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After a summer off from high school athletics I find myself somewhat less jaded when looking at the North Coast Section and its playoffs.
It has been over 35 years that I have been involved in covering NCS playoffs and have yet to have a year where I was not scratching my head, wondering how they arrive at certain decisions.
It’s like the summer break cleans the palate of curiosity when it comes to decisions regarding playoffs. There is hope that this season may bring sanity and clarity to the playoffs. And then the Fall playoffs roll around and – bam, those hopes are squashed again.
It was football, this year that made me step back, read the brackets again, and wonder what the heck happened. The first Sunday following the completion of the regular season (Nov. 6 this year) you wait anxiously for the NCS Playoff brackets to be announced and hold your breath hoping for the best for your team.
Before I ramble on about what I feel were the wrongs by NCS this year, I will admit it is a thankless task in many respects, but it’s just that some common sense could make all the difference.
The D-II football playoffs were the brackets I anxiously awaited the most, as that is where the majority of the EBAL teams land.
As expected, San Ramon Valley was the top seed (more on that in a bit), Foothill got the No. 4 seed, Livermore No. 6 and Granada No. 7 in the eight-team bracket.
Missing was Dublin, a team I had penciled in to the playoffs. I was so sure Dublin would be in the playoffs that I went to the D-III playoff brackets, thinking the Gaels must have dropped into those playoffs. Once again, no Dublin.
Why is it I was so sure the Gaels would make it? They finished a modest 6-4 overall, but they were 3-1 in EBAL play, good enough for solo second in the Valley division of the EBAL.
The last three weeks of the regular season Dublin was playing as well as anyone in the Valley. Three weeks back they took undefeated Foothill into overtime before falling 28-22.
The next week they dropped Livermore 28-21, and then closed the regular season with a 48-18 win over Dougherty Valley.
Until NCS went to basically closed door selection, the at-large and seeding meeting were open and as a member of the media, I sat through these meetings for a good 20 years.
One of the points for selection of a team for an at-large spot was how the team has been playing recently. At the end of the season, save for Valley champ Foothill, there was no team better than Dublin.
Yet when the playoffs start this Friday, the Gaels will be sitting in the stands instead of deservingly suiting up to play.
The sticking point seems to be the logjam between Dublin, Livermore and Granada. It’s a case where the teams were beating each other. Granada beat Dublin 28-21 in the second week of league, Dublin then beat Livermore 28-21 in the next to last game, then Livermore hammered Granada 48-28 in the regular season finale.
Dublin did finish 3-1, with Livermore and Granada finishing 2-2.
Even in games against common opponents, the teams were close. Dublin lost 42-7 to Heritage in the first game of the season, with Granada losing to Heritage 54-14. Vintage of Napa, a 6-4 team that got a spot in the playoffs, lost 41-0 to Heritage.
What I really have to question is – if how your team is playing late in the season is still a factor – and it justifiably should be – then Dublin deserved one of the spots. But they didn’t get it, and that does not seem fair.
I have given you all the information you should need. You make your own decision as to whether the Gaels deserved a spot or not.
Another thing that has driven me nuts about the NCS playoffs is that all league champions are guaranteed a home playoff game in the first round regardless of their seeding.
At times that leaves a higher seed having to go in the road to open the playoffs. It happened here in D-II.
As mentioned above, San Ramon Valley earned the No. 1 seed and for all that hard work and effort, they get to go to No. 8 seed Berkeley in the first round. The thought process is that if a team wins their league, they deserve to host at least one game. A nice thought but not a logical one.
The league championship should only guarantee a spot in the playoffs. The No. 8 seed for a team that went 7-3 overall and 5-0 in league speaks volumes about their strength of schedule. Berkeley lost 34-18 to a Castro Valley team that three EBAL Valley teams beat by 20 or more.
Getting into the playoffs is the reward or why even seed the teams? Sending San Ramon on the road spits in the face of the accomplishments the Wolves had this season.
If league championships were not guaranteed to get a team into the playoffs, then Berkeley would not have a spot in the tournament and Granada – who beat Castro Valley 20-0 – would have been in the playoffs.
Something to think about all around. I think you would want the best teams in the playoffs – but then again, I am old school.
Okay, enough ranting for now. Let’s take a quick look at the Open/D-I playoffs, and the D-II tournament.
The Open/D-I playoffs are split into two divisions, with the winner of the upper half of the bracket getting the Open qualifier spot to the NorCal playoffs.
The loser of the Open bracket championship game drops down to meet the winner of the D-I semifinals, for the right to represent NCS in the D-I NorCal tournament.
It’s a fair system seeing that De La Salle falls in the Open division, and for that I will give NCS props because of the teams that are stuck in Open every year with De La Salle.
DLS, James Logan, Antioch, and Pitt are the four in the Open. Clayton Valley, California, Amador Valley, and Liberty are the four D-I teams.
You must figure, based on season results and common sense that DLS will be your Open representative, with Clayton Valley taking the D-I tournament and then play Pittsburg (after losing to De La Salle in the Open finals) to battle to be the D-I representative.
In the D-II field, San Ramon Valley is the team to beat, but the Wolves were last year as well, and fell to Campolindo in the semifinals.
Campo is back with Berkeley, Vintage, Foothill, Granada, Livermore and Rancho Cotate making up the rest of the field.
I fully expect to see San Ramon advance out of their half, with Campolindo and Rancho Cotate meeting in the other semifinals.
Whichever team San Ramon meets in the D-II final – Campo or Rancho – it figures to be a high scoring, great football game.
Enjoy the next few weeks – the high school football playoffs are one of the most exciting to watch. Check out the Playbook’s What to Watch to find out the details as to where and when the games are taking place.
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