Happy Labor Day weekend to everyone. Of course, it was also the start of football season, a bit more of a holiday for me. College season started Thursday, most high schools around the country kicked off Friday and the NFL is around the corner next Thursday.

As for us, we have to wait for Friday night. Most teams around Kern County actually have to wait for Sept. 12, the following Friday, but since I'm selfish, I don't feel too sorry for them.

Anyway, the CIF expanded its three-year-old bowl championship system (yep, that's BCS for you) from three to five games this year. Last year, it was Division I, II and III, each one for a big, medium and small-sized school from each Southern and Northern California.

Now, they've added an "open" division, which is for the best SoCal and NorCal teams regardless of size, and a "small-school" division, for schools under 500 students in the south and 400 students in the north. A school from any division is eligible for the Open game and small schools are also eligible for the D-III game.

Now that we have that explained, let's take a quick gander at each of the divisions and the favorites, statewide. Keep in mind that I'm not a huge expert on the rest of the state's football, but I'll give it whirl.

OPEN DIVISION

Overview: Again, schools of any size are eligible to compete here, but it'd be a good bet to say the biggest schools will be most competitive. Concord-De La Salle has been in each of the first two D-I championship games, winning last year's, so they'd be a good choice here. Last year's SoCal representative was Corona-Centennial.

Favorites: De La Salle, Corona-Centennial, Long Beach-Poly, San Diego-Oceanside, La Mesa-Helix, Corona-Santiago

Central Section teams in the mix: Clovis West, Bakersfield, Fresno-Edison, Visalia-El Diamante

DIVISION I

Overview: Because of the nature of the open division, some big schools might have two chances to be picked for a state-title game. That means one-loss teams (like a Bakersfield from last year) might be considered here, though in any case, you had better have a strong schedule. That's why you see early-season games like BHS vs. Canyon.

Favorites: De La Salle, Corona-Centennial, Long Beach-Poly, Redlands East Valley, La Mesa-Helix, Corona-Santiago, Carlsbad-La Costa Canyon, San Jose-Bellarmine Prep, Napa, Gilroy

Central Section teams in the mix: Clovis West, Bakersfield

DIVISION II

Overview: Orange-Lutheran and Oceanside have won the first two D-II championships, and I'd say they've got a leg up on the competition here. Seems to be a big advantage for Southern Cal in this bracket.

Favorites: Oceanside, Orange-Lutheran, Encino-Crespi, Santa Ana-Mater Dei, Stockton-St. Mary's, Novato

Central Section teams in the mix: Fresno-Edison, Visalia-El Diamante, Tulare Union

DIVISION III

Overview: Strange division. There don't appear to be a lot of heavyweights toward the top of the enrollment bracket (1,100 students is the limit), so you could see schools down in the 600-700 range make a run at this game. Two of them meet in week 0: Westlake Village-Oaks Christian at Bakersfield Christian

Favorites: Westlake Village-Oaks Christian, Ventura-St. Bonaventure, Gardena-Serra, Santa Fe Springs-St. Paul, Oxnard-Santa Clara, Santa Rosa-Cardinal Newman, Sutter, Modesto-Central Catholic

Central Section teams in the mix: Bakersfield Christian, Fowler, Corcoran, Taft

SMALL SCHOOLS

Overview: When you get into the sub-500 range, you're talking very small schools. Even Bakersfield Christian is at 509 by the CIF's latest released numbers (there's one more version to come out, so it's possible the Eagles will drop into eligibility for the SS bowl). And each of these schools technically has three chances to make a bowl game: the open division (though that's unlikely), the D-III game and the Small School game. So lots of opportunities for some schools you might not have heard of, or at least that you wouldn't think of as football powerhouses.

Favorites: San Juan Capistrano-St. Margaret's, Oxnard-Santa Clara, El Cajon-Christian, L.A.-Brentwood, Ferndale, Modesto Christian, Hamilton City, Sacramento-Capital Christian

Central Section teams in the mix: Not many. Maybe Visalia-Central Valley Christian. Bakersfield Christian if it magically drops 10 students in the next CIF enrollment release.

Check next week for football podcasts and game predictions, plus we'll resume normal coverage of other sports.