Joe Cortez: CIF will vote Friday to expand state football playoffs

For decades, the only way to win a state football championship was to be crowned by Cal-Hi Sports, the longtime authority on prep sports in the Golden State.

But Cal-Hi was somewhat usurped as kingmaker in 2007 when the California Interscholastic Federation began settling the issue on the field with state championship football games between Northern and Southern California representatives. Then, three

years ago, the CIF took things a step further, adding a layer to the playoffs with NorCal and SoCal regional bowl games. The regional winners meet in a state-title showdown.

By Friday, we’ll know whether the CIF’s Federated Council has voted to approve even more changes to the regional format – changes that could see 13 state champions crowned in a single year.

As it stands, only section champs are eligible to be considered for the regional matchups, the lone path to a state championship. Of California’s 51 section champs, 18 are voted into region bowl games by the state’s 10 section commissioners (Cal-Hi still has a lot of influence in determining those teams).

If the proposal is adopted – and it appears it will be, even though the Southern, North Coast and Central Coast sections are ganging up against it – all 51 section champions will qualify for a regional bowl game.

With an odd number of champions, there would be one play-in game in the north, but after that you’d have NorCal and SoCal bowl matchups in 12 divisions, with the Central Section sending half its champs to the north and half to the south to balance the state.

Two teams competing for the state’s Open Division crown (for the De La Salles of the world) would bypass the regional round and head straight to the state title matchup.

The plan was conceived by former Sac-Joaquin Section Commissioner Pete Saco and Ron Nocetti, CIF associate executive director.

“To me, it’s simple. It’s about kids,” said Saco, the SJS commissioner for 21 years before stepping down last summer. “Football is the only sport where you have people sitting in rooms saying, ‘You’re going to go, you’re not going to go.’

“We shouldn’t make these decisions. Can we make this happen? We can make it happen. We can find a way to get everybody into the state tournament. It’s more work for administrators, but that’s our job. Let’s make it a positive experience for kids.”

All this would end the handwringing that takes place following the section championship round.

“I remember having to tell Vacaville a few years ago (2011), after they won the section title, that they probably weren’t going to get in,” Saco said. “You win a section title, and later that day, or night, you’re disappointed.”

Last season, section champs Clayton Valley (Concord), Enterprise (Redding) and Oakdale were the main contenders for the Division II NorCal regional. Ultimately, Oakdale, ranked behind Enterprise most of the season in Cal-Hi’s bowl poll, leapfrogged defending NorCal champ Enterprise and took on Clayton Valley.

As you might guess, Enterprise supports the new model.

“Oh, definitely,” said Hornets athletic director Mike Worley. “Then there’s no question. If you win your section, you go ... and you deserve to go. I think it’s a good change and a step in the right direction.

“We were a little miffed that we didn’t get to defend our NorCal title, but we just have to take it in stride, move on and make ourselves eligible once again.”

While the news is good for teams that compete for section titles but aren’t regarded among the state’s elite, it could create something of a problem for Central Catholic, the three time reigning D-IV state champion.

Already faced with promotion into the D-III section playoffs by virtue of being a three-peat champ in Division IV, Central Catholic could get moved anywhere in the regional playoffs. The new format allows for the selection committee to create matchups based on competitive equity rather than enrollment figures. So, if the Raiders were to somehow win a fourth consecutive section title, there’s no guarantee they’d play a D-IV team in the regional or state title games.

“I’ll be honest, I’m open to it,” said Central Catholic athletic director Billy Hylla, who’s also the defensive coordinator for the Raiders. “We’ve had years where we look at the other team in Northern California and wonder how we’d compete against them. We’re always looking to push ourselves and compete.

“But I think it dilutes what the state title means, a little bit. The flip side of that, though, is that all section champions get to go. Any time you get to decide something on the field, you’re doing something right.”

This story was originally published January 29, 2015 at 12:02 AM with the headline "Joe Cortez: CIF will vote Friday to expand state football playoffs."