East Brunswick’s Matt Mikulka puts up a three in a GMC Red American Division game at Sayreville on January 10, 2026. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
The NJSIAA Cutoff Date for the high school basketball state playoffs is just three weeks away, and this is the time teams are making a move in the standings.
But it’s not just teams looking to move up, get off the bubble, or earn a top seed or a first round home game. There could be some big changes now with a new NJSIAA tweak to this year’s power point system, although it’s really a slight return to the old formula.
Last year, the new power point formula counted every game, but this year, only the top 16 count. Some teams have played more, some less, and some have just gotten to 16. What that means is that for a team with just a couple of losses, those (or wins against weak opponents) will drop off, and teams could see a boost from that alone.
For example: If a team’s power point average is 20 and they’ve played 16 games, that’s a total of 320 divided by 16. But if that team’s lowest score is 9 power points, and they beat an opponent worth 20, they’d now have 340 points in 17 games. Dropping the 9 would give them 331 points in 16 games, for an average of 20.688. Thus, a team could gain, even though they beat a team worth right around their average.
So, let’s get to the breakdown, section by section for each group with a team from the GMC or Somerset County. Analysis is based on official state power point standings posted on NJ.com as of 10 am on January 25, 2026, which includes games through Saturday. Click on the header for each section to go to the NJ.com page for that section.
There’s a one-two combo at the top who have been very good this year: upstart East Brunswick (15-3, 27.838) with a senior laden team that has been building to this moment the past few years, and two-time defending champion Montgomery (14-3, 27.489). They’re separated by just .349 points, and one game win the win column, as close as you can get. A shade more than a point behind them is Marlboro (12-3, 26.414) and then Hillsborough (11-4, 24.309) all in the mix here. This should very much come down to the wire. The Cougars’ biggest potential prizes down the stretch are games at home with Pinrgy Tuesday (weather permitting) and at Bridgewater-Raritan on Thursday. East Brunswick draws Piscataway on Thursday. This is one of the races we’ll be watching closely down the stretch.
Down at seven is Sayreville (12-6, 22.219), inside the top eight bubble, while after Freehold Twp. (9-6, 20.998) there’s Franklin (8-9, 18.423) and Edison (9-7, 18.409) in ninth and tenth. If the Warriors and Eagles can string some wins together, they could very well make a move up, especially as some of their lower level power point games get struck from their charts.
South Brunswick (9-6, 16.391) sits in 13th, a good bet to get in, with probably only one team outside the top 16 likely to get in; a lot of schools would have to pass the Vikings. Less sure is the status of North Brunswick (5-11, 13.462) in 15th and Old Bridge (4-12, 12.919) in 16th, with Manalapan (5-9, 12.833) close behind, but after that, a bunch of four- and three-win teams are longshots, including New Brunswick and Monroe, both 3-12.
Metuchen is having a fine year, 14-2 now after starting the season 11-0. While the dropped a pair to much bigger schools in Old Bridge and Edison, they’ve bounced back with three straight wins, and find themselves in second place in the section at 27.072 power points, but it’s probably unlikely they’ll catch first-place Wall, which is 13-0 with a 31.552 average; four-plus points is a lot to make up, especially with Wall still having three games to play to get to 16 before the lower value games start coming off and they get a boost. The Bulldogs are already there.
The next team from the CJSR coverage area is Spotswood. The Chargers are 9-7 (17.387), and have a significant lead over 17th-place Willingboro (4-9, 11.298), so it’s likely Spotswood makes the playoffs; it’s just a matter of where.
Meanwhile, East Brunswick Magnet (7-10, 11.298) sits in 18th, two spots out of the playoff picture, but less than a point behind Bordentown. It’s doable for the Tigers, if they can go on a late-season run, but it might depend on their strength of schedule.
Thrive Charter (12-2, 25.912) leads the pack, a point-and-a-half or so ahead of Pt. Pleasant Beach (14-3, 24.485). Then, there’s Middlesex (11-5) in third, but not too far back at 22.62 power points. Piscataway Magnet (15-3, 22.387) sits in fourth, so it’s a tight bunch there – just 3.525 points separates the entire bunch. A lot can happen here, as these teams might end up in any combination.
Further down is a stretch of five local teams in six spots, all tightly-packed. That includes Manville (10-6, 17.839) in seventh, followed by South Amboy (12-4, 17.786), Bound Brook (12-5, 15.867), Henry Hudson (10-5, 14.331), Dunellen (8-9, 13.711) and Perth Amboy Magnet (7-6, 12.378) in 12th. We think the Governors and Crusaders have a shot at a top eight finish, but it might be a big ask for Dunellen to make up around a four-point difference, Perth Amboy Magnet even moreso.
Central Jersey College Charter (5-9, 12.177) sits in 15th, but there are five teams behind them in striking distance within two points, so nothing is a lock there.
North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4
The top three are all packed in tightly here, and all from out of the area: Union (14-1, 28.931) first, followed by Bayonne (14-3, 28.545) and Plainfield (15-1, 29.494). The first CJSR team here is Piscataway (12-5, 26.3), which is just a shade ahead of Linden (11-5, 26.179), which has beaten three of the top teams in Somerset County: Rutgers Prep, Gill St. Bernard’s and Montgomery, with the Cougars coming closest of all – within two points back on January third, 53-51.
Right behind Linden is Perth Amboy (15-3, 24.743), which Saturday clinched the White American Division title, its first division crown since 1993. Bridgewater-Raritan (11-4, 19.786) started the year 8-0, but has lost four of seven since, albeit to some strong teams in Immaculata, Rutgers Prep, Gill St. Bernard’s and Hillsborough. The remaining schedule is not easy, but manageable.
Then it’s down to JP Stevens (9-8, 17.421) an 13th and Ridge (6-10, 16.135) in 14th. Neither can be assured of anything, although they should be bottom eight teams, with about 2-3 points separating them from an out-of-the-running finish.
Woodbridge (4-10, 14.752) is in 18th, but not far out of the field, just .714 behind 16th place Westfield (4-12). If the Barrons can pick up some wins, they’ll make themselves a playoff team. It’s there for the taking.
North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3
Millburn (14-2, 23.982) and Warren Hills (11-2, 23.855) are at the top of the pack, and then it’s down to five and six for a pair of CJSR-area teams: South Plainfield (10-7, 20.484) followed by Somerville (11-5, 19.568). Both are within striking distance of at least the third- and fourth-place teams, Chatham (10-4, 20.945) and Randolph (11-6, 20.535).
In the past several years, this section has belonged to Colonia, which has won the last five sectional titles. But right now, the Patriots – who lost a ton to graduation and for other reasons – are sitting at No. 8 (7-8, 19.121). They’ve been improving, so a late run could not only keep them in the top eight, but maybe move them up. Even a top four finish is not out of the question, as they’re just 1.414 points behind Randolph, and almost two points out of third. Don’t count them out!
North Plainfield (8-9, 18.22) checks in at No. 9, and could easily move up with a late season run, gaining a top eight seed and a first round home game.
Down at 16, JFK (8-9, 14.027) is at least on the right side of the bubble, and could move up, but they may also have some teams to fend off behind them, including North Hunterdon (4-9, 14.003, 17th) and Carteret (5-12, 11.267).
North Jersey, Section 2, Group 2
Newark Collegiate (12-3, 25.838) has a nice three-point lead over Caldwell (12-2, 22.761) for first in the section, while the only area team here is Bernards (7-9), which is at 15.841 power points. The Mountaineers are in seventh, with a strong schedule, and we think a good bet to finish in the top eight.
Everyone makes it in this field, but there could be some from out of the area who opt out. Regardless, Gill St. Bernard’s (15-2) has a stranglehold on the top spot, at 15-2 with 33.239 power points, while second-place Morris Catholic (13-3, 27.277) is almost six full points behind, a lot of ground to make up. The next team from the area is Timothy Christian (8.738), which is just 2-12 but sitting at No. 8. Wardlaw-Hartridge (2-7, 7.104) is in 12th. Faced with playing a Gill-like team in the opening round however, either could bow out. Teams like Saddle River Day (0-16), Koinonia (3-10), Hawthorne Christian (0-14) and Franklin School (0-8) in Jersey City also could skip, but if a few stay in, those lower teams could at least get a first round playoff game against each other, if teams like Gill, Morris Catholic (2nd), St. Mary-Rutherford (3rd) and Morristown-Beard (4th), all with double-digit wins, get byes.
The top three here are all packed in tight, with St. Peter’s Prep (13-3, 32.209), Christian Brothers (14-3, 31.618), and Paul VI (12-3, 30.792) sitting at one, two, and three. Three points back is Immaculata (12-3, 27.323), then after Red Bank Catholic (12-4, 26.774), there’s undefeated and rejuvenated St. Joseph-Metuchen at 16-0. The Falcons’ schedule is a bit on the weaker side compared to the others, as out-of-state teams are only assigned a .500 win percentage, and they have five such games on their schedule. However, they appear not to have updated the records of those teams as far as residuals, so they may end up higher simply by fixing that. Stay tuned, as they say.
Pingry sits right behind them for now at No. 7, with an 11-4 record (24.695), and then St. Thomas Aquinas (7-8, 17.476) occupies tenth-place in this 14-team field where everyone should be in. In this case, the top two seeds would get byes, but the goal is still a top eight finish. The Big Blue are on the right side of that bubble, but Aquinas is nearly four points behind eighth-place Camden Catholic (10-5, 21.164) and may need to make a run.
Rutgers Prep (11-6, 27.814) leads the pack here, and has a decent lead at the moment over Holy Cross Prep (12-3, 24.124). IT could come down to those two, depending how they finish out the season. The Argos meet Gill again in a one-off on February second, despite the general Skyland scheduling this year not including home-and-homes this year, in favor of more crossovers between the two big-school divisions, and the two smaller-school groups.
Calvary Christian (4-9, 7.949) sits in 12th in this 14-team bracket, and should end up in the bottom half.
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