The brackets are out for the state high school basketball playoffs and, as always, there were eyebrows raised, heads scratched and questions uttered.

“If you’re trying to make sense of this, you might as well stop,” one coach said Sunday.

Well, call us stubborn.

Some teams got a raw deal, some teams got a good one. Happens every year, particularly since the California Interscholastic Federation implemented a competitive equity format five years ago.

For those new to the scene, here is a synopsis: The teams that qualify for the state playoffs are ranked by their own section. The sections – 10 in all – send their lists to the CIF office.

Then the section commissioners, their assistants and CIF officials meet to decide where to place the teams, ranking them in order from No. 1 to the last one on the board.

Some years, the top division – i.e. the Open – will have eight teams.

In other years it might have six or seven.

This year, the committee thought five was the appropriate amount in both the North and South regionals, boys and girls.

From there, the next 16 teams are placed into Division I, followed by 16 in Division II and down the line through the eight-team Division VI.

The questions began when the brackets were made public around 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

We had a few, too. So we reached out to CIF.

Here is our conversation with Brian Seymour, the CIF’s associate executive director.

Darren Sabedra: Does the committee have the right to tweak the lists submitted by the sections?

Seymour:  We try to stay to that. However, when we all get together, there is cooperation to make changes where it’s clear this would be better for the tournament. Most of the time it’s probably closer to the actual list. But there are instances when we all get together and say, ‘If we make that tweak, that makes sense.'”

Sabedra: Did the Central Coast Section submit the Archbishop Mitty boys above Sacred Heart Cathedral? (SHC won the CCS Open Division title as a No. 7 seed. Mitty and Archbishop Riordan were the top two seeds but didn’t reach the final).

Seymour: Yes. Absolutely.

Sabedra: Did the NCS send its six Open teams above everyone else from the section?

Seymour: Yes, that’s how they do that. That is correct.

Sabedra: How did NCS Division I boys champion Clayton Valley Charter get ranked below St. Ignatius? (CVC is the No. 1 seed in Division II. SI was seeded No. 16 in Division I. The San Francisco school has a MaxPreps state computer rating of 130, 97 spots behind CVC)

Seymour: The committee had SI and Sacred Heart Prep above them and University. (SHP was seeded 15th in Division I, one spot behind University)

Sabedra: The Las Lomas boys lost to Campolindo by a point in the NCS Division II final and beat Campo on the road by 20 late in the season. Why the large gap between the teams in the state brackets? (Campo is seeded No. 13 in Division I. Las Lomas is seeded No. 1 in Division III, a 20-spot difference)

Seymour: It’s one of those ones when the section has their order and then you have other teams from other sections that end up pushing teams down or pushing teams up. That’s how that occurred.

Sabedra: Were the Piedmont girls the No. 1 team on the NCS’s list? (Piedmont was ineligible to play in the NCS Open because it is a Division IV team — only Divisions I, II and III teams are allowed — but was eligible for the state Open)

Seymour: They were the No. 1 team on their list.

Sabedra: Did Piedmont get the No. 1 seed in the NorCal Open over Mitty because of the head-to-head result in December? (Piedmont beat Mitty 60-56 on Dec. 10)

Seymour: That’s what it came down to. Absolutely. That’s what the committee looks at. Whenever we’re splitting hairs between two teams, it comes down to, ‘Did they play each other?’ That’s the trump card, so to speak.

Sabedra: What was the difference between Modesto Christian and Dougherty Valley for the No. 1 seed in the boys Open Division? (MC is the top seed)

Seymour: It was back and forth amongst the group for the last four days. Finally, based on everything that they looked at, the consensus pick was Modesto Christian. But they are literally 1 and 1A.

Sabedra: If those teams were to play in the NorCal final, would that be played at MC?

Seymour: It doesn’t make a difference for what division. For every game there are gym size issues or location issues or things of that nature, we will always try to work with those schools to accommodate those.

Sabedra: What are the larger gyms around Modesto that MC has used?

Seymour: There are a couple of different places where they can stay within their community and go to. In the past, I think they have used Modesto JC a couple of times. There are some places they can look at doing.

Sabedra: Why are only five teams in the Open Division brackets?

Seymour: Here is what it came down to. Across the state, if you look at the South, in the girls, it’s very clear that five is the number. Everybody else for the girls down South needs to play in Division I. The depth in the North for the girls is a little bit deeper. But there is no reason to change anything. So you keep them the same, at five. Then in the South for the boys, there is no reason to have more of a replay of the Southern Section championships. It’s very clear who the teams are down there and the same here in the North. It’s different every year. But this year it was just very clear. There was no debate on that. This is the way it should be.