CIF & State Bowl Games
First, California does NOT have a statewide playoff system to determine a state football champion. Although they have created actual state championships in some sports (i.e. volleyball, basketball), they have not done so for the gridders. What they do have is a system analogous to the dreaded BCS.
The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) consists of 10 affiliated sections of widely differing sizes, each of which determines its own football champions in a varying number of divisions. A few years back, a group got together to create a nice made-for-TV event to crown 'State Champs'. They established a committee system to pick a team in each of 3 mostly enrollment based 'divisions' from both the northern & southern parts of the state to play in "State Championship Bowls". In an attempt to achieve a certain amount of parity, there are 4 sections that represent the 'south', and 6 that are in the 'north'. The reason for this uneven split is the presence of the massive CIF-Southern Section (CIF-SS) in the south. [See Below]
The initial events raked in boatloads of cash for the CIF State Office, which had not gotten much from the sectional playoffs - that money went to the various sections. They have since expanded to 5 bowls, including an 'Open' division bowl (teams from any size division) and a Small Schools Division. A new wrinkle was added this year - instead of the committees picking just one team in each division to represent their region, now they pick two. Those teams selected by the committees of Section Commissioners and their reps will then play each other in 'Regional games' with the winners advancing to the bowls. CIF moved the season earlier in the year to accommodate these extra games, which is why we had games starting on August 23rd. This was ostensibly done to resolve situations like the Lompoc/Washington Union dispute last year and I'm sure that the additional revenue was not a factor (uh-huh).
A major factor to consider in this whole system is a rule that teams MUST win their Section Title in order to be eligible for the State Bowls.
Section Championships
This is where the size disparity between the sections really comes into play - really, really BIG disparity. Instead of trying to describe it, I'll just give you the numbers. [They may not be perfectly exact, but they are pretty darn close.]
CIF has 1527 schools statewide, some of these do not have a football program, might not have a squad this year, or play 8-man football (6 & 9 man have been phased out). This leaves 1065 11-man teams in the federation. [Some CA teams also play in the associations of other states - i.e. Truckee plays in Nevada.]
A. Here's the breakdown by section: CIF Sections Map & Contact Info
Northern Section - 43 (Far North & Northeast)
North Coast Section - 109 (North from the Bay area along the coast)
Sac-Joaquin Section - 155 (Sacramento & the northern Central Valley)
Central Coast Section - 94 (Coast south of Bay, San Jose, Salinas, Monterrey)
San Francisco Section - 7 (San Francisco USD)
Oakland Section - 6 (Oakland USD)
NorCal Total = 414
Central Section - 90 (Southern Cent. Valley, Fresno, Clovis, Bakersfield)
Los Angeles Section - 67 (Not all of LA, just LAUSD)
San Diego Section - 92 (Far southwest, San Diego to Imperial Valley)
Southern Section - 402 (Everything else - c. 1/3 of state)
SoCal Total = 651
B. Most sections have their own divisions, with each section division allocated as a 'State Bowl Division' feeder. Most of the northern bowl reps have come from the NCS & the SJS, with a few from the CCS. And I will present just a brief overview of the NorCal set-up.
Northern: 4 divs [43 teams] (I-10, II-10, III-13, IV-10)
North Coast: 5 divs [109] (I-21, II-25, III-22, IV-25,V-16)
Sac-Joaquin: 6 divs (sorta) [155] (I-IV - 127, V-VI - 26) 2012 Football Playoff Plan
Central Coast: 5 divs [94] The process is a bit involved but 40 teams made the playoffs last season, with 8 participants in each of 5 divs (Open, I,II,III,IV) 2011 Playoff Set-up
San Fransisco/Oakland: Um - divisions ? [13]
Central: 5 divs [90] (1-14,2-15,3-17,4-15,5-12)
San Diego: 5 divs [92] (I-18, II-17, III-18, IV-17, V-22)
Both Central & SD sections have modified enrollment based divs that are completely different than league assignments (some leagues have teams from 3 divs).
Los Angeles: 2 divs [67] (Open -28, Invitational -37) Again - the schools are seeded at the end of season regardless of league, etc. .
Southern : 13 divs [402] (I-33, II-30, III-27, IV-30, V-32,VI-31,VII-34,VIII-28,IX-30,X-30,XI-33,XII-27,XIII-37)
C. The divisions are generally grouped together for selection for the State competition as follows, but there is some flexibility in the system:
Div I - Southern Sect I & II, Central 1, San Diego 1
Div II - SoSect III/IV/V/VI/VII/VIII, Central 2 & 3, San Diego II/III
Div III- SoSect IX/X/XI, Central 4, San Diego IV
Small Schools Div - XII/XIII, Central 5, San Diego V
Open Div - May come from any div, but usually from Div I.
[Note: LA Assignments not known.]
(See More in Part 2)
San Fransisco/Oakland: Um - divisions ? [13]
Central: 5 divs [90] (1-14,2-15,3-17,4-15,5-12)
San Diego: 5 divs [92] (I-18, II-17, III-18, IV-17, V-22)
Both Central & SD sections have modified enrollment based divs that are completely different than league assignments (some leagues have teams from 3 divs).
Los Angeles: 2 divs [67] (Open -28, Invitational -37) Again - the schools are seeded at the end of season regardless of league, etc. .
Southern : 13 divs [402] (I-33, II-30, III-27, IV-30, V-32,VI-31,VII-34,VIII-28,IX-30,X-30,XI-33,XII-27,XIII-37)
C. The divisions are generally grouped together for selection for the State competition as follows, but there is some flexibility in the system:
Div I - Southern Sect I & II, Central 1, San Diego 1
Div II - SoSect III/IV/V/VI/VII/VIII, Central 2 & 3, San Diego II/III
Div III- SoSect IX/X/XI, Central 4, San Diego IV
Small Schools Div - XII/XIII, Central 5, San Diego V
Open Div - May come from any div, but usually from Div I.
[Note: LA Assignments not known.]
(See More in Part 2)
No comments:
Post a Comment