Football: Preliminary list of Division 1 playoff teams being discussed

The Southern Section is busy trying to place schools into new playoff divisions for football this fall based on a formula using the last two years of performance, plus strength of schedule and other criteria.

It’s far from complete, but at a meeting earlier this week of its football advisory committee, a preliminary Division 1 (formerly known as the Pac-5) was shown to coaches. It was so preliminary that it has already changed.

“This is not finalized,” Southern Section spokesman Thom Simmons said Wednesday.

To give people an idea who the possibile Division 1 teams might be, here’s the preliminary list that was cut off at 22 and shown to coaches but there’s two No. 11s on the list. Again, it’s likely to change before officially released in June or August.

Corona Centennial tops the list, along with Bellflower St. John Bosco, Mission Viejo and Santa Ana Mater Dei.

The others: No. 5 La Puente Bishop Amat, No. 6 Vista Murrieta, No. 7 Gardena Serra, No. 8 San Juan Capistrano JSerra, No. 9 Orange Lutheran, No. 10 Anaheim Servite, No. 11 Long Beach Poly, No. 11. Loyola, 12. Santa Margarita, 13. Tesoro, No. 14 Upland, No. 15 Rancho Cucamonga, No. 16 Mission Hills Alemany, No. 17 West Hills Chaminade, 18. Chino Hills, No. 19 Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, No. 20 San Clemente, No. 21 Norco, No. 22 Westlake Village Oaks Christian. Redlands East Valley was listed at No. 23.

Only 16 teams will be able to make the playoffs, so some top programs will miss out.

Big changes would be in store for teams that haven’t played in the Pac-5 for several years, such as Mission Viejo, San Clemente and Tesoro.

For the latest on high school sports, follow @LATSondheimer on Twitter