The CIF Southern Section will announce the high school basketball playoff pairings on Saturday, which will be determined by computer rankings under the new ‘competitive equity’ model.

The competitive equity model, which is based on using the results from the current year to determine playoff placement, was voted on by all participating league members in the section, 79-8. The previous playoff system used teams’ previous two years data to predetermine playoff placement.

The Southern Section has been using Calpreps.com to generate the playoff divisions for high school football the last four seasons. SBLive’s Colley Method ranking system is being used to create the playoff divisions for boy and girls’ basketball.

Each Monday, the computer rankings are updated with new data (wins/losses). The final update of the rankings will be revealed on Saturday, February 8, at the same time the playoff pairings are released. The section is expected to make that announcement at noon, which will also reveal the much-anticipated answer for: ‘How many Open Division teams will there be?’

Senior reporter Tarek Fattal uses February 3’s update in boys basketball, along with data from last year’s playoffs, to explain how the CIF creates the 10 playoff divisions.

DISCLAIMER: Tarek’s video explanation below is just a theoretical example to illustrate how the CIF Southern Section office places automatic qualifiers and at-large teams in their respective division based on the computer rankings. The information does not project anything as it pertains to the 2025 playoffs.

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