The advent of power ratings, leading to alteration of teams’ division and league placements and affecting playoff seeding, changed the landscape.
League championships don’t carry that once-cherished cachet.
But don’t tell that to the players, coaches, and student bodies. A league title still goes down as a matter of record and still looks great on that letterman’s jacket or sweater.
There are 20 champions in the CIF San Diego Section’s 18 leagues this season, with playoffs beginning this week (schedules on the Football/Scores/2023 page). Oceanside, Valley Center, and San Pasqual tied for first in the Valley loop.
The 17 other champions were outright winners:
| League | Overall | ||||||
| LEAGUE | TEAM | WON | LOST | Pct. | WON | LOST | Pct. |
| Avocado | Carlsbad | 5 | 0 | 1,000 | 10 | 0 | 1,000 |
| Central | San Diego | 4 | 0 | 1,000 | 4 | 6 | .400 |
| City | Scripps Ranch | 4 | 0 | 1,000 | 7 | 3 | .700 |
| Coastal | The Bishop’s | 6 | 0 | 1,000 | 7 | 3 | .700 |
| Desert | Holtville | 3 | 0 | 1,000 | 7 | 2 | .778 |
| Eastern | La Jolla | 4 | 0 | 1,000 | 8 | 2 | .800 |
| Grossmont Hills | Granite Hills | 5 | 0 | 1,000 | 10 | 0 | 1,000 |
| Grossmont Valley | Mount Miguel | 4 | 0 | 1,000 | 9 | 1 | .900 |
| Imperial Valley | El Centro Central | 4 | 0 | 1,000 | 8 | 2 | .800 |
| Manzanita | San Pasqual Academy | 6 | 0 | 1,000 | 7 | 3 | .700 |
| Metro Mesa | Mater Dei | 3 | 0 | 1,000 | 6 | 3 | .667 |
| Metro Pacific | Chula Vista | 4 | 0 | 1,000 | 8 | 2 | .800 |
| Metro South Bay | Olympian | 3 | 0 | 1,000 | 6 | 3 | .667 |
| Ocean | Foothills Christian | 5 | 0 | 1,000 | 7 | 2 | .778 |
| Pacific | Orange Glen | 5 | 0 | 1,000 | 6 | 4 | .600 |
| Palomar | San Marcos | 5 | 0 | 1,000 | 8 | 2 | .800 |
| *Valley | San Pasqual | 5 | 1 | .833 | 6 | 4 | .600 |
| Valley Center | 5 | 1 | .833 | 5 | 5 | .500 | |
| Oceanside | 5 | 1 | .833 | 6 | 4 | .600 | |
| Western | Lincoln | 4 | 0 | 1,000 | 10 | 0 | 1,000 |
*Coin flip held for purpose of playoff seeding. San Pasqual declared champion.
John Maffei’s Week 12 Union-Tribune Poll:
This is the final regular-season poll. There will be a “final final” poll after the San Diego Section playoffs.
Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. *First-place votes.
NR–Not ranked.
Last entries in columns are previous rankings, except for San Marcos and St. Augustine.
Max Preps‘ and Cal-Hi Sports‘ are state rankings.
| RANK | TEAM/RECORD | POINTS | MAXPREPS.COM | CALPREPS.COM | CAL-HI SPORTS |
| 1. | Lincoln (10-0) | *27/297/1 | 6/8 | 63.9/61.3 | 6/6 |
| 2. | Carlsbad (10-0) | *3/269/2 | 9/12 | 61.1/59.5 | 7/7 |
| 3. | Granite Hills (10-0) | 244/3 | 26/27 | 50.3/50.3 | 14/14 |
| 4. | Helix (9-1) | 210/4 | 28/28 |
50.1/50.1 | 16/18 |
| 5. | Torrey Pines (7-3) | 155/5 | 41/47 | 42.539.6 | On Bubble/On Bubble |
| 6. | Mission Hills (7-3) | 145/6 | 38/40 | 43.6/42.3 | On Bubble/On Bubble |
| 7. | El Camino (6-4) | 96/7 | 73/68 | 35.4/35.1 | NR/NR |
| 8 | San Marcos (8-2) | 65/NR | 91 | 32.6/29.8 | NR/NR |
| 9 | La Costa Canyon (5-5) | 52/9 | 77/72 | 34.8/34.6 | NR/NR |
| 10. | St. Augustine (6-4) | 45/NR | 80 | 34.6/31.3 | NR/NR |
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Mater Dei (6-3, 38 points), Mount Miguel (9-1, 11), Del Norte (8-2, 6), The Bishop’s (7-3, 3), Cathedral (3-7, 3), La Jolla (8-2, 3), El Centro Central (8-2, 2).
VOTING PANEL
Twenty-nine sportswriters, sportscasters, administrators from San Diego County, plus Max Preps.com.
- John Maffei (San Diego Union-Tribune).
- Don Norcross, Steve Brand, Rick Hoff, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez , Freelance contributors.
- Brandon Stone, Allison Edmonds, John Carroll (KUSI, Channel 51).
- Rick Smith (partletonsports.com).
- Adam Paul (EastCountySports.com).
- Bodie DeSilva (ScorebookLive.com).Â
- John Kentera, Braden Suprenant (97.3-FM The Fan).
- Steve (Biff) Dolan (Mountain Country 107.9-FM).Â
- Christian Pedersen (San Diego Sports Association).
- Troy Hirsch, Nic Pollino (Fox 5 San Diego).Â
- Joe Heinz, Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez (CIF San Diego Section).
- Mike Dolan, Rex Johnson, Bruce Ward (CIF Advisory Committee).
- Joe Evangelist (San Diego Coaching Legends Committee).
- Will Torrez (Valley Sports Network).
- Tom Ronco (Imperial Valley Press).
- Raymond Brown  (SDfootball.net).
- Tom Helmantoler (Southern Conference Advisor).
- Max Preps.
