Boys’ basketball: After this weekend, state playoffs speculation ends

On Sunday, the CIF will announce which teams are selected for the Southern California regional basketball playoffs. When the seedings come out, it’s going to produce quite a debate, because lots of Open Division teams from the Southern Section are expected to be seeded higher than section champions.

What’s clear is that all 16 teams selected for the Southern Section Open Division playoffs appear likely to make the state playoffs, and most are going to be put back in the divisions they were in prior to being placed in the Open Division.

That’s going to offer some intriguing competition.

The Southern Section gets eight entries for Division I, II, III and IV and four entries for the Open Division. The section champions and runner-ups should be selected. What’s different this season is that semifinalist teams probably won’t get picked in most divisions. At least that’s the likely scenario. The Open Division teams will get chosen ahead of the semifinalist teams.

For Division I, Chino Hills, North, Loyola, Corona Centennial, Etiwanda and Mayfair figure to be selected if not chosen for the Open Division, along with the 1A and 1AA finalists. For Division II, St. John Bosco and Compton are likely, along with the 2AA and 2A finalists and top two semifinal losers. Redondo could be going to the Open Division, joining Mater Dei and two others to be selected.

For Division III, Chaminade and Cathedral should be chosen, along with 3AA finalists Santa Margarita and Brea and 3A finalists St. Francis and Oak Park and top two semifinal losers. In Division IV, Serra, Bishop Montgomery, Sierra Canyon and Cantwell-Sacred Heart should be chosen, along with 4AA finalists JSerra and Oaks Christian and 4A finalists Village Christian and Windward.

But since no one is saying for sure that all the Open Division teams will be selected for the state playoffs and no promises were made except to the teams that won their opening playoff games and the consolation bracket, it adds some suspense to Sunday’s announcement.

We’ll all cross our fingers and hope they get it right.

Eric.sondheimer@latimes.com