Ocean Division: The place to be?

“The quality of our teams is so deep,” said Aragon coach Steve Sell, the dean of PAL head coaches. “At the risk of sounding arrogant, I can almost guarantee there will be a PAL team in the Division IV or V final every year.”

In the past, only the Bay Division champion had to worry about being pulled into the Open Division of the CCS playoffs. Now, all teams that qualify out of the Bay, which is an “A” division, will be sprinkled throughout the now three Open divisions, where they will play only teams from other “A” leagues — like the WCAL, SCVAL’s De Anza Division, or the BVAL’s Mt. Hamilton Division. The CCS is intent on sending its most qualified candidates to the Northern California championship games, with the hope that a couple might be invited to a state championship game.

Only teams out of the Open divisions are eligible for the Nor Cal and state championship games.

Meanwhile, those teams that qualify out of the Ocean, along with the Lake Division champ, have a much easier road to a possible CCS title as they get to avoid playing the top 24 teams in the playoffs.

Last year, Half Moon Bay and Hillsdale, both Ocean Division squads, advanced to the CCS championship game. The Cougars pounded Pacific Grove to win the CCS Division V title, while the Knights lost to Aptos in the CCS Division IV final.

Of course, Sacred Heart Prep, which won the Bay Division title in 2015, won the CCS Open Division III crown last season. But the other four Bay Division qualifiers? All lost in the first round.

“One of the unintended consequences of this (new CCS playoff format) is that being in the Ocean or the Lake is (now) an advantage,” Sell said. “At our (PAL) league meeting, everyone is trying to maneuver into the Ocean Division.”

There is still something to be said for competing against the best. But there is also something to be said for giving as many teams as possible a chance to win a section title. Right now, the best chances for PAL teams to advance deep in the playoffs — and possibly win a CCS football title — is to play in the Ocean Division.

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San Mateo’s Ryan Reynolds — no, not THAT Ryan Reynolds — has one heck of a whopper to tell his friends.

And if they don’t believe him, he has a picture to prove it.

Fishing at Castro Valley’s Lake Chabot last Friday, Reynolds hooked and landed a 19-pound, largemouth bass — setting a new lake record.

“It obliterated the previous record by a full two pounds,” Stan Wong, manager of the Lake Chabot Marina & Cafe, said in a press release.

The previous record was 17 pounds, set in 2002 by Louis Vasquez. The largest bigmouth bass ever caught came in at just over 22 pounds.

After verifying his catch, Reynolds released the beast back into the lake.

Nathan Mollat can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: 344-5200 ext. 117. You can follow him on Twitter @CheckkThissOutt.