scibca poll as of 1/25/99

We really don't like the SCIBCA Poll. Really. It's probably pretty good at the upper levels of the divisions, such as I-AA, I-A, II-AA, II-A, and so on, but when it comes to Divisions IV and V, whoever is putting this thing together just doesn't have a clue. Now before you think we're just ridiculing, or that these polls don't matter, well, you're right on both counts. We are poking fun (with a sharp stick) at the "Powers That Be" who put this thing together, because in the long run, none of this nonsense really means a thing.

Of course, we don't want to be naive about it, because the SCIBCA Poll does actually help determine the seeding in the divisions. According to Dean Crowley of the Commissioner of the Southern Section, "It's certainly a factor in our seeding of the top four teams in each division." Well, as long as they stick to just the top four, then we've certainly got no quarrel with the polls. Otherwise, there are bound to be some wild disagreements. Let's just point out a few. Take the D-VAA poll. We don't mean to pick on Bell-Jeff, but this isn't the same team as last year with Ruben Douglas. The D-VAA division has 77 teams in it. We're willing to bet that there are more than 10 teams with winning records. So why is a team which is 5-14 overall and only 1-5 in league placed at the No. 8 spot in the poll? Why indeed. Again, we don't want to pick on Bell-Jeff, because they have some fine players (Mike Yildiz, who can shoot the lights out, Chris Gopez and freshman point guard Romel Cabrerra to mention a couple) but there's no way this is the 8th best team in the entire Southern Section in the Division. What about Milken, which is something like 15-1 overall and 5-0 in league? Or any number of other schools.

Want another interesting anomaly created by the divisions within the Southern Section. Well, we bet you didn't know that the D-IV and DIII polls, which have the "Top 10" really consists of just the top half of the division. In Division IAA and IA, there are more than 75 schools in each division. Being in the Top 10 really means something (assuming that such polls have any real meaning other than sheer ego boosting expressions of opinion). But in Division IIIA, for example (the division in which literally half the Mission League finds itself, including Chaminade, Harvard-Weslake, Notre Dame and St. Francis), it's pretty easy to be "Top 10" because there are only 20 teams in the entire division.

Anyway, we don't want to dwell on this too much. Just suffice it to say, we don't have much faith in the "polls" and don't think they really mean very much. Sure they mean something to the seeding committee, but that's about it. And we're sure they'll boost someone's ego. Here's the poll from January 25, which presumably includes the games through Friday (although it may not since some of the records on the printed poll appear to be different than the records we know to be correct):

Division IAA	Division IA	Division IIAA	Division IIA
1. Artesia 2. LB Jordan 3. LB Poly 4. Capistrano Valley 5. Fontana 6. UplandFontana 7. Ontario 8. Ayala 9. Redlands 10. Eisenhower	1. Glendora 2. Simi Valley 3. Mater Dei 4. Pacific 5. Santa Barbara 6. J.W. North 7. Loara 8. Katella 9. Villa Park 10. Moreno Valley	1. Dominguez 2. Redondo 3. Compton 4. Rancho Verde 5. Brea Olinda 6. Newport Harbor 7. Tustin 8. Sonora 9. La Serna 10. Elsinore	1. Inglewood 2. Santa Margarita 3. Pacifica 4. Muir 5. Ocean View 6. Mayfiar 7. Newbury Park 8. Dos Pueblos 9. Temple City 10. Central Union
Division IIIAA	Division IIIA	Division IV AA	Division IVA
1. Bishop Montgomery 2. San Dimas 3. Alemany 4. Gladstone 5. La Quinta 6. South Hills 7. Santa Paula 8. Brawley 9. La Quinta 10 Servite	1. Chaminade 2. Corona Del Mar 3. Nordhoff 4. Harvard-Westlake 5. Estancia 6. Morningside 7. Northview 8. St. Francis 9. Banning 10. Santa Ynez	1. Crespi 2. Laguna Beach 3. St. Bernard 4. Twentynine Palms 5. St. Paul 6. Marshall 7. La Salle 8. Rosamond 9. Compton Centennial 10. Valley Christian	1. Verbum Dei 2. Crossroads 3. St. Joseph Santa Maria 4. Maranatha 5. St. Monica 6. Calvary Chapel Santa Ana 7. Mojave 8. Whittier Christian 9. St. Bonaventure 10. Providence (Liberty)
	Division VAA	Division VA
	1. Pasadena Poly 2. Santa Clara 3. Pacific Hills 4. Calvary Chapel (D) 5. Campbell Hall 6. St. Anthony 7. Chadwick 8. Bell-Jeff 9. Bishop Diego 10. Apple Valley Christian	1. Price 2. Laguna Blanca 3. Rolling Hills Prep 4 Antelope Valley Christian 5. Rio Hondo Prep 6. Orangewood Academy 7. Santa Clarita Christian 8. Bethel Christian 9. Pilgrim 10 Pioneer Baptist