Bay Area high school football’s version of Selection Sunday brought a few surprises and some nostalgic feelings as dozens of teams were chosen to participate in the postseason, starting this weekend.

Storylines were aplenty in the Central Coast Section, where we found out why St. Ignatius was awarded the top seed in the Open/Division I bracket. There was more intrigue when it was announced Los Gatos and Serra will meet for the first time in a decade.

In the North Coast Section, a new formatting system gave us a different looking top bracket, where a probable showdown between De La Salle and Pittsburg looms large.

HOW THINGS WORK IN THE CCS >> St. Francis is ranked ahead of St. Ignatius by the calpreps.com computer and beat the Wildcats during West Catholic Athletic League play. But when the brackets came out Sunday, SI was seeded No. 1 in Open/Division I, one spot ahead of St. Francis.

The teams finished tied for the league championship after St. Francis lost on Saturday to Archbishop Riordan.

In the CCS’s complex points system to determine seeding — which includes computer rankings and bonus points for playing teams that win league championships, among other factors — SI finished with 77.75 points to St. Francis’ 77.25.

Head-to-head results are only used to break ties when teams have the same number of points, not to move one team above another. SI got bonus points for playing East Bay Athletic League Mountain Division champion San Ramon Valley — which beat SI 28-10 — but St. Francis didn’t get bonus points for losing to De La Salle.

While DLS is a member of the EBAL Mountain, it is ineligible to win the league title and thus no extra points for its CCS opponents.

Riordan, meanwhile, benefited from getting an extra point for playing McClymonds. Normally, that wouldn’t have been possible because the Oakland Athletic League championship isn’t decided until the Silver Bowl in late November. But this season the OAL views McClymonds as the league champion. The extra point moved Riordan from the No. 4 seed to the No. 3 seed in Open/Division I.

— Darren Sabedra

NCS GOES ALL IN WITH COMPETITIVE EQUITY >> For years, the North Coast Section had first-round games that were epic mismatches. In 2022, North Bay powerhouse Marin Catholic beat Newark Memorial 69-0 on its way to winning the section’s Division IV championship.

Such lopsided matchups led to an overhaul of the previous playoff format and brought about what happened when this season’s playoff brackets were unveiled Sunday. The top eight teams in the section, per MaxPreps’ computer rankings, were placed into the strongest bracket. De La Salle was seeded No. 1, Pittsburg No. 2, San Ramon Valley No. 3. But does that solve the problem?

De La Salle, the section’s unscalable mountain, has its most dominant team in years. Pittsburg — the last NCS team to beat DLS, 33 years ago — isn’t that far behind. San Marin, a small-school power that won the NCS Division V title in 2022 and was the runner-up to Acalanes in Division IV last season, is now in a bracket with the big boys. Same with Marin Catholic and Cardinal Newman.

San Marin got the toughest assignment of anyone. The Novato school visits DLS on Friday. Sadly for San Marin, if El Cerrito hadn’t been disqualified from the postseason for using ineligible players, the Mustangs would have been seeded No. 1 in Division II.

— Darren Sabedra

LOS GATOS VS. SERRA: TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE >> Two of the most storied CCS programs will meet in the first round of the Open/Division I playoffs as Los Gatos travels to Serra on Saturday.

These teams have met only once since 2004, in a game that set up the most controversial end to a Serra season. After Los Gatos blanked the Padres 28-0 in San Mateo to advance to the 2014 CCS Open Division semifinals, Serra had to play two more consolation games to finish its season.

The Padres beat Palma in a game that was reportedly treated as a scrimmage for both teams. Then Serra forfeited the consolation championship game against Milpitas, prompting the section to slap a two-year postseason ban and a $6,000 fine on the San Mateo school. The penalty was later reduced to a one-year postseason ban.

Now, Serra will play host to Los Gatos for the right to face the winner of the game between Soquel and Riordan in the semifinals. While the loss led to a painful decision for Serra in the consolation bracket, which the CCS did away with after that one season, the victory for Los Gatos was monumental.

— Nathan Canilao

DLS-PITT: WEEK AWAY FROM GAME OF YEAR >> Teams around this time of year will tell you they are not looking past their current opponents. But that doesn’t mean we won’t.

De La Salle and Pittsburg are the top seeds in the Open/Division I bracket, and if seeds hold, the East Bay powerhouses will meet in the Open Division final in two weeks.

De La Salle will have to take care of San Marin, and Pittsburg will have to beat Clayton Valley for the matchup to take place, but the Spartans and Pirates will be heavily favored going into their first-round games.

Pittsburg (9-1) has cruised through its league en route to a sixth consecutive Bay Valley Athletic League title, with the Pirates’ only blemish on their record coming against national powerhouse St. John Bosco-Bellflower.

Similarly, De La Salle finished the regular season undefeated and has won the section title in the NCS’s top division every year since 1991 — the year Pittsburg pulled the upset and beat De La Salle for the Division 3A title.

The DLS-Pitt loser will play for the section’s Division I title in Week 3 of the playoffs. Should DLS beat Pitt, it will have three weeks to prepare for a likely matchup with Mater Dei-Santa Ana in the Open Division state title game.

— Nathan Canilao

WILCOX POISED FOR A TITLE? >> It’s what any football coach dreams of — the opportunity to win a championship alongside his son. Wilcox has already won an outright Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division title this season.

Now, the Chargers (8-2) may be poised for even more. Wilcox was revealed Sunday as the top seed in the Division II bracket, potentially setting up a run to a CCS crown in star two-way player Brayden Rosa’s senior season. Rosa, the youngest son of Wilcox coach Paul Rosa, was instrumental in the Chargers’ upset win over Los Gatos that likely clinched the top seed in the D-II tournament.

That said, it won’t be easy for the Chargers. They have to deal with Blossom Valley Athletic League Mt. Hamilton Division squad Santa Teresa (9-1) right out of the gate. A potential matchup with PAL Bay rival No. 4 Menlo-Atherton (6-4) looms in the second round, while Mt. Hamilton champ No. 3 Christopher (9-1) and No. 2 Sacred Heart Cathedral of the West Catholic Athletic League could make noise on the other side of the bracket.

But all Wilcox and the Rosas could ask for is a chance. They’ll get that opportunity starting on Friday at home.

— Christian Babcock

LIBERTY BENEFITS FROM NEW FORMAT >> If there is one team that benefited more than others from the section’s new playoff format, it’s Liberty.

A year after the Lions were excluded from the Division I bracket despite a 7-3 record, they were seeded No. 1 in Division II. That’s a far cry from the tone coach Mike Cable struck last season. “We’re frustrated and upset, to say the least,” Cable said about missing the postseason.

He won’t have any complaints after Sunday’s seeding meeting. Because the NCS largely uses MaxPreps rankings to seed its teams, Liberty barely missed being the eighth seed in Open/Division I. The Lions were one spot behind San Marin in the rankings. Before games this past weekend, Liberty was No. 8 and San Marin No. 7. But Clayton Valley, which was routed by DLS Friday but no doubt got a computer bump for playing the Spartans, moved up to No. 7 when the rankings updated Sunday.

Liberty dropped back to Division II. Should Jaxon Bell, Sage Robertson and the potent Lions avoid an upset, they will play host to the winner of Bishop O’Dowd and Monte Vista in the semifinals.

Liberty isn’t the only Bay Valley school to benefit from the new format. Antioch also went 7-3 a year ago and missed the Division I playoffs. This season, the Panthers are seeded fourth in Division IV. They will play host to Redwood on Friday.

— Joseph Dycus