Football: CIF drops regional bowl game in the Open Division

There will be no more CIF state championship Open Division regional bowl games in football.

After two years under the current format, the CIF has decided to simply pick the best team in Northern California to play the best team in Southern California instead of having four teams play in regional games to determine the Open Division champion representatives. Two teams will have a bye into the final.

The regional bowl games will continue to be played in Divisions I, II, III and IV.

For example, last season, St. John Bosco played Corona Centennial in an Open Division regional game in Southern California. St. John Bosco won and advanced to play De La Salle at the StubHub Center in Carson.

This season, the CIF commissioners will decide which team should play in the Open Division final from Southern California.

With Corona Centennial moving to the Pac-5 Division, along with Gardena Serra and Chaminade, it would have been more difficult finding a top opponent for the Pac-5 champion to face in an Open Division regional game.

Here’s the link for the news release sent out by the CIF.

Twitter:@LATSondheimer