By C.J. Peterson @CJpeterson51
1. San Francisco (22-2) — San Francisco tops this week’s power rankings. With a 7-1 division record, they lead the Coast Conference-North division by one game over Canada. By racking up those wins, CCSF has cemented themselves as a lock for the playoffs this season. A win on Wednesday and Friday against Canada and Las Positas respectively, will clinch a division title, their third in a row.
2. Canada (18-6) — Moving past San Francisco, things have muddied up for the race for second in the division. Canada holds a one game lead over Ohlone. The only hope for Canada to have a chance at a North division title will be a road win at San Francisco. Las Positas is the only team that has been able to do this so far this season, and if Canada cannot become the second, the runner up position isn’t guaranteed either.
3. Ohlone (18-7) — Riding a three-game winning streak, Ohlone is on the heels of Canada for second place in the North division of the Coast Conference. Dreams of a division title have been buried under the dominance of San Francisco. But while only being a game behind Canada, Ohlone still has a lot to play for. With three games left in the season (Skyline, Chabot, San Francisco), the Renegades have a golden opportunity to qualify for the playoffs by running the table.
4. Las Positas (19-6) — Just by looking at their overall record, most would think Las Positas would be ranked higher than they are. They’re not. Their conference record (5-4) justifies a number four ranking. Consecutive losses have pushed the Hawks seemingly out of the playoff hunt, which is odd to say for a team with 19 wins. However that is how the North division of the Coast Conference has been this season as San Francisco, Canada and Ohlone have proven to be contenders. The last shot the Hawks have at redeeming themselves will be a home game against CCSF at home. Having already beaten San Francisco once on the road, the possibility for the Hawks to come out victorious isn’t that crazy.
5. Skyline (12-13) — The 2016-17 season hasn’t gone the way Skyline had hoped it would. Only 12 wins so far this season and posting a not-so-stellar 3-5 record within the conference has removed the Trojans from the playoff race entirely. With three games left in the season, the only thing Skyline has left to play for is ruining another division opponents season. They still have both Canada and Las Positas left to play. A win over either one of those schools would them from playoff contention as well.
6. Foothill (12-13) — Similar to Skyline, the Owls want to put the 2016-17 season behind them. 13 losses haven’t been ideal, but to make matters worse, seven of them have come from within the conference. Things don’t look to be getting better anytime soon either as two of Foothill’s final two games come against the top two teams in the conference. They will face both San Francisco and Canada in the next two weeks.
7. Chabot (4-19) — Bringing up the rear end of the division this season is Chabot. The Gladiators have played awful this year. Considering they have gone 1-6 within the conference, the North division has been the least of their worries. Leading the division with 19 losses this, Chabot has succumbed to their opponents by an average margin of 22.8 points per loss. On top of that, the Gladiators have played in two of the most lopsided game of any team in the North division, losing to San Francisco and Las Positas by 50 points. Chabot looks ahead to next year as their 2016-17 campaign was over by December. Maybe next season they’ll at least be relatively competitive.