Column: Central Catholic at No. 4? OSAA's 6A football bracket is historic blunder
For months, the most ardent Oregon high school football fans have been talking about the matchup.
West Linn vs. Central Catholic.
Oregon isn’t a state known for producing nationally-ranked teams.
It almost never happens.
But this season, two historically-loaded Class 6A juggernauts began the season with aspirations of cracking the national Top 25 rankings.
Undefeated regular seasons were practically inevitable.
And then the two would meet in the championship game with a state title, and a valid argument for “best team in modern history,” on the line.
That was the build up.
That was the hype.
And that’s what the two teams delivered during the regular season.
West Linn rolled through the state’s most difficult schedule, beating No. 2 Tualatin, No. 5 Lakeridge and No. 6 Lake Oswego by a combined score of 138-24, throwing in a 49-30 victory over reigning Washington state champion Lake Stevens for good measure.
Central Catholic opened the season with a 48-27 win over Washington state title contender Bellevue, then rolled through the regular season, outscoring opponents by a combined score of 429-54.
So, when the OSAA released its 6A playoff bracket Friday night and West Linn sat at No. 1 it made sense.
Central Catholic, however, wasn’t No. 2.
Or even No. 3.
The Rams sat in fourth, which would force the West Linn-Central Catholic clash to come in the semifinals.
“It’s the single-worst bracket mistake I can recall in modern state history,” Prep RedZone’s Jordan Johnson said.
Central Catholic finished the regular season 9-0.
Photo by Leon Neuschwander
Both West Linn and Central Catholic did their parts to ensure an epic state championship clash.
Now, they’ll likely face off in the semifinals in a bracket that has many other problems.
“OSAA … unreal man,” a Three Rivers League head coach texted me Friday night.
His team is in the state’s top 10, but he knows the entire bracket is a mess.
Everyone knows.
And many in the Oregon high school football community are furious.
According to the most recent human polls, five of the state’s top seven teams reside in the top part of the bracket — No. 1 West Linn, No. 2 Central Catholic, No. 5 Lakeridge, No. 6 Lake Oswego (lost Friday night) and No. 7 Jesuit.
No. 3 Tualatin and No. 4 Sherwood, on the other hand, may only face one top-10 team - combined - on their way to a state semifinal clash on the bottom of the bracket.
It’s fair to casually argue “it’s just high school sports,” or even “you have to beat the opponent in front of you every week to win the state title, so eventually the right team will win it.”
But that’s not the point.
The No. 1 and 2 teams in the state this year were obvious and predictable.
Just as predictable as the OSAA’s ranking system screwing up an all-time matchup.
Early in the season, I wrote a short social media message to the OSAA that read as follows:
“Dear @OSAASports,
Even if you have to rig the playoff seeding, please put West Linn and Central Catholic at 1 and 2 (either order) so we can get the best state title game in more than a decade.
With love, Andrew”
I was worried.
Sure, when it comes to high school football sometimes I rant.
I rave.
I complain.
When I first saw this year’s playoff bracket my hands started shaking.
All of that because … I care.
I love Oregon high school football.
Maybe as much as anyone in the state that doesn’t suit up or draw up a game plan for Friday nights.
It matters to me.
It has since I was a ballboy for the mid-1990’s Oregon City team that finished as the state runner-up in 1996 to arguably Thurman Bell’s best Roseburg team.
Historically, these brackets, these matchups, these state title games, matter.
They are our state’s stories. Our history.
And every once in a great while, Oregon gives us two teams that are destined for a state title game that we’ll talk about for a long time.
West Linn and Central Catholic are two of the best teams our state has ever produced, and their playoff matchup should be for the trophy.
The kids - they are kids, after all - did their part.
It’s time for a "common sense" three-person committee to assess the “final” bracket each year and make adjustments to the seedings, when needed, to ensure a better product.
Because the OSAA botched this one.
And we all knew it was coming.
The kids and our state deserve better.
