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Dan Albano. Sports HS Reporter.

// MORE INFORMATION: Staff Mug Shot taken August 26, 2010 : by KATE LUCAS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER.

How important are some of the league races this fall in boys water polo? For some teams, they’ll mean everything.

There will be no at-large playoff berths this season in boys water polo because of a rule change passed last year by the Southern Section Council, section spokesman Thom Simmons confirmed Tuesday.

The new rule states: “In all team sports other than basketball and wrestling, additional entries beyond a league’s guaranteed number of entries will only be permitted to enter the playoffs to fill any byes which exist in the opening round.”

Simmons explained that there will be only at-large berths for boys water polo when there are fewer than 16 automatic qualifiers in each division. There are more than 16 automatic qualifiers in each divisions, so no at-large berths.

This rule change will be felt in the Freeway League, where three teams are competing for two spots behind Sunny Hills, and the especially in the Trinity, where three teams — county-ranked Servite, Santa Margarita and Orange Lutheran — are competing for the two spots behind Mater Dei, which is already qualified for CIF.

Here’s the breakdown of automatic bids per division based on the section’s preseason guide:

Division 1: 18 auto berths (3 each from Trinity, Sunset, Pacific Coast, Mission, Moore, Marmonte)

Division 2: 17 auto berths (3 from South Coast, Baseline, Bay, Big 8, Channel and 2 from Crestview)

Division 3: 19 auto berths (3 from Sea View, Orange Coast, Rio Hondo, Southwestern, Almont and 2 from North Hills, Coastal Canyon)

Division 4 (updated): 20 auto berths (3 from Freeway, Prep, Ocean and San Gabriel Valley and 4 from Pacific, Pac-7)

Division 5: 19 auto berths (3 each from Del Rio, Desert Valley, Hacienda, Inland Valley, Palomares and 4 from Citrus Belt)

Division 6: 17 auto berths (3 from Empire, Golden West, Los Padres, Sunbelt, Tri-Valley, and 2 from Mountain Pass)

Division 7: 23 auto berths (3 from Garden Grove, Mt. Baldy, Miramonte, Pacific View, San Andreas, Valle Vista, River Valley and two from the Orange)

Please send water polo news to Dan Albano at dalbano@ocregister.com