We’ll have an expanded final package out to 50 teams done on Wednesday (Gold Club), but begin by finalizing top 10. Toughest choice was how high to put CIFSS D1 semifinalist Rancho Cucamonga.
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(After games of Saturday, Dec. 17)
(Previous ranking in parentheses)
1. (1) St. John Bosco (Bellflower) 13-2
The only losses for the Braves were to national No. 1 Bishop Gorman and to Mater Dei (later avenged). Too bad we don’t have a national final four for high school because they’d probably be in it.
2. (2) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 13-1
Bosco’s final 56-33 win over De La Salle ensures a solid final No. 2 state ranking for the Monarchs, who already have set up plans to play Bishop Gorman next season.
Shawn Poma scored on 72-yard screen pass to turn around game vs. St. Mary’s. Photo: Hudl.com.
3. (3) Centennial (Corona) 11-2
Only losses for the Huskies were by one point to national No. 2 IMG Academy of Florida and by two points to Bosco. Just two plays away really of being perhaps No. 2 in the nation.
4. (4) De La Salle (Concord) 11-2
Considering that early in the season it looked like this might be the worst DLS team since the 1980s, the bounce-back effort was impressive.
5. (5) Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 15-0
After going through all the scores, moving up the CIF D1-AA state champs ahead of DLS in the final rankings just couldn’t be done.
6. (6) St. Mary’s (Stockton) 14-2
The more one thought about that loss to Cathedral Catholic, the more improbable it seemed. It then became just too hard to drop the Rams after that game.
7. (7) Rancho Cucamonga 12-1
There’s no debate that the CIFSS D1 bracket was by far best section playoff in the state, but margin of defeat by Cougars to Mater Dei in semis and then MD losing by 14 to Bosco is enough to prevent them from being ahead of DLS, Cathedral Catholic or St. Mary’s.
8. (8) Mission Viejo 11-1
The way that DLS came back to have a shot at Bosco in the second half and the way that the Cathedral Catholic-St. Mary’s game unfolded also kept the Diablos at this spot in final order.
9. (9) Narbonne (Harbor City) 14-1
Only loss by Gauchos was to Cathedral Catholic in SoCal D1-AA title game.
10. (10) Freedom (Oakley) 11-2
Losses were to DLS in NCS Open Division final and also to St. Mary’s in NorCal D1-AA final.
27 Comments
Absolutely outrageous to have a 15-0 Cathedral team at #5. Truly showing your southern section and NorCal biases. Out of curiousity, what were DLS best wins? Cathedral has two in top 10, a win over Madison (likely top 20 I assume) and two over Helix (also top 25 I assume). DLS one top 10 win (Freedom) and that was a team lower than the two Cathedral beat (including St.Mary’s who also beat Freedom). It’s actually laughable. Can’t believe I’m saying this, but Maxpreps has you crushed because you can’t get over your biases.
Cathedral beat St Mary’s who a lot have as the top team in Northern Cali. No disrespect to anyone else but Cathedral gives Bosco a better game in the Open championship!
I disagree with you on your point that cathedral gives Bosco a better game. SM dominated that game for most if not all of it with the exception of o few plays. CC fought very hard and is a great team. But after playing both teams and if I were to say if SM played both teams 10x’s, sm beats cc 8 out of 10 and maybe beats Bosco twice. Bosco beats cc 10 out of 10 in my opinion. Bosco is the best team in the state for 2016!
This ranking is based of this year, and only one game is played, on which CC won. I think both of the teams in that game are very talented, both are well coached, and both might give Bosco a battle. Bosco is by far the #1 team. But CC is right behind them. Crazy how a team that did not win CIF up north was able to play for state. Mater Dei Santa Ana should have had that same option.
I think there is plenty of debate from No. 4 through even No. 9 for final rankings. Different people with different backgrounds would come up with different order of the teams. There’s just none, though, for the top three. Mater Dei beat Bosco once, then lost in rematch. Centennial lost to Bosco 49-47 and it truly was a 50-50 game throughout. Cathedral Catholic didn’t even play one CIFSS D1 team. Madison did and lost. When DLS got it to 42-27 and then got the ball vs. Bosco, that was the point when a lot of us on press row thought staying fourth became a probability and not a possibility. It only lasted for a few seconds, but in a lot of the games involving Bosco, MD and Centennial the other teams were just completely routed. Good ones, too, like Santa Margarita. DLS hanging in there and beating an 11-0 team 42-7 was the difference. And yes, in our rankings, history counts (such as winning six Open Division titles in the previous seven years).
No one but St. Mary’s fans have them as the top team in NorCal. The highest Cathedral could possibly be is fourth.
Mark,
I have no qualms about CC being no higher than 4th (though I’ll say MD and Corona fans, take your rankings, we’ll take our section and state titles, neither of which you can claim). I just can’t see any rationale for having DLS higher other they’ve been better in the past. If that’s the reasoning, then so be it – doesn’t really make sense to give them credit for 7 years ago in THIS years ranking, but that’s your prerogative. Just don’t get otherwise how you have a 2 loss team with one top ten win over a no loss team with 2 top 10 wins. I think it’s time you give the SD section some credit, which time and time again, you refuse to do.
Also, saying CC didn’t play a CIFSS D1 team and Madison did and lost, as a reason – are you kidding me? CC beat Madison 31-7. Not even close…Absolute ridiculous logic.
CC beat Damonte (NV) 49-12, whose only other loss was by 3 to a very good Liberty (NV) team, who Corona gets all sorts of credit for beating. They also beat Central Catholic, who unfortunately ended up having a down year.
Point being, CC did not just hide behind SD section teams. They ran the table against your boys from St. Mary’s and Narbonne and against good teams like Damonte Ranch, Central Catholic, Madison (2AA State Champs), Helix x2 (in top 20 for a good part of the year), and Saints (also made appearances in top 25).
15-0 in that schedule? Show some respect.
Narbonne was the best team in a very weak LA City Section and the game with CC was pretty close. If you want more recognition for the section, come and play with the big boys in Southern Section Division 1. The state CIF had it right for who plays in the Open. And every year it is likely to be SSD1 vs. De La Salle. That’s one reason why there is a bye every year. Cal Hi also has it right. It is pretty obvious who the very best teams are in the state. Yes, some San Diego schools have won state Championships in the past, but those have been outside the top division.
Come play with the big boys? SD won two of the top 4 state divisions this year, which involves winning a SoCal game and a State game, in case that process was unclear. SS won the other 2 and the 5th. No question from me that SS is far and away a better section than SD, but when is SD going to get a little credit over LA section and some of these NorCal teams?
They beat a SM team and a Narbonne team that are in the top 10 in the state (by your own admission, CalHi “has it right,” so can’t really have it both ways). To put that in perspective, Bosco (5), MD (2), and Cathedral (2) are the only 3 teams that can claim that, to my knowledge (Centennial has 0 top 10 CA wins for reference I believe). Point being, I’m not even making the argument that CC should be ahead of any of the CIFSS teams, but DLS? Come on, what have you done for me lately?
We’ve had San Diego teams No. 1 in the state before and I’ve seen other San Diego teams better than Cathedral Catholic 2016 (mainly Morse when had Teddy Lawrence, etc). I saw DLS three times, St. Mary’s four times and I’d say DLS would score all day against that SM defense but SM offense would perhaps do same. Both SM 2016 and CC 2016 deserve historically great rankings within their sections. Too bad Monte Vista (Danville) wasn’t in bowl games because they were just as good as Valley Christian SJ and possibly could have beaten Madison or San Clemente. DLS beat Monte Vista 45-17 (its only loss). Not just the Freedom win. That one vs. MV was impressive as well. Team that had Washington-bound QB, USC TE and Colorado LB.
Mark, to your point, out today, my counterpoint:
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/high-school-preps/sd-sp-preps-maffei-1220-story.html
CC finished top 25 nationally in MaxPreps Xcellent, MaxPreps Computer, and USA Today Computer (DLS behind in all of those; neither is in the USA Today Expert top 25). At the end of the day, these rankings are your opinion, and I appreciate and respect all of the work you do for CA HS Sports — I am an avid fan and reader. I will even give you credit that you had CC as #1 in SD most of the season, even when a lot of SD media outlets didn’t.
Just can’t agree with you on this one, given the facts. Wasn’t able to watch DLS, so all I know are the results, and it is hard to say that the pure results don’t favor CC on this one…
Respect your passion for school you follow. As mentioned earlier, differences between No. 4 and down to No. 9 are miniscule.
I say CC deserves to be 3rd because they went 15-0 and won the 2nd best SBG in the state. DLS lost 2 games. All be it to two state champions. But got relatively handled by Bosco. Call me a homer if you want, but if St Mary’s has Frampton the entire Bosco game, we play Bosco better than anyone other than MD. So, keep MD 2nd because they beat Bosco, I agree there. But everything after that, Centennial had a great year and has 2 losses to two great teams and justified reasoning to be 3rd. CC deserved 3 in my opinion But let’s split the baby and say they are 4th. Never been a big fan of the “historical” aspect when discussing rankings because it has absolutely zero do with current seasons. DLS is one of the best two teams in the north and top 10 in the state. And that is based on 2016 season. Comparing Freedom, Serra & Bosco games when discussing who is better SM vs DLS is very difficult and different. And if you clearly think DLS is better because of them, I would debate you until I was blue in the face , and call YOU a DLS homer! LoL . With your logic, all of these top 10 teams will start next season in the top 10 in your rankings. Which would be over selling some of those teams and not giving those out of the top 10 any credit for returning starters etc. great debates none the less. And it leaves us with a ton to look forward to for next season!!! Again Mark, I appreciate your hard work and dedication to high school sports and providing this forum for fans like myself!
rolldons, I wouldn’t always trust MaxPreps. They know a lot less about California than does Cal Hi, who has been doing it longer, actually sees the games, and has more in depth info and uses the eye test. MaxPreps has usually ranked De La Salle lower than the SoCal powers because they never learn. Then DLS consistently wins the Open game, sometimes by large score differential. MaxPreps is also computer based, which generates inbred unrealities. Some of their stuff makes a degree of sense, but many times is simply ridiculous. Max Preps gets cred due to it’s size and sponsorships. They are late comers who have jumped into it without first hand knowledge.
CC deserves to be at least in the top 3 if not 2. They beat a top 10 team to win a state championship and finished 15-0. Couldn’t ask for more than that. So I agree with you. And I am a St Mary’s SUPPORTER! LoL
Just because you say they do ? You don’t know the history nor football and sport demographics out of San Diego. You may know how CC recruits out of Southeast or parts of the SouthBay where Futbol is not primary. But you do not know the power and infrasture of Southern Section sports. You are a CBA superstar who is not ready for NBA.
Outrageous. Cathedral Catholic is a good mid-level team but not on same level as Bosco, Corona Centennial, or St. Aquainas, or Bishop Gorman. The private Catholic schools in San Diego can not compete with the Southern Section Catholic schools or your National teams like Gorman, IMG etal. like Bosco and Corona Centennial. You need a reality check.
Take a look at how Bosco destroyed St. Mary’s and bear in mind that Mater Dei and Centennial were right there with Bosco. Saw the game and if Frampton didn’t go down at the end when they needed him, it could have been a different result. Cathedral Catholic doesn’t make the semis if playing in Southern Section D1 and De La Salle beats them hands down. No. 5 is about where they should land, but I would take Rancho Cucamonga who beat Mission Viejo over them. CC is a great team, but the San Diego Section just doesn’t play at the same level as SS D1, where the strength of teams is outrageous. It’s too bad that runner-up Mater Dei wasn’t able to go to 1-AA state playoffs.
All top 4-teams would destroy Cathedral Catholic and St. Mary 10 out of 10. They are on different level than Cathedral Catholic & St. Marys. No discussion.
Joski, you sound like the authority on the subject matter. Very real and matter of fact statement with nothing backing it up.
Its logic. As if the CBA champions have a chance to beat NBA champions. The cornerstone of success rests in the level of players and coaches that are having Strs taken out of their checks. You need to worry about your son at Arizona next year. Both of you need some humble pie and you will get some. Make sure you ask for some whip crème.
What are you talking about?!?!
Mark and others;
You and I have the same top 10 teams, only in a little different order. We agree on #’s 1, 4, 8, 9, and 10.
It’s fair to say the “big 3” are well ahead of everyone else ( Since Centennial played Bosco on the road to a see-saw 47-49 game in the semis while MD was obviously outplayed 28-42 from about the middle of the 2nd qtr by Bosco in the finals at Angels Stadium, I have to put the Huskies at #2. Yes, MD beat the Braves 26-21 in league, but it happened 6 weeks prior to the SS-D1 Finals.).
I think the next 5 teams are extremely close in “power”, with DLS getting the edge. After the Spartans, though, I feel Cucamonga deserves a bit more respect than both you and Freeman’s computer have given them. Other than Bosco, the Cougars played Mater Dei (in the semis) 21-48 closer than anyone else. They also knocked off Mission Viejo 42-26 on the road the week before in the 2nd round. And, Cucamonga pretty much cruised through the very strong Baseline League. However, one can make strong arguments for a different order for these 5 teams (maybe not MV), as well as between Centennial and MD, than I have.
A big question I have is why Madison was not in the SDS Open? Something seems fishy to me about this and I doubt if anyone at Madison did any complaining.
It’s not fishy but silly power rankings that SD Section goes by to determine Open Division. Madison was low in it all season. They were in after win over St. Augustine, back out again after loss to Cathedral Catholic.
Maybe Sierra Canyon will finally make the top 25? I think they belong in the 20-25 range.
Guarantee it will be no lower than No. 25.