State bowl game participants will be selected by secret ballot

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When the 10 commissioners representing the 10 CIF state sections gather on Sunday morning to select the six football teams that will compete in the three state championship bowl games, their decision will come via secret ballots.

Southern Section Commissioner Jim Staunton said he would like the voting to be public but he also understands the reasons for secrecy. It takes away pressure off a section commissioner who might receive criticism for not supporting a school in his own section.

The selections will be revealed at 3 p.m. on FSN Prime Ticket’s selection show. The biggest question figures to come in Division I, where Lake Balboa Birmingham and Corona Centennial, if they win their section title games this weekend, will likely be the top two contenders for the Southern California berth.

But their chances will be helped or hindered by what happens in the Southern Section Pac-5 final Saturday night at the Home Depot Center. Birmingham’s chances figure to improve if Long Beach Poly can defeat Crespi, since Birmingham lost to Crespi and defeated Poly. But a Crespi victory gives the edge to Centennial, which defeated the Celts during the regular season.

-- Eric Sondheimer

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