It’s the final week of the regular season, and top-ranked Lompoc is the only Fab 5 team that has secured a CIF football playoff berth.
The 8-1 Braves rolled up 80 points in their Los Padres League title-clinching win over Nipomo (80-28) last week. They finish the regular season Friday against city rival Cabrillo.
Meanwhile, fifth-ranked Dos Pueblos has control of its playoff destiny. If the Chargers can beat Buena on Friday, they would finish second in the Channel League and qualify for the postseason for the fourth straight year.
The other three Fab 5 teams will be counting on the CIF playoff committee to grant them at-large berths into the postseason division tournaments.
No. 2 Bishop Diego suffered its second straight loss last Friday at Nordhoff and will wind up as the No. 3 team in the Tri-Valley League with a 2-2 record. The strength of the league — all five teams have been ranked in the top 10 of the Northwest Division — should convince the committee to grant the three available at-large berths in the division to the third- and fourth-place teams in the league. Third-ranked Carpinteria stands in the TVL’s fourth spot going into its regular-season finale against first-place Oak Park.
Fourth-ranked St. Joseph completed Pac-7 play at 3-3 and sits in fourth place in the standings. The strength of the league and a win over second-place Paso Robles should be enough to get the Knights an at-large berth in the Northern Division playoff bracket.
The CIF’s criteria for choosing at-large teams is as follows: Head-to-head competition is worth four points; overall strength of the league (one point); overall win-loss record (one point); strength against common opponents (one point); strength of overall schedule (two points).
THE RANKINGS
Lompoc (8-1) — The Braves are preparing for a long playoff run.Bishop Diego (7-2) — The Cardinals are trying to get over a nasty turnover bug.
Carpinteria (7-2) — The Warriors’ only losses are against the Northwest Division’s top teams Bishop Diego and Nordhoff.
St. Joseph (6-3) — The Knights play at West Bakersfield after finishing Pac-7 play at 3-3.
Dos Pueblos (4-5) — The Chargers have had an extra week to prepare for Buena.
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