NEW ERA: NCS GOES ALL IN WITH COMPETITIVE EQUITY

For years, the North Coast Section had first-round games that were epic mismatches. In 2022, North Bay powerhouse Marin Catholic beat Newark Memorial 69-0 on its way to winning the section’s Division IV championship. Such lopsided matchups led to an overhaul of the previous playoff format and brought about what happened when this season’s playoff brackets were unveiled Sunday. The top eight teams in the section, per MaxPreps’ computer rankings, were placed into the strongest bracket. De La Salle was seeded No. 1, Pittsburg No. 2, San Ramon Valley No. 3. But does that solve the problem? De La Salle, the section’s unscalable mountain, has its most dominant team in years. Pittsburg – the last NCS team to beat DLS, 33 years ago – isn’t that far behind. San Marin, a small-school power that won the NCS Division V title in 2022 and was the runner-up to Acalanes in Division IV last season, is now in a bracket with the big boys. Same with Marin Catholic and Cardinal Newman. San Marin got the toughest assignment of anyone. The Novato school visits DLS on Friday. Sadly for San Marin, if El Cerrito hadn’t been disqualified from the postseason for using ineligible players, the Mustangs would have been seeded No. 1 in Division II. – Darren Sabedra

DLS-PITT: WEEK AWAY FROM GAME OF THE YEAR

Teams around this time of year will tell you they are not looking past their current opponents, but that doesn’t mean we won’t. De La Salle and Pittsburg are the top seeds in the Open/Division I bracket, and if seeds hold, the East Bay powerhouses will meet in the Open Division final in two weeks. De La Salle will have to take care of San Marin and Pittsburg will have to beat Clayton Valley for the matchup to take place, but the Spartans and Pirates will be heavily favored going into their first-round games. Pittsburg (9-1) has cruised through its league en route to a sixth consecutive Bay Valley Athletic League title, with the Pirates’ only blemish on their record coming against national powerhouse St. John Bosco-Bellflower. Similarly, De La Salle finished the regular season undefeated and has won the section title in the NCS’s top division every year since 1991 – the year Pittsburg pulled the upset and beat De La Salle for the Division 3A title. The DLS-Pitt loser will play for the section’s Division I title in Week 3 of the playoffs. Should DLS beat Pitt, it will have three weeks to prepare for a likely matchup with Mater Dei-Santa Ana in the Open Division state title game. – Nathan Canilao

LIBERTY: SNUBBED A YEAR AGO, LIONS BENEFIT FROM NEW FORMAT

If there is one team that benefited more than others from the section’s new playoff format, it’s Liberty. A year after the Lions were excluded from the Division I bracket despite a 7-3 record, they were seeded No. 1 in Division II. That’s a far cry from the tone coach Mike Cable struck last season. “We’re frustrated and upset, to say the least.” Cable said about missing the postseason. He won’t have any complaints after Sunday’s seeding meeting. Because the NCS largely uses MaxPreps rankings to seed its teams, Liberty barely missed being the eighth seed in Open/Division I. The Lions were one spot behind San Marin in the rankings. Before games this past weekend, Liberty was ranked No. 8 and San Marin No. 7. But Clayton Valley, which was routed by DLS on Friday but no doubt got a computer bump for playing the Spartans, moved up to No. 7 when the rankings updated Sunday. Liberty dropped back to Division II. Should Jaxon Bell, Sage Robertson and the potent Lions avoid the upset, they will play host to the winner of Bishop O’Dowd and Monte Vista in the semifinals. Liberty isn’t the only Bay Valley school to benefit from the new format. Antioch also went 7-3 a year ago and missed the Division I playoffs. This season, the Panthers are seeded fourth in Division IV. They will play host to Redwood on Friday. – Joseph Dycus

ACALANES AND CAMPOLINDO HEADED FOR A REMATCH?

The first installment was pretty good. Could the sequel be even better? Acalanes and Campolindo generally contest a spirited matchup whenever the two Lamorinda rivals play. That was certainly the case in the regular season this year, when the Dons defeated Campo 21-12 on the road and planted their flag at midfield after the game. Things are lining up for a potential rematch in the NCS Division III playoff bracket. Acalanes earned the top seed in the D-III tournament, while Campolindo lurks on the other side at No. 2. The Dons (7-3) are smarting from a loss to Las Lomas in the final week of the regular season, which denied them their first outright league championship in 43 seasons. Campolindo (5-5) rebounded from its disappointing defeat to beat Miramonte 35-17. Campolindo had won the last four matchups in the series before Acalanes planted its flag this season. Who might plant the flag at a neutral site this year? – Christian Babcock

SEQUELS TO LOOK OUT FOR THIS WEEKEND

This year’s playoffs are littered with rematches of memorable games from the just concluded regular season. Barely one week after capturing the league and city title on Friday in a thrilling come-from-behind win, No. 3 Granada will host No. 6 Livermore once again to kick off the first Division IV playoffs. This isn’t the first time the Livermore schools have played each other in back-to-back weeks. The same scenario played out in 2018. In Division II, No. 5 Monte Vista will travel to Oakland to play No. 4 Bishop O’Dowd in a rematch of a close Week 2 game. O’Dowd upset the Danville school on the road and will now play host to Monte Vista in what could be another barnburner. In the Open/Division I bracket, No. 6 California is scheduled to play at No. 3 San Ramon Valley in a rematch from Week 7. In that game, a heavily-favored SRV team eked out a close win at home thanks to a clutch defensive performance. – Nathan Canilao