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SJS board approves plan to shorten football playoffs, introduce bowl games
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The Sac-Joaquin Section Board of Managers voted almost unanimously, 55-2, in favor of dramatically changing its postseason format starting this season.

The proposal to amend SJS Bylaw 2207.8 was introduced by the football advisory committee and called for the reduction of one week to the football season.

Under the old format, the Divisions I-VII brackets were each filled by 12 teams, with the top four seeds getting first-round byes.

Now, 16 teams in each division advance to the postseason, but only the top eight are placed in brackets to compete for SJS championships and NorCal regional bids, while teams ranked Nos. 9-16, according MaxPreps, are paired up for one-off “bowl” games.

It’s a unique approach to postseason football in the California Interscholastic Federation. The California Community College Athletic Association has long used this format for its postseason, placing the top four NorCal teams on one side of the bracket for its state playoffs and the top four SoCal teams on the other. Meanwhile, schools that just missed out get one last hurrah in one of the 3C2A’s 12 bowl games.

In the SJS, bowl matchups with be regionally based with the intention of pitting two like teams against each other. Although there isn’t the big prize to be dangled in front of the bowl-eligible teams, the idea is for them to have the opportunity to end their seasons with a shot at winning a competitive game, as opposed to having them take on the No. 1 seed with little expectation of it even being close.

If this format was implemented last season, Sierra and East Union — seeded ninth and 10th, respectively in Division IV — would have played in bowl games. Both ended up upsetting higher-seeded teams in the first round but were blown out in the quarterfinals by the top two seeds.

Ripon was the 10th seed in Division VI and would have also been bowl eligible. The Indians were shut out by No. 7 Liberty Ranch in the opening round, 35-0. Ripon Christian was No. 8 in the same division and had a chance to host its first-round win over No. 9 Bear River. The new format would have sent RC to top-seeded Bradshaw Christian at the outset. Bradshaw won that quarterfinal by a landslide last season, 55-7.

For this postseason only, the 28 bowl games will take place the week following the end of the regular season, while the top-eight playoff teams get the week off. Next year, bowl games and the first round of the playoffs will be played simultaneously the week after the regular season ends.