Football: Five bowl games, but only one that really matters

The CIF state football championship bowl games have been expanded from three to five games for 2008, but the only one that most folks are going to care about is the new open-division game that will be played on Saturday, Dec. 20 at 8 p.m. at the Home Depot Center in Carson.

That game will match the best team in Northern California, regardless of enrollment, against its counterpart from Southern California. It's the closest thing yet to crowning a true state champion in football.

The remaining bowl games are about school pride. Only the individual schools and their fans will really care. The CIF can't even guarantee if all five games will be televised. It's negotiating a new contract after FSN's contract to televise the three bowl finals each of the last two years has expired.

The matchups for last season based on the new format would have been this:

Open: Corona Centennial vs. Concord De La Salle.

Division I: Birmingham vs. San Jose Oak Grove or Napa.

Division II: Oceanside vs. Novato.

Division III: St. Bonaventure vs. Modesto Central Catholic.

Small school: St. Margaret's vs. Ferndale.

The 2008 Division I game (Northern California enrollment 1,701 and above vs. Southern California, 2,400 and above) will be played on Friday, Dec. 19 at 8 p.m., preceded by the new small school division final (Northern California, 400 and below vs. Southern California, 500 and below) at 4:30 p.m.

On Dec. 20, as part of a tripleheader, the Division III final (1,000 and below for Northern California; 1,100 and below for Southern California) will be played at noon, followed by the Division II final (1,001-1,700 for Northern California; 1,101-2,399 for Southern California) at 4 p.m.

The open-division game should be exciting and will, undoubtedly, overshadow the other four.

-- Eric Sondheimer