Well the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I football regular season is in the books and it's time for the playoffs. Time to win or go home. But, before we look ahead to the postseason, let's take a look back as our preseason picks we made back in July as part of our annual Prep Football Preview.

In the OIA D1 Blue, we picked the teams to finish in this order:
1. Mililani (7-0)
2. Farrington (6-1)
3. Campbell (5-2)
4. Kapolei (3-4)
5. Moanalua (2-5)
6. Aiea (2-5)
7. Kailua (1-6)

Here's how they finished:
1. Mililani (7-0)
2. Farrington (6-1)
3. Campbell (5-2)
4. Kapolei (3-4)
5. Moanalua (3-4)
6. Aiea (2-5)
7. Kailua (0-7)

OK, so not bad. To be honest, Mililani was a clear-cut favorite in our eyes with Farrington and Campbell a close second and third — the Govs' 29-27 win over the Sabers Saturday proved that to be true — and a talented Kapolei team just behind them. Moanalua started off the season hot with a road win at Waianae, but has had its share of defensive struggles. After a season-opening 52-7 loss at Kaiser (which the Cougars had to forfeit after the fact), Aiea did enough to get into the playoffs, while Kailua went winless under first-year coach Hauoli Wong in 2014 and missed the postseason.

As for the Red? Well, that's where we ate some humble pie. Here's how we picked them to finish back in July:
1. Kahuku (7-0)
2. Waianae (6-1)
3. Leilehua (5-2)
4. Waipahu (2-5)
5. McKinley (1-6)
6. Castle (1-6)
7. Kaiser (0-7)

Here's how they finished:
1. Kahuku (6-1)
2. Leilehua (6-1)
3. Waianae (4-3)
4. Kaiser (4-3)
5. Castle (2-5)
6. Waipahu (1-6)
7. McKinley (0-7)

Obviously, I underestimated Kaiser and overestimated Waipahu and McKinley. What the Cougars have been able to do with a first-year head coach in Cameron Higgins and after a step up from Division II has been impressive, to say the least. My biggest question mark surrounding this team coming into the season was if it had the toughness to hang in D1. Clearly, they proved me wrong with a resounding 20-19 win over perennial-power Kahuku. As for Waipahu and McKinley, both teams struggled to even put enough healthy players on the field at times this year. Both ended up forfeiting a game this season: McKinley to Mililani in a crossover game and Waipahu in-game against Farrington that same weekend.

It's no easy task projecting the season for the state's 46 varsity teams, but it's something we take a great deal of pride in. We try our best to gain insight on each team as best as possible. The best way, of course, is first hand — through practices, scrimmages and talking to coaches — but it's still no exact science and, as coaches say, that's why they play the game.

Hitting the Blue Division on the head is a feather in our cap, sure, but missing on teams like Kaiser and Leilehua, to an extent, drives us to do better next time. Part of the job is putting ourselves out there and when we mess up, part of the job is to take ownership for it, but now is the time of the year that everyone looks forward to the most and if the regular season was any indication, it should be a great OIA tournament.