The new PAC-5 League was supposed to be the hyper-competitive prep football one in the area this year.

The league has been competitive, all right. Paso Robles shut out Righetti (which can now do no worse than a league tri-championship) 20-0 two weeks ago. No other league game has been decided by more than eight points.

Righetti wins the league championship outright if Paso Robles loses to Atascadero and San Luis Obispo falls to Arroyo Grande tonight. All the Warriors have left before the playoffs is a non-league home game at 7:30 p.m. Friday against Glendora. Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo victories mean those squads and Righetti are tri-league champions.

If Paso Robles wins and Arroyo Grande beats San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles shares the league championship with Righetti and gets the top league seed for the playoffs. Arroyo Grande would get the third seed and San Luis Obispo would have to hope for an at-large bid.

If Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo and Arroyo Grande all wind up at 2-2 (Atascadero is 0-3), a tiebreaker must be used to determine the second and third seeds. The teams will have split their head-to-head games.

However, the truly jumbled playoff race is in the newly-configured Los Padres League. The LPL, like the PAC-5 League, has only three guaranteed spots for the playoffs this year.

There is no doubt about who the 2002 league champion will be - that will be newcomer Lompoc. The Braves are 4-0 in league games with only tonight's annual Lompoc Valley Big One against Cabrillo left in their regular season.

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No one else is better than 2-2 in league games. Morro Bay, Santa Ynez and St. Joseph all have that mark. Santa Maria and Cabrillo are both 1-3.

Cabrillo's chances are probably gone. Even if the Conquistadores pull a mammoth upset against Lompoc, they would probably lose out in a tiebreaker. They would be 1-2 against Morro Bay or Santa Ynez, Santa Maria and St. Joseph.

In regular season finales this week, Morro Bay is at Santa Ynez and Santa Maria is at St. Joseph. Here is a rundown of the four bubble teams' prospects.

St. Joseph: As coach first-year coach Barney Eames said, if the Knights win they're in. They have beaten both Santa Ynez and Morro Bay, so they would get the league's second seed.

If they lose - well, here's where it gets interesting. They would still hold an edge on Morro Bay or Santa Ynez and Santa Maria for the third playoff spot thanks to a tiebreaker system that awards seven points for beating a first-place team, six points for beating a second-place one (either Morro Bay or Santa Ynez), etc.

If St. Joseph loses and Cabrillo shocks Lompoc, the Knights are probably out of luck since they would be 1-2 against the teams they would be in a four-way deadlock with for third place.

Santa Maria: The outlook for the Saints is bleak, since they lost to both Morro Bay and Santa Ynez. It looks as though their only into the playoffs is to beat St. Joseph and for Cabrillo to upset Lompoc. If that occurs, Morro Bay or Santa Ynez, and Santa Maria would emerge as the top two teams in the four-way tie for third place thanks to head-to-head games.

Then Santa Maria would have a chance if playoff spots were to be determined by a league draw that has already taken place.

Santa Ynez: If the Pirates beat Morro Bay, it is a done deal - Santa Ynez goes to the playoffs as the second or third seed, pending the outcome of the St. Joseph game. If Santa Ynez loses, it gets dicey for the Pirates. They would come out on the losing end of any tiebreaker with St. Joseph unless there is a four-way tie for third place.

Morro Bay: A win tonight gives the Pirates the second league seed for the playoffs. If they lose, they are in the same boat as Santa Ynez would be with a defeat. They lose any tiebreaker with St. Joseph except if there is a four-way tie for third.

November 15, 2002