Four of the top 13 teams in the country will battle it out in one loaded eight-team Southern California bracket in was announced Sunday morning. The California Interscholastic Federation's Division 1 Southern Section tournament was one of 14 brackets that were were just released.
National No. 1 Mater Dei will open against Norco, No. 4 St. John Bosco plays Los Alamitos, fifth-ranked Servite opens against Santa Margarita and No. 13 Centennial plays Mission Viejo in first-round play on Nov. 12.
Not only will there be a two-week break to open the playoffs — the regular season ended Friday — but the winner of the bracket will almost assuredly go to the state Open Division title game, which is scheduled Dec. 11, two weeks after the Southern Section champion is crowned.
If the top-ranked teams prevail in the first round, semifinal match-ups between Mater Dei and Centennial, along with Servite versus Bosco would take place on Nov. 19.
Bosco just defeated Servite 24-10 to close Trinity League play on Friday. In earlier Trinity League action, Mater Dei defeated
Bosco (41-21) and
Servite (46-37). Centennial, which has outscored opponents 584-93, has played just one team in the bracket, beating Norco 48-24 on Oct. 15.
Among other top seeds: Alemany (D2), Citrus Valley (D3), Long Beach Poly (D4), Tustin (D5), Camarillo (D6), Pasadena (D7), Muir (D8), Laguna Beach (D9) and Segerstrom (D10). Besides Division I, the rest of the brackets are 16-team tournaments that begin Friday.
