*Once again, St. X is the unchallenged #1, ranked at the top of all four polls.  They've absolutely murdered the Kentucky teams they've played so far, winning by 48, 58, and 74 in their three contests against teams from the Bluegrass state.  They take aim at the King of the Bluegrass next.

*As with last week, Covington Catholic, Madison Central, and Frederick Douglass are all consensus top 5 teams.  Daviess County (NE #3), Male (KSR and NUR #5), and North Laurel (KYHSZ #5) are the teams that made an appearance in the top five otherwise.

*Seven teams are consensus top ten this week, down from eight last week.  St. X, Covington Catholic, Madison Central, Frederick Douglass, Daviess County, Male, and Bryan Station are in the top ten for each of the four polls.

*No team had a greater disparity of rank this week than McCracken County.  Nation's Elite has them rated in the top ten, all the way at #8.  KSR and Next Up Recruits have more modest #14 and #13 ranks, respectively.  But Kentucky High School Sports Zone has them alllll the way down at #24.  They were unranked by KYHSZ entirely last week, so they're taking baby steps, it would seem. 

*Ballard was another team that had a pretty wide disparity of rank.  KYHSZ had them at a high water mark of #12, while Next Up Recruits had them barely hanging onto the ranks at all, slotting in at #25.

*Five teams entered the ranks for the first time.  Seneca jumped into three polls, ranked as high as #17 with only KYHSZ leaving them off.  Woodford County was similarly ranked in all but KYHSZ, with a high of #21.  Christian Academy-Louisville (NUR #18), Russell (KYHSZ #23), and Taylor County (NE #24) also jumped into the polls.

*Exiting the ranks from last week were Calloway County (they've lost three straight, including a 1 point loss to Graves County), Highlands (for... reasons, I suppose since they're unbeaten and hasn't won by fewer than 20), Lawrence County (loss to Pikeville), PRP (loss to Manual), and South Oldham (losses to Pulaski County and Christian Academy-Louisville).  Highlands was ranked only by Nations Elite last week, but it is quite strange to drop them after their performances.

*There were seven unicorns again this week (team ranked by only a single outlet).  As usual, Kentucky High School Sports Zone is the believer in most, with five.  Those were Montgomery County (KYHSZ 17), Covington Holy Cross (KYHSZ 20), Great Crossing (KYHSZ 21), Jeffersontown (KYHSZ 22), and Russell (KYHSZ 23).  Montgomery County is an interesting one to hang on, checking in at just 1-2 including an 18 point loss to Russell. Jeffersontown is also a strange one to stick in their ranks, given they lost to PRP, who they also dropped. Also ranked by just one outlet were Christian Academy-Louisville (NUR 18), and Taylor County (NE 24).  As with last week, KSR had none.

*18 teams were ranked in all four polls, same as last week:
St. X
Covington Catholic
Madison Central
Frederick Douglass
Daviess County
Male
Bryan Station
North Laurel
Warren Central
Lexington Catholic
Butler
George Rogers Clark
Grayson County
North Oldham
McCracken County
Ashland
Ballard
Boyd County

*Boyd County is the lowest average rank of the consensus rated, with an average rank of 19.5, with a low rank of #23.

*As with last week, 33 teams are ranked in at least one poll this week.

 

? Massey Ratings: Dec 15 edition.

● Major Corrections ~

In the years I've followed MR, there has never been as much movement week over week, even at the start of a season, as has happened here. The top five remain solid. Total chaos reigns elsewhere, as ten teams listed below are +/- 10 places this week.

NKY hoops fans who believe their area has been underrepresented thus far in the various polls/rankings can take solace from the Professor. Two teams join the Top 25, though losing one, two more on the cusp, and the gap between the best and the rest of the 9th Region has narrowed.

? Joining* the Top 25 ~

12. McCracken Co 20. Highlands, 22. Newport, 25. Clay Co

? Leaving the Top 25 ~

26. Daviess Co, 31. Marshall Co, 32. Eastern, 36. Lloyd Memorial 

2️⃣5️⃣ The Ratings ~

1. St. Xavier, 2. Cov Cath, 3. F Douglass, 4. N Oldham, 5. Warren Cent

6. Madison Cent, 7. Male, 8. Ballard, 9. Ashland, 10. Cov Holy Cross 

11. Butler, 12. McCracken Co*, 13. Henderson Co, 14. Great Crossing, 15. Woodford Co 

16. Lex Cath, 17. Manual, 18. Bryan Stn, 19. Trinity, 20. Highlands*

21. N Laurel, 22. Newport*, 23. PRP, 24. GRC, 25. Clay Co*

✅️ Complete statewide ratings here:

masseyratings.com/hsbb/KY Boys

? Would recommend looking at the numerical ratings for context (in addition to place), e.g. 1. St. Xavier 8.15 for proper scaling between teams.

? Included with MR, sortable catagories: Schedule Strength, Off/Def ratings, and schools alphabetically, etc.

???????

Bump.