. 1 in the current playoff points released by the section office while its opponent, the Sutter Huskies, are ranked No. 3. Sutter is the defending champion in Division II and needs a win to move into the No. 1 ranking. Lassen stands squarely in the middle and would benefit from a Sutter loss, but the Grizzlies would need to defeat Central Valley in order to gain the No. 1 spot.
The rest of the Division I rankings will depend largely on the results from tonight’s games. Pleasant Valley could move into the No. 2 spot with a win in its game and a loss by Paradise. Meanwhile, Shasta will likely need a win to stay in the playoffs at the No. 6 spot. Foothill could also drop to No. 6 with a loss and a Shasta win, but don’t expect the Cougars to fall out of the bracket altogether.
Another key game in Division II pits Anderson and Corning. The Cubs need a win to stay in the playoffs, or at least hope for a West Valley loss. The Eagles can advance to the postseason with a win over Yreka and an Anderson loss to Corning.
Three teams are battling for the No. 1 spot in the Sacramento Valley League and the Division III playoffs. Durham currently holds the top spot and has a bye this week, but Trinity and Pierce can both tie the Trojans for first place in the SVL standings with wins over Mt. Shasta and Willows, respectively. If a three-way tie occurs, Trinity likely moves to the top spot in the Division III rankings, followed by Durham and Pierce based on strength of schedule.
Both Modoc and Portola are undefeated in Division IV and will likely stay that way. Portola gets the nod for the No. 1 seed based on a stronger overall schedule.
