BVAL and PCAL Realignments

[BvalBooster]

With the regular season concluded and some shuffling taking place for next year amongst and within these two leagues, particularly with the two Gilroy schools (Gilroy and Christopher High School) moving over to the BVAL from the PCAL, I’m going to predict where they fit and how these two respective leagues could approach realignment.

BVAL: Total teams- 26; 8 Autos | ‘21 Playoff Teams- 8

The BVAL is essentially inheriting two playoff-caliber teams who will undoubtedly compete with their “A-League” teams if not right away then within the second year of competing. I love that they are bringing the Gilroy schools in because I can see a rebirth of a South County rivalry amongst the Gilroy and Morgan Hill schools. Giving these young folk a minor taste of the TCAL days. Here is where the realignment comes in, does the BVAL stay with three divisions? Or do they expand to 4 a la PCAL and create what is a more expansive and developmental 4 tier division? I looked at the potential for both and they aren't too bad.

The Three-Tier System is by far the most competitive, Limiting nonleague games and requiring teams to fight for an automatic bid or schedule a top-tier nonleague. This model only allows for 2 nonleague games so scheduling will play a factor for at large points. Especially in the B League.

Mount Hamilton (A; 4 Autos)	Santa Teresa (B+; 3 Autos)	West Valley (C; 1 Auto)
Live Oak	Branham	Lick
Leland	Sobrato	San Jose
Christopher	Westmont	Yerba Buena
Silver Creek	Gilroy	Evergreen Valley
Santa Teresa	Oak Grove	Del Mar
Lincoln	Prospect	Gunderson
Leigh	Overfelt	MP
Pioneer	Hill	Willow Glen
Piedmont Hills	Independence

The 4 tier model provides a lot more in terms of scheduling and leeway, however the divisions are smaller so naturally the Autos may be dispersed:

Mount Hamilton (A; 4 Autos)	Santa Teresa (B+; 2 Autos)	West Valley (B-; 1 Auto)	Mount Diablo (C; 1 Auto)
Live Oak	Leigh	Hill	Lick
Leland	Silver Creek	Independence	San Jose
Christopher	Branham	Prospect	Yerba Buena
Pioneer	Sobrato	Overfelt	Evergreen Valley
Santa Teresa	Westmont	Willow Glen	Del Mar
Lincoln	Gilroy	Gunderson	MP
Piedmont Hills	Oak Grove

I’m pretty intrigued by this model for two reasons 1) The competition between the two top leagues is very compelling; they seem as if every matchup could be competitive. And 2) The bottom two leagues provides room for Them to compete intradivision and for programs to slowly build and compete and (hopefully) provide them annual opportunity to prove themself for advancement into the higher leagues over time, rather than thrown to the wolves immediately every year following a short stint of success.

 

[BvalBooster]

Gabilan : Total Teams 28; 9 Autos | ‘21 Playoff Teams- 11

Gabilan (A); 3 Auto		Mission (A); 3 Auto		Cypress (B); 2 Auto		Santa Lucia (C);1 Auto
San Benito	3277	Aptos	1430	Soquel		Harbor
Salinas	2707	Palma	694/1388	King City	1084	Pajaro Valley
Alisal	3038	MVC	553	Carmel		Marina
Alvarez	2247	Santa Cruz	1142	SLV		Greenfield
Monterey	1306	Seaside	1032	NMC		Stevenson
N. Salinas	2114	Scotts Valley	818	Soledad		Rancho
				Gonzales		Pacific Grove
				SFCC		Watsonville

This is where I think people will say I’m losing credibility, but hear me out. Although the PCAL is fairly top heavy with the Gabilan division, especially with the stout BIG 4 everyone seems to complain about the revolving door of whoever wins the B League. They are also fairly bottom-heavy considering the strength of the Cypress and Santa Lucia from this past season. Originally I saw the ‘21 PCAL as an A+, B+, B-, C tier league. This new model Would split up the BIG 4 and mix in the rest of the A division teams and A/B+ Tweeners that seem to be the revolving door, to make two true A divisions.
A concern could be the lack of size in those A divisions however, they could play intradivision to fill out their schedule to play rivalry games or obtain their power points, or play other A division/B division schools to assist them with strategies on making the playoffs at large. I don’t see that as too much of a bad thing.
As for the B division, Combine the top half of the lower B division with the stronger B+ Programs to make a true B division, and leave the.. Umm.. “Developing” programs to make up the C division. This will allow the C and B to be true B/C divisions and to continue to develop and remain competitive equity rather than having the best of the worst move up in divisions just to be moved back down the following year.
Comparing the A divisions in this thread I would say with confidence that they are fairly equitable, I could say the same with the proposed B divisions as well with the BVAL edging out the PCAL hence the B+ vs B classification. And any of the comparable C division teams could play each other as well.

All in all, there’s no telling what they will choose to do, I just figured I'd get creative before the kickoff of playoffs. Predictions for those coming soon!

 

[colhenrylives]

Excellent work.

 

[MC415]

Very sad that Oak Grove in this model is in a B League I can’t believe how terrible they have become and so fast

 

[Scoop and Score]

Excluding Overfelt from A league status is way off, considering their rise to the A and their ton of underclass starters. Truthfully their is an A- league at best with CHS joining. Why would a C league team get an automatic spot over 6-7 A/B teams that did not make it? C league teams should play for a league champion and nothing else.

 

[Cal 14]

Gabilan : Total Teams 28; 9 Autos | ‘21 Playoff Teams- 11

Gabilan (A); 3 Auto		Mission (A); 3 Auto		Cypress (B); 2 Auto		Santa Lucia (C);1 Auto
San Benito	3277	Aptos	1430	Soquel		Harbor
Salinas	2707	Palma	694/1388	King City	1084	Pajaro Valley
Alisal	3038	MVC	553	Carmel		Marina
Alvarez	2247	Santa Cruz	1142	SLV		Greenfield
Monterey	1306	Seaside	1032	NMC		Stevenson
N. Salinas	2114	Scotts Valley	818	Soledad		Rancho
				Gonzales		Pacific Grove
				SFCC		Watsonville

This is where I think people will say I’m losing credibility, but hear me out. Although the PCAL is fairly top heavy with the Gabilan division, especially with the stout BIG 4 everyone seems to complain about the revolving door of whoever wins the B League. They are also fairly bottom-heavy considering the strength of the Cypress and Santa Lucia from this past season. Originally I saw the ‘21 PCAL as an A+, B+, B-, C tier league. This new model Would split up the BIG 4 and mix in the rest of the A division teams and A/B+ Tweeners that seem to be the revolving door, to make two true A divisions.
A concern could be the lack of size in those A divisions however, they could play intradivision to fill out their schedule to play rivalry games or obtain their power points, or play other A division/B division schools to assist them with strategies on making the playoffs at large. I don’t see that as too much of a bad thing.
As for the B division, Combine the top half of the lower B division with the stronger B+ Programs to make a true B division, and leave the.. Umm.. “Developing” programs to make up the C division. This will allow the C and B to be true B/C divisions and to continue to develop and remain competitive equity rather than having the best of the worst move up in divisions just to be moved back down the following year.
Comparing the A divisions in this thread I would say with confidence that they are fairly equitable, I could say the same with the proposed B divisions as well with the BVAL edging out the PCAL hence the B+ vs B classification. And any of the comparable C division teams could play each other as well.

All in all, there’s no telling what they will choose to do, I just figured I'd get creative before the kickoff of playoffs. Predictions for those coming soon!

So, instead of 2-4 teams with no shot of winning a league title, you suggest there be 8 instead?

Sorry, but there’s no way Salinas and Palma would want to be in separate divisions. Palma would not want to be separated from Hollister, either.

 

[Cal 14]

With the regular season concluded and some shuffling taking place for next year amongst and within these two leagues, particularly with the two Gilroy schools (Gilroy and Christopher High School) moving over to the BVAL from the PCAL, I’m going to predict where they fit and how these two respective leagues could approach realignment.

BVAL: Total teams- 26; 8 Autos | ‘21 Playoff Teams- 8

The BVAL is essentially inheriting two playoff-caliber teams who will undoubtedly compete with their “A-League” teams if not right away then within the second year of competing. I love that they are bringing the Gilroy schools in because I can see a rebirth of a South County rivalry amongst the Gilroy and Morgan Hill schools. Giving these young folk a minor taste of the TCAL days. Here is where the realignment comes in, does the BVAL stay with three divisions? Or do they expand to 4 a la PCAL and create what is a more expansive and developmental 4 tier division? I looked at the potential for both and they aren't too bad.

The Three-Tier System is by far the most competitive, Limiting nonleague games and requiring teams to fight for an automatic bid or schedule a top-tier nonleague. This model only allows for 2 nonleague games so scheduling will play a factor for at large points. Especially in the B League.

Mount Hamilton (A; 4 Autos)	Santa Teresa (B+; 3 Autos)	West Valley (C; 1 Auto)
Live Oak	Branham	Lick
Leland	Sobrato	San Jose
Christopher	Westmont	Yerba Buena
Silver Creek	Gilroy	Evergreen Valley
Santa Teresa	Oak Grove	Del Mar
Lincoln	Prospect	Gunderson
Leigh	Overfelt	MP
Pioneer	Hill	Willow Glen
Piedmont Hills	Independence

The 4 tier model provides a lot more in terms of scheduling and leeway, however the divisions are smaller so naturally the Autos may be dispersed:

Mount Hamilton (A; 4 Autos)	Santa Teresa (B+; 2 Autos)	West Valley (B-; 1 Auto)	Mount Diablo (C; 1 Auto)
Live Oak	Leigh	Hill	Lick
Leland	Silver Creek	Independence	San Jose
Christopher	Branham	Prospect	Yerba Buena
Pioneer	Sobrato	Overfelt	Evergreen Valley
Santa Teresa	Westmont	Willow Glen	Del Mar
Lincoln	Gilroy	Gunderson	MP
Piedmont Hills	Oak Grove

I’m pretty intrigued by this model for two reasons 1) The competition between the two top leagues is very compelling; they seem as if every matchup could be competitive. And 2) The bottom two leagues provides room for Them to compete intradivision and for programs to slowly build and compete and (hopefully) provide them annual opportunity to prove themself for advancement into the higher leagues over time, rather than thrown to the wolves immediately every year following a short stint of success.

Mt. Hamilton doesn’t deserve an A designation anymore.

 

[RLS13]

Sorry, but there’s no way Salinas and Palma would want to be in separate divisions. Palma would not want to be separated from Hollister, either.

Agreed that they don't want to sperate, but 2 down years for any of these programs and they would be forced to sperate via equity. Monterey vs Seaside, Carmel vs Pacific Grove and King City vs Gonzales all go further back than the Palma rivalries with Salinas and Hollister. Those teams have been forced to play their games at the beginning of the season when they are separated.

That being said, I don's see Palma Salinas or Hollister leaving the Gabilan at any time in the next 5+ years.

And I total agree about the Mt Hamilton Division

 

[Anonymous411]

Mt. Hamilton doesn’t deserve an A designation anymore.

Sad thing is, I bet they come out of the realignment meeting with even more AQ's.

 

[RLS13]

Great work BVAL, but I don't think a double A league will be favored by the PCAL. Depending who you talk too, some coaches want to go back to just the old leagues, think MTAL, MBL/TriCAL, SCCAL, based mostly on enrollment or take the equity even further and do a regional A league(s).

 

[BvalBooster]

How would a regional A league work? And the "BIG 4" can still schedule each other for 'points' and bragging rights sake, and the beauty of it are odds will be one will be a league Champion so that'll garner an extra point. That just some brainstorming for the PCAL as a league not necessarily something that would favor Just the Gabilan.

If I'm not mistaken, it would allow more A-league teams from the PCAL to participate in the CCS Playoffs or am I wrong? When I analyzed numbers I thought Alvarez made it into the dance this year due to points however, that would have put more than 6 participating Gabilan division members into the playoffs. So they got booted for a northern bay area team. This model would combat that (I think).

Also, looks like BVAL is 'leaning' toward a realignment of:
A: 6 teams (4), B: 6 teams (2), B: 6teams(2), C: 8 teams (1) model with automatics in parenthases.

Mount Hamilton Is definitely the place to be considering 4 out of the 6 automatically make it to the post season. Pretty interesting for a division that seems to be losing its muscle.

 

[BvalBooster]

Great work BVAL, but I don't think a double A league will be favored by the PCAL. Depending who you talk too, some coaches want to go back to just the old leagues, think MTAL, MBL/TriCAL, SCCAL, based mostly on enrollment or take the equity even further and do a regional A league(s).

I could guess what coach would absolutely love to take it back to those times, cue CarmelKyd from the old mbaypreps boards.

 

[carmelkyd]

Regarding your PCAL suggestions. Historically the Gabilan Division has had 8 or 9 teams. And while some will think I'm crazy, there have been suggestions that the Gabilan coaches don't like the thought of having to find "many" non-league opponents. My bet is that when the PCAL reorganizes that the Gabilan will have 8 teams.

Second, and this is I think a more germane point, based on 2021 results, the following teams could NOT beat "true" A league teams. Monterey, Seaside, MVC, North Salinas and Scotts Valley are not (and have historically not been) A league caliber teams. Seaside went 2 - 6 and MVC went 0 - 8 in an A league in 2021. And North Salinas 5 - 3 while Monterey was 2 - 4 in a B league. Granted, Scotts Valley was 6 - 0 but that was in the "lower" B league. You cannot create an A league when 5 of the teams in your proposed league are hardly competitive in a B league.

Third, the PCAL has 8 automatic qualifiers. Your proposed league has 9. Which means, if CCS were to approve the PCAL having 9 automatic qualifiers, then there will be one fewer at-large teams. Not a big deal to some, but certainly a big deal to teams who historically aren't auto qualified and hope to get in as an at-large.

Having said all this, I would propose four leagues with seven teams each. Based on 2021 results.

Gabilan - Salinas, Hollister, Aptos, Palma, Alisal, Alvarez, and the winner of the prior season's Mission team (Santa Cruz) - A league - 4 auto qualifiers

Mission - Seaside, MVC (last place team of Gabilan from 2021), Soquel, North Salinas, Carmel, Monterey, and the winner of the Cypress from the prior year (Scotts Valley) - B+ league - 2 auto qualifiers

Cypress - Gonzales (last place team from Mission in prior season), King City, Pacific Grove, Watsonville, NMC, Soledad, SFCC (winner of Santa Lucia during the prior season) - B- league - 1 auto qualifier (give them 2 auto qualifiers if CCS can be convinced to give PCAL 9 AQs)

Santa Lucia - SLV (last place team from Cypress in the prior year), Rancho, RLS, Greenfield, PV, Marina and Harbor

And a FIRM rule is established. The winner of a league in the prior season moves up, the last place team in a league moves down. Take subjective out of the realignment decision making. (Of course I don't follow the rule completely in my example above because in the first year of this 7 - 7 - 7 - 7 team alignment we have to correct for the 9 - 8 - 7 - 6/5 alignment in 2021.)

 

[BvalBooster]

Cypress - Gonzales (last place team from Mission in prior season), King City, Pacific Grove, Watsonville, NMC, Soledad, SFCC (winner of Santa Lucia during the prior season) - B- league - 1 auto qualifier (give them 2 auto qualifiers if CCS can be convinced to give PCAL 9 AQs)

Santa Lucia - SLV (last place team from Cypress in the prior year), Rancho, RLS, Greenfield, PV, Marina and Harbor

And a FIRM rule is established. The winner of a league in the prior season moves up, the last place team in a league moves down. Take subjective out of the realignment decision making. (Of course I don't follow the rule completely in my example above because in the first year of this 7 - 7 - 7 - 7 team alignment we have to correct for the 9 - 8 - 7 - 6/5 alignment in 2021.)

From the outside looking in that looks to be spot on, I don't see the cypress getting that second AQ, definitely more of a B- Division as you stated. I'm curious to see how they realign losing the two Gilroy schools. Four 7 team divisions does work out quite nicely as you laid out above, and for the most part, seem pretty equitable and competitive. The Gabilan has its big four but with school size of 3000 and 2200 respectfully, Alisal and Alvarez should be able to develop solid teams.