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A high school football program in the state of California will not participate in the playoffs despite finishing atop its league standings. A coin flip kept them from an automatic bid sparking a debate on the selection process.
Rim of the World High School will not play in the postseason despite winning 90% of its games. The Scots were passed over for an at-large opportunity.
Rim plays its football in Lake Arrowhead, which is about 15 miles outside of the San Bernardino city limits. The school competes in the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section.
This year, the team notched its highest win total in more than a decade. It was not rewarded for that success.
Rim of the World High School was tri-champion of its football league.
The Scots finished the year at 9-1. That included a 2-1 mark in the four-team San Andreas League. It’s lone league loss came on the road against the rival Colton Yellow Jackets, 56-49.
Rim finished in a three-way tie with Colton and the Kaiser Cats, which beat the Yellow Jackets by a point earlier in the year.
All three teams ended the year at 2-1 in San Andreas play. Colton and Kaiser, however, finished with overall records of 5-5 and 4-5, respectively. Still, a coin flip was needed to decide the league champion, which would receive an automatic playoff spot.
Kaiser won. Rim was left out despite beating the Cats 45-7 in the season finale. Scots coach Joe Jurado wasn’t thrilled.
“I’m incredibly disappointed and angry. The one human element in the selection process is where lines are drawn between divisions, and I disagree with how some of that was being done. It’s frustrating to think the only way we could have got in the playoffs this year was to go 10-0.”
-Joe Jurado
How are California playoff teams picked?
Five years ago, the CIF-SS moved to a “competitive equity” format. School placement is formulated by an online computer rating.
A committee looks at current season performance to then divide high school football teams into divisions. “Lines” are drawn to separate the top division, a process that continues through Division 14. This is done to keep competition as balanced as possible.
“There’s going to be a lot of talk about what’s right and what’s wrong in the playoffs… I believe they got Division II right. This is the definition of competitive equity when you look at how evenly-matched some of these games are.”
-Rancho Cucamonga coach Alex Pierce
With that being said, it is not a perfect system. Rim of the World coach Joe Jurado believes the human element prevented his team’s ability to make the field. Had they been drawn differently, the Scots might be in.
The lines aren’t the only controversial part of the selection process, though. While the computer ratings do a great job of judging team strength, coaches still have their gripes.
“Football has used computer rankings to determine the playoff divisions for the last [five] seasons, which has led to coaches griping about playoff placement due to how programs now build out their schedule.
“Coaches say teams with 10-0 or 9-1 seasons are pulled into divisions much too high where it’s difficult to compete. The flip side of that is top programs that have a ‘down’ year are pulled into divisions too low where they can make deeper playoff runs, or even win CIF titles.”
The computer ratings also do not factor in forfeitures. San Juan Hills, for example, made the field with a 1-9 overall record after being forced to forfeit games amid an eligibility controversy.
Strength of schedule is also just as important as overall record. A number of other teams that finished the year below .500 were picked ahead of the Scots.
Breaking down why a 9-1 Rim of the World team didn’t make the CIFSS playoffs.
Feel bad for those kids up there, tough pill to swallow. And a tremendous person leading them in @coachjoe7! pic.twitter.com/k7SnDzCLU0— Chris Fore (@chriscfore) November 2, 2025
Rubbing salt in the wound, Rim of the World’s computer rating was much higher that its league rivals. The Scots ranked 182 in the HSRatings. Colton ranked 240 while Kaiser, which made the playoffs, finished 269. Again, Kaiser got in as an automatic qualifier after the coin flip.
By every measure – record, rating, point differential – Rim was the best team in its division. Everything that could go wrong for the Scots did in terms of playoff selection.