Two questions to go and we’ll both be looking ahead to December.

Chace’s question: The CIF continues to flesh out the state championship bowl system, and now we’ve got five titles up for grabs: An overall championship pitting the No. 1 team in the North vs. No.1 team in the South, and then four enrollment-based championship games. We love this concept, and we’ve spent the past month discussing scenarios and possible matchups that could play out at the Home Depot Center in Carson. So our first question is, which are the programs most likely to find their names in state bowl conversations throughout the season?

Ben’s answer: Now that’s a big question. This could take some explaning.

Let’s do this by division.

Division 1: For those who read today’s prep football preview in the paper, you know that there are now four enrollment based divisions and one open division. For the sake of argument, I’ll save the open game for last. I think the clear favorite to go to the Division I game from the north is Bellarmine-San Jose. The Bells have a ton of talent (RB Usua Amanam, QB Austyn Carta-Samuels, etc.) and if De La Salle slips up, I think they’ll be in the open game. From the south, I’m going with last year’s representative, Centennial-Corona. If it comes down to a choice by the selection committee between a few teams, they only need to look back at last year’s Division I title game to see how great Centennial played. Prediction: Bellarmine-San Jose vs. Centennial-Corona

Division II: In the north, this is a tough division to figure out. I’d love to sit here and say Las Lomas is the favorite but the Knights will have to show me they can navigate their tough preseason first. Is it last year’s rep, Novato? I don’t think so because they have to beat Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa in the NCS playoffs. I’m going to say it comes down to two schools from outside the NCS - Valley Christian-San Jose and Del Oro-Loomis. In the south, I saw Mater Dei play last night on TV and I wasn’t all that impressed. Don’t get me wrong, Matt Barkley is ridiculously good but I’m just not seeing the other pieces to the puzzle. Schools like Oceanside, Crespi-Encino and Lutheran-Orange will be right there as well. Prediction: Valley Christian-San Jose vs. Lutheran-Orange.

Division III: The northern spot is definitely in the corner of Cardinal Newman right now. RBs Jeff Badger and Joe Ferguson are both back and they’re going to be good. I know, how could I not pick a dark horse like, say, Corning High School (side note: Corning, as I learned this weekend, is known for its olives)? Well, Cardinal Newman is just that good I guess. In the south, it’s going to be a fight to the finish between Oaks Christian-Westlake Village and St. Bonaventure-Ventura. My feeling is that Nate Montana (oh yes, that Nate Montana) and Oaks Christian get the nod. Prediction: Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa vs. Oaks Christian-Westlake Village.

Small schools: This is really an unknown division for a lot of people. Ferndale is always good and I guess I have the Wildcats as a nominal favorite in the north. In the south, Ontario Christian is supposed to be fairly good (according to the good folks over at CalHiSports.com) but you have to love RB Cierre Wood at Santa Clara-Oxnard. Prediction: Ferndale vs. You Name ‘Em.

Small Schools Note: Eric Maddy from calpreps.com (great site, by the way) informs me that Santa Clara is in the same league as Oaks Christian. He says they changed a few years ago and they’re in the same division. So, with it unlikely that Santa Clara is able to beat Oaks Christian, he points to St. Margaret’s-San Juan Capistrano as the favorite for the small school spot. Thanks Eric.

Open division: What a homer pick huh? I’m going with De La Salle because of its skill players. Blake Wayne, Kylan Butler and Noah Perio have all been to the dance before and they’ll want to get back this year. Toss in solid newcomers like RB Tyler Anderson and you’ve got the makings for another state title run. In the south, I’m going with the biggest school in the state, Long Beach Poly. Poly took out Northwestern-Miami last weekend and, after seeing a few of their kids in the stands at Veterans Stadium last season during DLS’s practice before the Division I title game, these boys are going to be hungry. Prediction: De La Salle vs. Long Beach Poly.