I guess my West side bias is coming out, but I see it as

 

1. CAL

2. DeSales

3. Mayfield

4. Danville

5. LCA

 

CAL will be solid again. I do think losing Paulson is going to be a blow. He'll be hard to replace. DeSales was very young this season, the defense should be just as good if not better. Our Soph QB should be improved as well. We had a handful of freshman that played this season, and got some valuable experience. Mayfield is Mayfield, so they will be there. They will have home field in the semi's this year, so that might make them the favorite. The East side 2 team race. Danville and LCA.

Don't sleep on LCA... they beat Danville and nearly beat them again and return all sorts of playmakers

 

My wayyyy too early picks

 

1. CAL

2. Danville

3. LCA

4. DeSales

5. Mayfield

6. OCath

7. NewCath

8. Walton-Verona

9. Somerset

10. Leslie County

11. Murray

12. Holy Cross

13. Glasgow

14. Lloyd Memorial

15. Pburg

 

I agree with LCA!

I don't think anyone is sleeping on LCA are they?

I don't think anyone is sleeping on LCA are they?

 

Seeing some predictions in the 5-6 range...

CAL lost a ton with that senior group. Lagestee, Paulson, Purvis, Young, Thompson, Babin, etc is going to be tough to replace. That D-Line and MLB kept them in a lot of games. The O should be ok anytime you have Milton Wright. Carr will only get better and 3 OL return. I am sure they have some pieces waiting to step in. But Danville loses 3 starters. Yes losing Dampier is tough but is he all they had? No one who can step in at all. I watched the final and they played tough (VanCleave is very good!) vs CAL and CAL's defense up front had a lot to do with stopping Danville's offense and winning. CAL loses the core of that talented group. Can someone explain why Danville is not pre-season #1.

To answer your question, there were at least 3 and possibly 4 teams from the west side of the bracket that could have beaten Danville this year or, at the very least, would have been favored, plus LCA was at least there equal. LCA returns all there skill kids, CAL has 2 fantastic underclass men coming up, OB Catholic returns nearly intact, too, Desales simply has a deeper roster and Mayfield also returns a lot with some good underclassmen coming in. Danville will be right there in the mix, for sure, but, a lot of strong 2a teams coming in next year. Honestly, you could probably throw 6 or 7 teams in a hat and pull them out and you wouldn't get much argument regardless of the order. Very strong and balanced next class.

Very likely the most competitive class for 2017.

 

I could very easily see 6 to 8 different teams making it to WKU next season!

I agree that Walton-Verona should definitely be considered in the top 15.

 

And I will repeat again what I said above - it will be a major accomplishment for Holy Cross to get to .500 next year based on everything they are losing.

 

Completely agree.

LCA and Danville will both be good next year. LCA will be dangerous on offense next year, and Danville loses one player on Defense next year. Flat out war next year with LCA and Danville!

Ttt

Congrats Rambo on Maloney and Williams All-State selections. I'm looking forward to you guys coming to Mayfield next year. Feel free to leave the Williams kid back home though. I'm good with just watching him on film, I don't need to see my guys trying to tackle him in person.

I expect OB Catholic to be a load to deal with next year. A lot of good, young talent on that team. Offensively, they'll be right there with any other 2a team. They'll need to get better defensively to compete with the elite teams in their class, but, they should be bigger and stronger in the trenches, so, I expect them to make that necessary improvement to be a top contender. I don't see anyone in there district that will compete with them. I expect Butler to take a step back with the loss of Henderson, Todd just isn't very good, Hancock is still in rebuilding mode. McLean Co returns a pretty good nucleus from a decent team, so, that'll likely be their biggest challenger, but, still, imo, 2-3 Tds below the Aces.

I agree with MHs cardinal. I expect Owensboro catholic to be good. They return in my opinion the best returning Qb/RB duo in the state. These 2 should keep most any team honest. Also return excellent receiver (mills) DL (Todd) and big lineman (hall). If they can come up with some other guys to catch the ball and a few decent lineman they should be a tough out. Need some help on D, but they seem to figure that out. I'd expect them to get to Mayfield again and roll the dice. The 2 sophomores at Qb and Rb are very good. I'd expect them both to be back much bigger, stronger and smarter.

I agree with MHs cardinal. I expect Owensboro catholic to be good. They return in my opinion the best returning Qb/RB duo in the state. These 2 should keep most any team honest. Also return excellent receiver (mills) DL (Todd) and big lineman (hall). If they can come up with some other guys to catch the ball and a few decent lineman they should be a tough out. Need some help on D, but they seem to figure that out. I'd expect them to get to Mayfield again and roll the dice. The 2 sophomores at Qb and Rb are very good. I'd expect them both to be back much bigger, stronger and smarter.

 

They had linemen and a skilled player sit out last year due to transfer rule. They should be helpful next year.

 

If Nick Blair comes back from travel baseball and plays next year they will be just fine on defense. If not they will still be very good on defense.

Will Stand by this until proven wrong. Best player in 2A shares reps at LCA.