This is our final CCS Boys Basketball Playoff Projection ahead of the seeding meeting which takes place this afternoon.
The selection committee has an arduous task of poring through
the resumes of nearly 100 basketball teams to determine the best seedings possible for the Open Division all the way through Division V.
The first task is to determine the top 8 teams in the section to comprise the Open Division. These teams receive automatic berths into the Northern California
Regional Tournament.
The Open Division makes projecting playoff scenarios difficult, because the nine-member seeding committee determines the teams selected for Open Division competition.
The committee may select up to four teams from one league, and up to three teams from any particular enrollment division.
Aside from the Open Division, teams are eligible for the CCS Playoffs by meeting one of the following criteria: Be designated a league champion, be designated
a league automatic qualifier, have a league record of at least .500 or have a non-league record of at least .500.
The Open Division consists of an eight-team bracket while all other divisions will accept the number of teams that qualify (and enter). However, only the first 12 teams
receive seeds so for the purposes of our projections, we will only rank those 12 teams - and then list the remaining teams based on our records.
These projections are based on our best available information; if you would like to correct a team's result or would otherwise
like to comment on our seedings, please contact Prep2Prep
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Here is what we have for the final seedings - for the complete breakdown of the basketball bylaws, please click
here (PDF).
OPEN DIVISION:
Menlo-Atherton's stunning 45-27 win over Half Moon Bay in the PAL tournament championship figures to have a major impact on the Open Division seedings. We feel
that M-A has to move ahead of Half Moon Bay - the teams split the two games played against each other, but M-A's win was more recent and took place in a tournament
championship.
The question then becomes whether Serra or Menlo-Atherton gets the No. 2 spot. We give the edge to M-A based on its rout of Burlingame, a team that defeated
Serra. Also, the emphatic nature of the win over Half Moon Bay should benefit the Bears.
With Serra at No. 3, Half Moon Bay slips in at No. 4. The Cougars should not fall below Bellarmine or Palma, having defeated both teams. Bellarmine can't be No. 6
because that would force a matchup with league mate Serra, so the Bells take the No. 5 seed. Through no fault of its own, Palma drops from No. 4 in our most recent
projection down to No. 6.
Ordinarily, league champs in the BVAL and SCVAL would be considered for the Open, but the logjam at the top of the BVAL among Gunderson, Prospect and Piedmont Hills
meant teams kept knocking each other off. Gunn won the SCVAL, but is a Division II team and we already have the maximum allotted three with St. Francis, Serra and Mitty.
That leaves the No. 8 spot for Santa Cruz, which escaped in the SCCAL tournament final on a controversial last-second 3-pointer.
DIVISION I:
While Palo Alto did defeat Wilcox in the final week of the regular season, we are keeping the Chargers ahead of the Vikings by virtue of finishing a game higher in the SCVAL-De
Anza standings. The two teams split during the regular season. Had Paly defeated Los Gatos in the final game of the regular season, we would have nudged the Vikings up to No. 3.
Piedmont Hills finished two games ahead of Oak Grove, which in turn defeated Wilcox head-to-head, which explains the top 3 seeds.
DIVISION II:
OTHER QUALIFIERS: Overfelt, Lynbrook, Branham, Westmoor, Sobrato, Willow Glen, San Mateo.
Christopher suffered two very bad losses in its final two games of the season, so we felt Santa Clara deserved to overtake the Cougars for the No. 5 seed.
St. Ignatius lost its finale against Bellarmine, but we still feel the Wildcats deserve the No. 1 seed over Gunn, which won the SCVAL-De Anza title.
Leland has a slightly better resume against common opponents than Los Gatos, so we have the Chargers at No. 3. We have Christopher standing out among the next
clump of teams as the No. 5 seed. But seeds 5-10 are extremely tight and worthy of quite a bit of discussion.
DIVISION III:
It will depend on how the committee weighs the lower half of the WCAL with successful teams in other high-powered leagues as to how the seedings pan out
in Division III.
The top 3 seeds are particularly close, but we give Prospect a very slight edge over Gunderson, with Burlingame slotting in at No. 3. It will depend on how
the committee views Burlingame's impressive signature win over Serra.
Burlingame has a better record vs. common opponents than Sacred Heart Cathedral. The Panthers feature a signature win over Serra. SHC is the clear choice
among the WCAL teams and we have the Irish No. 4 followed by league mates Riordan and Valley Christian.
At the lower half of the seedings, we gave strong consideration to Mt. Pleasant - particularly for its upset of Gunderson in the preseason - but feel the
Cardinals, as representatives of the BVAL-West Valley Division, will not get the support from the committee for a top 12 seed. The teams seeded No. 7-12
are very tight.
DIVISION V:
OTHER QUALIFIERS: Downtown College Prep, San Francisco Christian, KIPP Collegiate, University Prep, Kehillah, Crystal Springs Uplands, Trinity Christian.
There were no changes from the last projections. St. Francis CCC nearly pulled off an upset of Santa Cruz in the SCCAL championship game and should be the No. 1 seed in Division 5.
This is a very challenging division to handicap, but we like St. Francis CCC and Pinewood as the clear top two seeds. We feel the committee will lean on more established
divisions like the WBAL and MTAL-Mission Trail when rounding out the top seeds.
