Proposed rule change would affect league champs in section playoffs

The Sac-Joaquin Section’s Playoff Committee has proposed a handful of rules changes to its formats in several sports.

Some proposals are minor and would have little impact on Stanislaus District teams. However, there is one proposal – the “champion stays” rule – that could affect several high-profile programs.

Under the proposal – to be put into place for football, volleyball, basketball, soccer and softball – a team that wins a league championship (or is the No. 1 seed in the case of a co-title) must play in the postseason division to which its league belongs.

This could have a great impact on Modesto Christian’s basketball squads.

Before this school year, under the section’s realignment plan, MC’s boys and girls – each a winner of a Division III section title last year – were moved into the Modesto Metro Conference for basketball only. The MMC is a Division I league.

Should the new rule pass, and should the teams win MMC titles in 2016, both squads would have to stay put and participate in the D-I playoffs.

“I fully support this rule,” MC athletic director Greg Pearce said. “It’s the only right thing to do. If our boys and girls basketball teams win the MMC, then we belong in the D-I playoffs. We want to compete where it’s right for us to compete.”

The Crusaders still can drop down for the playoffs this year, but a section rule already in place limits that drop to one division.

Had the “champion stays” rule been in place this season, it would have affected several playoff brackets.

Modesto Christian’s football team last fall was champion of the TVL, a D-V league. But because of its enrollment, MC was allowed to participate in the D-VI playoffs, eventually reaching the championship game. That wouldn’t be allowed under “champion stays.”

Ripon Christian’s soccer team last fall was champion of the Southern League, rated a D-VI conference, but dropped into the D-VII playoffs and captured the section title. Again, that would be a no-no under the proposed rule.

And while the rule might have hurt RC’s soccer program, it could have helped its football team.

Applying the rule to the 2014 football playoffs, D-VI section finalists Modesto Christian and Capital Christian would have been forced to stay in D-V, giving the Knights a much clearer road to a D-VI crown. As it were, RC fell to eventual champ Capital Christian 56-13 in the semis.

The proposals will be considered by the section’s Board of Governors in April. If approved, they would go into effect for the 2015-16 school year.

Other changes up for consideration include:

▪ Adding an automatic playoff qualifier from each of the seven football leagues that have had the most playoff success over the last three years (reducing the number of at-large bids from 28 to 21).

▪ Adding north and south regional girls wrestling tournaments.

▪ In water polo, adding a third playoff division, which would allow more teams to vie for a section title since Jesuit, St. Francis and Davis-Yolo have dominated D-I with Rio Americano dominating D-II.

▪ Changing the cross country alignments in Divisions I-IV.

▪ Adding an automatic postseason qualifier for the Sierra Foothill and Delta leagues in boys and girls team tennis.

This story was originally published February 1, 2015 at 6:13 PM with the headline "Proposed rule change would affect league champs in section playoffs."