CIF Bowl

The California Interscholastic Federation State and Regional Bowl Games are the state championships football games for the State of California. They originally began in 1919 before being discontinued in 1927. They were reinstated in 2006. Regional Bowl games were added in 2012, and in 2015, the bowl games were expanded to have every CIF Section champion advance to a bowl game.

History
When the California Interscholastic Federation was established in 1914, one decision made by the Federated Council at its first regular meeting was to implement a State Football Championship. From 1915-1917 respective football teams advanced to the “CIF Finals” but teams defaulted thus leaving the CIF Federated Council to declare a winner during each of those years. It is considered that the first actual CIF State Football Championship took place Dec. 27, 1919, between Long Beach Poly High School and Berkeley High School at Tournament Park in Pasadena. Leading up to the game, both teams scrimmaged and beat local “college” teams. A total of 12,000 fans watched Poly defeat Berkeley 21-14. Tickets cost 25 and 50 cents. After the initial game in 1919, Bakersfield High established itself as the first state power, winning six of the next eight Championships from 1920 to 1927. But while Bakersfield High enjoyed success, the structure of the State Championship game was on shaky foundation.

CIF discontinues State Football Championships
From the beginning, issues that became problematic were deciding the length of the football season, how to determine the championship contestants, financial concerns, and when and where the state championships would take place. These matters were never fully resolved, and contributed to the decision to discontinue the CIF State Football Championship. In early December of 1927, the Federated Council decided that all intersectional and State Championship Football games would be discontinued. The Section’s Boards of Managers had instructed their delegates to vote against continuing the games on the ground that they caused too much strain on both schools and players. Each Section, however, could continue holding its own playoffs to determine a Section Champion. The last CIF State Football Championship was played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on December 27, 1927. Bakersfield defeated Fullerton 38-0.

Renewal of CIF State Football Championships
In 2006 – 79 years after it was discontinued – State Football Championships were revived. After nearly four years of work by the CIF’s Championships New Events Committee, headed by Ken Gunn, the Federated Council, in May 2005, adopted the proposal to add State Football Championships. The concept called for bowl games instead of a traditional tournament. The structured called for a threesome, three-division (Division I, II, III) format and teams were classified in the divisions solely based on school enrollment. To qualify for the bowl games, teams had to be a Section Champion. Given the division breakdowns in each Section, 47 teams qualified for the 2006 State Championships. Guidelines for team selection included win-loss record, strength of schedule, head-to-head competition and common opponents. As a result, the first CIF State Championship Bowl Games were approved as a two-year pilot program. The first bowl games were played on December 16, 2006, at The Home Depot Center in Carson, shedding California’s distinction as being the only state in the country without football state championships. Canyon of Canyon Country played De La Salle of Concord in Division I, Lutheran of Orange battled Palo Alto in Division II and Oaks Christian of Westlake Village competed with Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa in Division III. In 2008, the CIF State Championship Bowl Games expanded to a five-game, five divisions (Open, D-I, D-II, D-III and Small Schools) format played over two days. Beginning with the 2010 season, the CIF State Office, in conjunction with its 10-member Sections, implemented a new selection parameter. The divisions within each of the 10-member Sections were placed in the State Bowl Game structure based upon both competitive equity and enrollment. Additionally, the Small School Division was renamed Division IV to consistently match the titling of the CIF’s other state championship events.

Addition of CIF Regional Football Championship Games
In April 2011 the Federated Council voted in favor of the addition of Regional Bowl Games beginning with the 2012 football season. This move allowed for 20 total schools to be selected and able to participate in the CIF State Football Championship Bowl games. Beginning with the 2014 football season an adjustment was made so that Divisions I-IV all played Regional games, with the Open Division bypassing the Regionals and heading straight to the State Championship.

Revision of CIF State Football Championships
In January of 2015 the Federated Council voted in favor of revising the CIF Regional and State Football Championships. Previously, only 18 of the 51 Section Champions were selected to participate in the CIF State Football Bowl Championships. Now, all 51 Section Champions receive a bid to participate in a CIF Regional Football Championship game in 13 total divisions. All teams are slotted based on competitive equity.

All in all, the revival of the Football State Championships resulted in another platform to showcase California’s student-athletes. The Golden State has produced several current and former National Football League stars, including John Elway (Granada Hills HS), Tom Brady (Serra HS of San Mateo), Junior Seau (Oceanside HS), Tony Gonzalez (Huntington Beach HS), Teddy Bruschi (Roseville HS), Reggie Bush (Helix HS of La Mesa), Aaron Rodgers (Pleasant Valley HS of Chico) and Colin Kaepernick (Pitman HS of Turlock). According to a survey taken by USA Football back in 2010, California topped the list of states with the most NFL players with 211, followed by Texas (181) and Florida with 177. Believe it or not, the Bowl Games are celebrating its ninth season. And since its inception, the Bowl Games have created unprecedented statewide interest in America’s most popular high school sport for boys with more than one million participants nationwide, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations.

Open Division North
* Note: From 2014 on, Open Division Regional Champions are selected as the top team in each region and receive a bye to State Open Division Game. Shown in respective years is Section Championship game for Open Division NorCal Champion.

Open Division South
* Note: From 2014 on, Open Division Regional Champions are selected as the top team in each region and receive a bye to State Open Division Game. Shown in respective years is Section Championship game for Open Division SoCal Champion.