2025 has been filled with upsets from start to finish, and Week Nine was bonkers in the upsets department to throw all kinds of wrenches into the rankings order.
With that said, here are AllSportsPeople' CIF-Southern Section top 25 football team rankings for Week 10 of the 2025 season (Oct. 27 - Nov. 2).
SN's CIF-Southern Section high school football top 25 rankings
1. St. John Bosco (9-0 – 1st last week)
The Braves yet again left no doubt in last week's 42-0 blowout of Servite. It's been a long time – at least seven years, and probably longer – since they were this heavy a favorite heading into a matchup with rival Mater Dei, especially in their regular season meeting.
2. Corona Centennial (8-1 – 2nd)
Who else but rival Norco would end up putting the biggest scare into the Huskies during Big West - Upper play. That is, if Centennial doesn't get pushed by high-scoring Chaparral, which is totally possible. Look for the Huskies to come out hungry to make a statement after a tough defensive outing in their 59-49 win against Norco.
3. Sierra Canyon (9-0 – 3rd)
After last week's 40-0 beatdown of Bishop Amat, Sierra Canyon once again wins the Mission League and once again has recorded shutouts in more than half of its games. Even against a Mission League schedule, it's officially safe to say that the Trailblazers have had one of the most dominant defensive campaigns in recent history.
4. Mater Dei (6-2 – 4th)
This hasn't exactly been Mater Dei's year, and St. John Bosco hasn't faltered in the slightest. Despite all that, would anybody be that shocked if the Monarchs upset them on Friday? Probably not. The better question is where that would land them in the rankings.
5. Mission Viejo (8-1 – 5th)
San Clemente beating Los Alamitos was just what the doctor ordered for the Diablos. Now their win over the rival Tritons is worth more, and they've nearly clinched at least a share of the Alpha League title heading into Los Al. Their only disaster scenario would be if Los Al won and San Clemente got upset by Edison (Huntington Beach).
6. Santa Margarita (6-3 – 6th)
A 28-7 win over Orange Lutheran was a nice win for the Eagles, and a win this week against rival JSerra would be another for them to leap Mater die in the rankings assuming Mater Dei falls to St. John Bosco. Santa Margarita seems to present one of the biggest X-factors the Southern Section Division 1 playoff bracket has seen in several years, which could also be said of Sierra Canyon.
7. Servite (5-4 – 8th)
Servite moving up after losing by a score of 42-0 is outright comical without context. But with Orange Lutheran forfeiting wins over Rancho Cucamonga and Miami Northwestern (FL) in addition to almost every team within striking distance of the Friars getting upset, a beatdown at the hands of St. John Bosco isn't that bad.
8. Corona del Mar (9-0 – 11th)
Truly wild times we are living in. Last year, the Sea Kings went 4-6, and missed the playoffs last year, and then graduated many of their best players. And here they are as a legitimate candidate to make Division 1 without picking up a slew of big-name transfers. That would change this week, however, if they get upset by dangerous Yorba Linda.
9. San Juan Hills (7-2 – 12th)
Turns out the Corona del Mar upset loss didn't cost San Juan Hills a shot at its highest ranking yet this season. The Stallions' non-league wins against Chaparral and Chino Hills are worth more than ever now with Chaparral going 3-1 in Big West - Upper play and Chino Hills upsetting Damien in Baseline League play.
10. Murrieta Valley (6-3 – 10th)
We warned you that the rankings got really weird this week, and this is just the start. Murrieta Valley enters Week Nine at No. 10, loses to No. 23 Vista Murrieta, and is still both No. 10 and ahead of Vista Murrieta? Well, the Nighthawks' Week Five win over San Clemente is worth a whole lot more this week, and Vista Murrieta was free to rise quite a bit with its only losses coming to Corona Centennial and Chaparral. In a vacuum, the Vista Murrieta loss hurt the Nighthawks' stock quite a bit, but we still like their body of work over those of all the other teams in this part of the rankings.
11. Orange Lutheran (2-7 – 7th)
Do we actually think that Orange Lutheran is only the 11th best team in the Southern Section? It's most likely a little better than that. But the Lancers just retroactively forfeited marquee wins over Miami Northwestern (FL) and Rancho Cucamonga. That means their only resume bullets of the season right now are decisive wins over JSerra and Serra (Gardena), plus one competitive half against Mater Dei before losing by a respectable score of 25-10. This week's showdown with Servite should be both exciting and meaningful.
12. Vista Murrieta (7-2 – 23rd)
Again, we warned you. We usually don't have a team only one spot back of a team it has a head-to-head advantage over. But it also makes sense to have Vista Murrieta in between a Murrieta Valley team it beat and Chaparral, which it lost to. The fact that the Broncos had home field advantage was also a factor, but they could easily keep rising either way. Other top wins include Beaumont and Bishop Amat.
13. San Clemente (5-4 – 21st)
San Clemente pulls the upset on its home field yet again. It wasn't even close on Friday as the Tritons took down previously unbeaten Los Alamitos 28-9. They also have wins over fast-rising Chino Hills and Chaparral. One certainly could argue that San Clemente is now too high despite all of that due to its season-opening loss to Tustin, but that loss was a long time ago.
14. Chaparral (5-4 – 18th)
The Pumas' losses have come against Mission Viejo, Murrieta Valley, San Clemente, and San Juan Hills, and all those teams are ranked above them. The leap in four spots was due to improved stock for all of those teams but Murrieta Valley. And the team Murrieta Valley lost to, Vista Murrieta, lost to Chaparral less than three weeks ago – and Vista Murrieta is ahead of Chaparral now too. So there's a case to be made that Chaparral's stock is still higher than this ranking shows. Either way, the Pumas could plausibly leap a small handful of the teams ranked above them in the coming weeks.
15. Crean Lutheran (9-0 – 13th)
After getting their most important win of the regular season and clinching an Epsilon League title, Crean Lutheran drops three spots? Again, it's a strange week. The Saints were brilliant in their comeback against Huntington Beach but their first quarter was dreadful, so it's hard to call it an outright stock boost against a team that's very good but nowhere near the statewide rankings picture. The reason they drop, however, is that a leap was warranted for Chaparral, San Clemente, and Vista Murrieta after Vista Murrieta's upset of Murrieta Valley and San Clemente's upset of Los Alamitos. Crean Lutheran is still a possible Division 2 title contender regardless.
16. Los Alamitos (8-1 – 9th)
What to do with Los Al after the upset loss at San Clemente. Of the top teams Los Al has beaten – Inglewood, Serra (Gardena), Granite Hills (El Cajon), and Edison (Huntington Beach) – only Granite Hills has retained its stock all season and is even close to a statewide ranking. Nonetheless, the Griffins have been a well-oiled machine.
17. Pacifica-Oxnard (9-0 – 15th)
Simi Valley is much better than its 3-6 record would indicate, so a 42-20 win against the Pioneers wasn't bad for Pacifica. This week against Bishop Diego is for an undefeated regular season and all the marbles in the Marmonte League.
18. Rancho Cucamonga (5-4 – 16th)
The bad news for Rancho's stock: Chino Hills upset Damien, the top-ranked team the Cougars have beaten this season. The good news for Rancho's stock: the Cougars face Chino Hills this week for an undisputed Baseline League title. They made sure to keep pace by blowing out crosstown arch rival Etiwanda 41-7 last week.
19. Chino Hills (7-2 – Unranked)
From completely unranked to debuting at No. 18 this late in the season? Absolutely. With their only losses coming against San Juan Hills and San Clemente, the Huskies have long only needed a marquee win to have a chance at a surge in the rankings, and they got it with a 27-19 upset of Damien to stay in the Baseline League title race.
20. Damien (7-2 – 14th)
The Chino Hills loss has to hurt. But Damien will presumably either stay in Division 2 or drop down to Division 3 where it'd be a heavy favorite to make a finals run. So it's probably not the end of the world, or even close to it. The Spartans look to regain momentum this week against struggling Ayala.
21. Tustin (8-1 – 20th)
San Clemente just shot up the rankings for upsetting Los Alamitos, so one could make the case that Tustin should be higher thanks to its season-opening 30-17 win over San Clemente. If not for the 24-7 loss to Damien, which is more recent, Tustin would be quite a bit higher. So the Tillers are one of two or three teams to get the short end of the who-beat-who stick this week, but that means there's not much resistance to them rising considerably as time goes on.
22. JSerra (3-6 – 17th)
With Damien falling, JSerra must as well. This week it looks to break its four-game slide with an upset over traditional rival Santa Margarita.
23. Leuzinger (7-1 – 19th)
As Damien falls, JSerra falls, and that means Leuzinger must too. Last week's 27-14 win against Mira Costa to clinch a Bay League title was nice though. Leuzinger will be a very interesting team to watch this postseason without a clear playoff floor or ceiling.
24. Downey (8-1 – 22nd)
After beating Warren 27-7 last year and 40-0 last week, Downey is rapidly changing the dynamic of its crosstown rivalry. Warren will have to be more competitive for this to really stay a rivalry, but Downey is set to graduate a tremendous senior class, so we'll see. Anywho, the Vikings close the regular season against Dominguez with a Gateway League title already secured.
25. Yorba Linda (7-2 – 24th)
It's finally the Mustangs' shot to climb back into a three-way tie for first in the Bravo League as they host Corona del Mar.
ON THE BUBBLE:
Oak Hills, Norco, Laguna Beach, Aquinas, Charter Oak