Edison of Fresno earns the top seed in Division I over Liberty of Bakersfield. Best chances for a CIF SoCal bowl game seem to be in D1 if Liberty wins it all or in D2 if Lemoore can go all the way and stay unbeaten.
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The CIF Central Section football playoffs are conducted in six divisions. The divisions are determined by what we have always called league strength but not people call it competitive equity. Leagues also are split.
Division I: Who’s seeded No. 1 is more important in the Central Section than anywhere else because the No. 1 seed gets to play close to home (a Fresno team playing in Fresno, for example, instead of going to Bakersfield). Edison, with a one-point loss to Sanger and a one-point win over Bakersfield, got the No. 1 seed over Liberty. It could have gone to Liberty after it beat defending champ Bakersfield last Friday and also with a win over Mission Viejo. But losses to Arroyo Grande and Ridgeview ended up being too much.
Division II: Lemoore was hoping to be the top seed after winning a 9-0 vs. 9-0 showdown over Hanford, but Ridgeview got the nod and to us it is the right call. The Wolfpack have a win over Liberty and their only loss is to Bakersfield. Lemoore’s best win is against No. 4 seed Sanger, which is the team that handed Edison its only loss. The winner of a possible Ridgeview-Lemoore final could be a solid contender for the CIF SoCal D2 bowl game, but there are all sorts of possibilites for higher-ranked teams from the Southern Section to become bowl eligible.
Division III: Despite its loss to Lemoore, Hanford was awarded the top seed. Mission Oak of Tulare is the No. 2 seed.
Division IV: Liberty of Madera Ranchos is 10-0 and is the top seed. Even if the Hawks win the section title and are unbeaten, they would be D3 South for the bowl games and really aren’t in the same class as the championship teams will be from San Diego D3 or some of the CIFSS divisions. They are one school that definitely would benefit from the new system in which every section champion plays in the bowl game.
Division V: Farmersville, with record-breaking QB Sam Metcalf, was a section champion in a different division last year and is the top seed. Unbeaten Kern Valley of Lake Isabella is the No. 2 while No. 3 seed Immanuel also could be a contender.
Division VI: Kennedy of Delano, which began its program from 2009 to 2011 with 30 straight losses, has enjoyed an outstanding season and is the top seed.
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
