As you may know (or remember from past seasons), I do things a little differently than other polls.
For one thing, I don't rank the teams statewide. The state rankings are interesting and all that, but they're really meaningless. Regional rankings will ultimately determine playoff seedings (as done by the seeding committee) so that's what counts.
I've also ranked 20 teams in the South, and 18 in the North. Not coincidentally, those are the numbers of teams that will make the playoffs.
And finally, these are my subjective opinions. I will finish the season having seen 60+ games involving 70+ different teams. I'm sure the games I actually watch have a significant impact on my opinions, though I also look at other results, standings, etc.
This certainly isn't the final word, but I like to think it's fairly well-informed and I know it's not biased. And sometimes, it might even be right.
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as of 2/21/10 (End of regular season)
Rankings: - Comment
South:
1. San Bernardino Valley - Ran the table vs. Foothill
2. Citrus - Has stranglehold on tough WSC-South
3. Riverside - OEC champs should get 3 seed
4. Mt. San Antonio - Easy winner in SCC-North is probable 4-seed in playoffs
5. Irvine Valley - Took 2 of 3 from Saddleback this season
6. Saddleback - Beat Riverside & Irvine Valley in season's last 8 days
7. Chaffey - Win over Mt. San Jacinto probably gets them a home playoff game
8. Bakersfield - Probably secures home playoff game with win over Glendale tonight
9. Cuesta - WSC-North champs
10. Mt. San Jacinto - Improved as season progressed and is playoff threat
11. LA Trade Tech - Solid second to Mt. SAC in SCC-North
12. Cerritos - Few worries in weak SCC-South
13. Antelope Valley - Solid 4th in Foothill should get them home game in mini-round
14. Southwestern - Ran the table in the PCC
15. LA Pierce - Win over Oxnard gets them in; win over AHC tonight might get them home game
16. Mira Costa - Stuck nose into 2nd in PCC to make the playoff field
17. Miramar - Tied for 3rd in PCC but has wins over RCC, LATT & Cerritos
18. LA Valley - Win over SMC got them 3rd in WSC-South and playof berth
19. Moorpark - Probably sneaks into postseason despite rough finish
20t. Cypress - Rough last week but still probably did just enough to get into playoffs.
20t. Santa Ana - Finished the fastest with wins vs. Saddleback and Cypress but still 4-8 in conference
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North:
1. San Jose - Unbeaten in Coast-South and since mid-December siesta
2. Ohlone - Won North's toughest conference by 2 games
3. San Francisco - Won 17 straight earlier this season
4. Fresno - Made strong impression with 49-point win over Columbia
5. Cosumnes River - Barrett is frontrunner for NorCal POY
6. Sequoias - Split with Fresno to share CVC lead
7. Foothill - Right there with Ohlone & CCSF in tough Coast-North
8. Chabot - Knocked Ohlone from #1 spot
9. Yuba - 24 wins for BVC champ 49ers
10. American River - Into second in Big 8 race
11. Santa Rosa - Solid team and very hard to beat at home
12. Diablo Valley - Up & down year for well-coached squad
13. Shasta - Spunky, undersized team finds way to win games
14. Los Medanos - A blast to watch and tied for 1st in the BVC
15. San Joaquin Delta - Finally halted the downward momentum
16. West Valley - Clear second in Coast-South
17. Feather River - Second place finish in GVC gets them into playoff picture
18t. Redwoods - Solid squad is big and tough
18t. Napa Valley - Winning record overall and in BVC gets them into playoff picture
