The CIF-Southern Section Executive Committee on Thursday supported the basics of a plan that would change the format of CIF-SS football playoffs.
The plan would have football playoff teams sent to divisions according to how well those teams have performed over the previous two seasons. The formula would include regular-season results, playoff results and strength of schedule.
The better a school’s team has done in the playoffs and regular season and the more challenging its schedule, the higher the division in which that team will be placed. Enrollment will not be a factor in divisional placement.
Currently, football teams are placed into playoff divisions by league affiliation – all South Coast League football playoff teams play in the West Valley Division for the playoffs, all Garden Grove League playoff teams play in the Southern Division, all Trinity League playoff teams are in the Pac-5 Division, etc.
Leagues would continue to have the same number of football playoff representatives as they currently have. There also would be room for at-large teams in divisions that do not have enough automatic qualifiers to fill a 16-team bracket.
Now, the plan must be crafted into a proposal that will be presented to the CIF-SS Council at its Oct. 6 meeting. The Council would then vote on the proposal at its Jan. 27 meeting. If approved at the January meeting, the new system would go into effect for the 2016 football season.
