Northern California high school football rankings, notes: Top-ranked De La Salle builing case for return trip to CIF Open Division final

This is how the governing body for high school sports decides which teams play in the highest classification CIF state championship football game: a committee of CIF officials crunches data comparing results and rankings in a quest to pit two heavyweights against each other after the CIF Regional title games. The Southern California bruisers have owned the CIF State Open Division in recent years, winning that grand finale of the season every time since 2015. NorCal teams went 11-4 in CIF State title games in 2025, but it’s the Open winner that tops state and, quite often, the final national…