Prep Blog

Football is here, and it's never too early to forecast and debate about rankings, strength of schedule, etc.

In The Bee on Tuesday or just after midnight tonight for the late crowd, we will unveil our top 20 regional rankings. We released our Sac-Joaquin Section rankings last week.
Below are the NorCal bowl preseason rankings, by division, as crafted by our good friends from Cal-Hi Sports/ESPN (for more go to espn.go.com/blog/high-school/california).

There are some very interesting changes to the state-bowl process this fall. For starters, there will be a regional playoff game for NorCal and SoCal teams to decide who plays in state-bowl games (unlike before when it came down to the state's 10 section commissioners voting).

And there's a "very, very, very, very good chance a game will be hosted in Sacramento," according to Sac-Joaquin Section Commissioner Pete Saco, who told me Monday that Sacramento State is a big-time player in this race for the D-I regional bid.

We'll know more as the weeks pass and the CIF folks sort out bids. For now, imagine three-time defending Open Bowl champion De La Salle - unbeaten against NorCal competition in regular season and playoffs since 1991 - taking on an area heavyweight such as Grant, Del Oro, Lincoln-Stockton, Elk Grove, Granite Bay, Pleasant Grove, Franklin, Nevada Union or Vacaville in the D-I Regional Bowl.
Before you choke on your whistle and squawk, "Del Oro, Vacaville and Elk Grove ain't D-I, you blithering idiot!" consider this...those teams are indeed classified D-I for NorCal regional bowls from here on out.

Del Oro, the two-time defending D-III section champion, played in the D-II bowl last year but can only qualify for D-I now. Del Oro will compete for a D-II bowl, based on enrollment.

Confusing? A bit, yes, but this much is for sure: it'll be a lot more difficult to reach a state bowl than ever before, and that's not a bad thing at all.

Division I North Bowl Rankings
(with last year's record)
1. De La Salle (Concord) 13-1
2. Bellarmine (San Jose) 12-2
3. Del Oro (Loomis) 13-2
4. Lincoln (Stockton) 11-2
5. Elk Grove 12-1
6. San Ramon Valley (Danville) 10-4
7. Granite Bay 12-2
8. Vacaville 13-1
9. Palma (Salinas) 11-1-1
10. St. Mary's (Stockton) 9-3
11. Serra (San Mateo) 11-2
12. Pleasant Grove (Elk Grove) 12-2
13. James Logan (Union City) 10-1
14. Nevada Union (Grass Valley) 7-4
15. Grant (Sacramento) 8-4
Bubble Teams: Bethel (Vallejo) 11-2, Buhach Colony (Atwater) 12-1, Folsom 11-3, Foothill (Pleasanton) 4-6, Franklin (Elk Grove) 8-4, Freedom (Oakley) 10-2, Los Gatos 11-1-1, Monte Vista (Danville) 8-5, Palo Alto 10-3, St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 6-6-1,
Defending Champion: De La Salle, which rolled Westlake to three-peat as Open champions.

Division II North
1. Oakdale 13-1
2. Placer (Auburn) 9-3
3. Concord 10-4
4. Casa Grande (Petaluma) 8-4
5. Paradise 11-1
6. Los Banos 10-2
7. Windsor 14-0
8. Foothill (Palo Cedro) 10-2
9. Monterey 9-3
10. Las Lomas (Walnut Creek) 9-3
Bubble Teams: Casa Roble (Orangevale) 10-3, Inderkum (Sacramento) 10-2.
Defending Champion: Del Oro (lost to Helix in bowl game).

Division III North
1. Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 13-1
2. Campolindo (Moraga) 14-1
3. Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 11-1-1
4. Sutter 10-2
5. Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) 9-3
6. Salesian (Richmond) 13-0
7. Carmel 12-1
8. Eureka 8-4
9. Hilmar 12-2
10. Escalon 13-1
Bubble Teams: Aptos 9-2, Colfax 11-1, El Cerrito 7-3-1, Encinal (Alameda) 11-2, Miramonte (Orinda) 10-2, Novato 9-3, Orland 10-1.
Defending Champion: Campolindo (lost to Washington of Easton near Fresno in bowl).

Division IV North
1. Central Catholic (Modesto) 10-3
2. Ferndale 11-2
3. Bradshaw Christian (Sacramento) 11-1
4. McClymonds (Oakland) 10-2
5. Willows 10-3
6. LeGrand 12-1
7. Modoc (Alturas) 10-3
8. St. Bernard (Eureka) 7-4
9. Valley Christian (Dublin) 9-3
10. Hamilton (Hamilton City) 10-3
Bubble Teams: Berean Christian (Walnut Creek) 8-4, Durham 9-3, Millenium (Tracy) 10-1.
Defending Champion: LeGrand didn't lose last year until the D-IV when the Bulldogs fell to Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth.
-By Joe Davidson
Joe D here, there and everywhere...
On Twitter: @SacBee_JoeD
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