Despite losing its final six games, Piedmont Hills, led by QB Marcus Romero (9), will snare the final CCS at-large Open berth.
(Emily Liu/Prep2Prep)
Prep2Prep CCS Playoff Projections
UPDATED 11/14/2015 6:15 PM
UPDATE (6:15 PM): This final update includes all the results from Saturday's games. These didn't affect the teams that qualified for the playoffs, but it did affect quite a few seedings.
There was a tie for the final at-large bid in the B/C playoffs but Westmont defeated Independence head to head so the Sixers will be left out. Also, by our interpretation of the CCS bylaws,
any of the MTAL tri-champs - Pacific Grove, Soledad and Carmel - could opt up to the Open Division playoffs, but we do not anticipate that happening.
UPDATE (1:20 PM): Moments after we posted our update this morning, we learned that Aptos coach Randy Blankenship has indicated that his Mariners will not opt up to the Open Division playoffs. So we
are updating the brackets based on this latest piece of information. Of course, Blankenship has until Sunday to make his final determination, but we will base our projections on his
stated intention.
UPDATE (9:15 AM): We are looking at the up-to-the-minute projections based on the results of games played Friday night. With Bellarmine defeating St. Ignatius and St. Francis still having to face
Riordan Saturday afternoon, we are awarding the full league champ bonus points to Bellarmine for the time being. Of course, if the Lancers beat the Crusaders, we will credit them with
the WCAL co-championship. We will run another update after the Saturday games are completed.
There were very few surprises from Friday night. Silver Creek knocked off Westmont to claim the automatic berth from the BVAL-Santa Teresa Division, though we have Westmont making the field
by virtue of a tiebreaker win over Independence. San Lorenzo Valley should be in regardless of the outcome of its Saturday encounter at Harbor.
Carmel knocked off Pacific Grove to forge a three-way tie for the MTAL league title. This will have ramifications on CCS playoff points, but all three teams - including Soledad - should be
safely in the field.
Aptos had no trouble with Scotts Valley to clinch the SCCAL outright title. And although coach Randy Blankenship did not make an announcement of his intentions, we are going to project that
Aptos will opt up into the Open Division playoffs. Our logic is that a team that schedules as aggressively as it did in the preseason will want to challenge itself against the top teams
CCS has to offer. However, we will simply explain what would happen under both scenarios.
Piedmont Hills, despite suffering its sixth consecutive loss, will still grab the final at-large berth. However, if Aptos opts up, the Pirates would be sent down to B/C Division 1.
Notes: Serra is not eligible for postseason play. Lincoln and San Jose participate in the annual Thanksgiving Day Big Bone Game and have traditionally opted out of inclusion for
the CCS playoffs, so we have excluded them from consideration.
For the formula used to calculate CCS points, please click
here (PDF).
ASSUMPTION 1: in the case of ties to determine automatic qualifiers, we went with the team with the higher CCS point total except in a few
cases noted below.
ASSUMPTION 2: for non-CCS teams, we projected their win total based on their current record to determine their classification (A, B, C).
ASSUMPTION 3: games that have not yet been played are included in the point totals (and counted as losses).
NOTE: CCS points are in parentheses and the projected home team is listed in CAPS.
OPEN DIVISION 1
With Aptos deciding to stay down - and assuming that none of the MTAL tri-champs do not opt up - Oak Grove slots back into Open Division 2, leaving Milpitas as the clear No. 2
seed in Open Division 1.
Piedmont Hills now faces the daunting task of taking on the No. 1 team in the section in Bellarmine.
Palo Alto (1,969) is the lowest enrollment school in Division 1.
OPEN DIVISION 2
St. Francis defeated Riordan to claim a share of the WCAL title. The Lancers would have been the No. 1 seed in Division 2 either way.
Aragon goes back down to Open Division 3 after the Aptos decision, which is good news for the Dons, who would have
faced a date with St. Francis.
Oak Grove (1,940) is the highest enrollment school in Division 2; Valley Christian (1,457) is the lowest.
OPEN DIVISION 3
The big news from Saturday's results is the fall of Riordan all the way down to No. 6. Riordan would have been the No. 5 seed by points but had to drop down to avoid PAL-Bay teams
from meeting in the first round. There are four PAL-Bay teams in the Division 3 field.
Aragon (1,431) is the highest enrollment school in the current field.
B/C DIVISION 1
Aptos will land as the No. 2 seed in B/C Division 1 - after winning a tiebreaker against North Salinas - facing a home game against BVAL-West Valley champ Mt. Pleasant. It will be the
second year in a row
the Mariners open the CCS playoffs with a game against the BVAL-WV champ. The move costs Soledad a home game, as the Aztecs are now the No. 5 seed
and set to travel to No. 4 Silver Creek.
Soledad is the smallest enrollment school at 1,369.
B/C DIVISION 2
Pacific Grove is the clear No. 1 seed and could find itself with a rematch with Carmel for the CCS B/C Division 2 title.
San Lorenzo improved its seeding with a win over Harbor, moving up to No. 6. Menlo had to drop to No. 8 to avoid a first-round
matchup with league mate Half Moon Bay.
Capuchino (1,146) is the highest enrollment school in Division 2.
Here's a brief look at the at-large teams that made it based on our CCS point calculations and the first five in each classification that would be left out if the season ended now. This
only includes teams that meet the top six in league requirement.