Even in a year when the NJSIAA is not holding traditional playoffs for football, Somerville continues to face an uphill battle for a top seed in Central Jersey Group 3, while undefeated upstart North Plainfield faces an even stiffer challenge. Both teams are unbeaten.
Central Jersey Sports Radio’s mock UPR standings show Somerville (5-0) in third, well behind Wall (4-0) and Burlington Township (5-0), one week before “cutoff weekend.”
Wall has a UPR of 1.6, Burlington 1.8, and the Pioneers 3. However, they are significantly ahead of Nottingham (3-0, UPR 5). The challenge for Somerville in 2018 was with the Born Power Index and in 2019 with the OSI. Neither formula has favored Somerville, which had an undefeated regular season in 2018 and one loss last year.
The news was even worse for North Plainfield, having a stellar year at 5-0 but against weaker competition that most of their peers in North Group 3. To wit, the Canucks rank 7th in the traditional power points, which would at least give them a first-round home game in a normal year. But, their OSI is 15th.
That adds up to a 12th place standing in the overall supersection, and a 6th seed in their hypothetical bracket, playing at 4-1 Parsippany Hills in a mock first round. (Even worse off is 5-0 Tenafly, which is 5th in power point rank and 19th in OSI for a 14th place overall ranking.)
Below are the overall standings and hypothetical brackets for the North and South Group 3 supersections:
Please take note that all calculations are unofficial, and no mechanism exists to check or confirm these numbers and standings. Strength Index and OSI are not being calculated publicly. Only records have been confirmed. All standings are purely hypothetical. Please report any discrepancies to mike@cjsportsradio.com.
