1. Warren Central
2. Lexington Catholic
3. North Oldham
4. Frederick Douglass
5. George Rogers Clark
6. Lyon County
7. Great Crossing
8. Covington Catholic
9. Bowling Green
10. Ballard
11. North Laurel
12. Mason County
13. Trinity
14. Collins
15. Male
16. Evangel Christian
17. PRP
18. Western
19. Covington Holy Cross
20. Conner

Dropped Out: Mccracken County (15)
Entered Ranks: Conner (20)
Biggest Movers: Frederick Douglass (+6), Covington Catholic, Ballard, PRP (-3)

Most of the teams remain in the ranks this week, but a quite a bit of shuffling from some interesting results last week.  Chief among those was Frederick Douglass's dominating win over George Rogers Clark, which fueled their rise into the top 5.  They'll get a chance to consolidate that immediately as they take on another top ten team in Ballard this week.  Covington catholic and Ballard both slide down a bit after taking losses to fellow top 20 teams.  Mason County earns the benefit of the doubt for a shorthanded week, thus just swapping spots with North Laurel.  McCracken County has had that benefit of the doubt for a while, but they could no longer hang on to the ranks, which allows Conner to make their debut.

Who is too high? Who is too low? Who should be in, who should be out?

Conner is too low.

1 hour ago, Instride said:

Conner is too low.

At least they finally got some respect and made it in!

16 minutes ago, Adrian Woj Burner said:

At least they finally got some respect and made it in!

Nothing but respect on my end, and I strongly support another team. I wouldn't be surprised to see them at Rupp in March.

28 minutes ago, Runcible Owl said:

Nothing but respect on my end, and I strongly support another team. I wouldn't be surprised to see them at Rupp in March.

They certainly have had the best season.

15 minutes ago, Instride said:

They certainly have had the best season.

See, I wanna push the "?" button, but you know I can't, right? ? 

Looking forward, knock on wood, for a good draw and a rematch. It'll be a great tournament at NKU regardless.

2 minutes ago, Runcible Owl said:

See, I wanna push the "?" button, but you know I can't, right? ? 

Looking forward, knock on wood, for a good draw and a rematch. It'll be a great tournament at NKU regardless.

You are hoping for a covcath/ conner rematch?

29 minutes ago, Instride said:

You are hoping for a covcath/ conner rematch?

I am. I enjoy a well played game, win or lose, and think Coach Otte and the seniors have done a fine job this year.

I think Conner and Cov Holy Cross are both too low. I think they are both top 12-15 teams in the state IMO.

Conner has won 11 of their last 13 games and Holy Cross has lost ONCE since Jan 3rd and won 13 of their last 14. Never seem to move up. 9th region teams are always undervalued (outside of Cov Cath just a fact).

58 minutes ago, Baseball Nut 24 said:

I think Conner and Cov Holy Cross are both too low. I think they are both top 12-15 teams in the state IMO.

Conner has won 11 of their last 13 games and Holy Cross has lost ONCE since Jan 3rd and won 13 of their last 14. Never seem to move up. 9th region teams are always undervalued (outside of Cov Cath just a fact).

No region has more than three teams in the top 20, and the 9th is one of those regions with three (along with the 6th, 7th, and 11th).  So the undervalue part is a bit of a hard sell to me. 

Both of those teams moved up from being outright unranked, and their play during that span is how they overcame a poor start to the year.  Holy Cross has played only one top 20 team in the span you're describing and that was the team they lost to.  One of those two losses for Conner was by 27 to a Grant County team that saw that as their only win in a four game span and has gone 5-4 since that game.  I'm not saying your opinion is wrong that they could be top 12-15 teams - it's all subjective after all.  But it's not as if there's no reason for why they faced an uphill climb.

Also, for the record, I enjoy these debates.  I wouldn't start the thread every week if I didn't! Just don't want anyone think I'm here purely to defensively posture - I value everyone's viewpoints.

6 minutes ago, DragonFire said:

No region has more than three teams in the top 20, and the 9th is one of those regions with three (along with the 6th, 7th, and 11th).  Both of those teams moved up from being outright unranked.  Holy Cross has played only one top 20 team in the span you're describing and that was the team they lost to.  One of those two losses for Conner was by 27 to a Grant County team that saw that as their only win in a four game span and has gone 5-4 since that game.  I'm not saying your opinion is wrong that they could be top 12-15 teams - it's all subjective after all.  But it's not as if there's no reason for why they faced an uphill climb.  I didn't even touch on the poor start to the year for both.

Great points, guess the hot start for North Laurel keeps them in the top 12.

1 minute ago, Instride said:

Great points, guess the hot start for North Laurel keeps them in the top 12.

I take it you feel the schedules for these teams were comparable? That losing to Henry Clay, Saint Henry, etc. is comparable to Bowling Green, North Oldham, and Ballard? It's tough to eval out of state as well, but look at the computer ratings of the teams each have lost to - Madison Central at 361 nationally is the lowest of North Laurel's losses.  Cincinnati Elder at 183 is the only one of Conner's listed as higher than that.  I've picked up on your subtlety that you don't think much of North Laurel, but comparing the resume's of the two, what does Conner have over North Laurel? Not better losses, not the better wins, not the better schedule top to bottom.  It's down to a subjective belief that Conner is better than North Laurel, and again, I'm not going to tell you that you can't be right, but eye test alone is always a difficult one to rely solely on.

We will agree that these polls are 100% "subjective". Polls are more a popularity contest and the pollsters will always favor their region or area of the state. Teams downstate (Lex, Lville, etc) will always get more publicity and coverage than teams in No Ky. I think everyone knows that. 

My argument for Holy Cross is that winning 13 of 14 games and having one loss in 5 weeks (3 pt loss to a top 20 team in Evangel Christian) should be a reason to have them ranked higher that's all I was saying. You play who you have on your schedule. They have played Cov Cath, Great Crossing, Lyon County, Evangel Christian and Conner, all of whom are in the top 20 currently. They are an "A" school who scheduled a great schedule to play tougher teams down state especially over the Lex Cath Holiday tournament.

I appreciate your thought out response Dragon Fire for sure. I just disagree with your angle that only playing one "top 20" team in that span as a measuring stick to not move them higher. And their "poor" start that you mention they played those teams who at the time were - #4 Great Crossing, #3 Cov Cath, #9 Lyon Co and Conner who is in the top 20. Not like they lost to bad teams during that early stretch. Thus the "undervalued part". If they played a soft schedule the narrative would be they haven't played anyone. ?

* Not saying RPI means "everything" but it can't mean nothing. It does measure to a certain extent strength of schedule which is at least part of your argument for not ranking them higher.

Holy Cross 20-6    RPI .629

Conner 17-6      RPI .610

N Laurel 18-10    RPI  .608

* But they have Reed Sheppard so the argument will be different I guess. I'm not saying who is better but if we are looking at how to rank teams we pick and choose what we want to look at depending on the teams.

Maybe I'm wrong and missing something.