Statewide Rankings: Week 3

[DragonFire]

 

[DragonFire]

-It amuses me that apparently Nations Elite hasn't noticed that they still have "Preseason Top 25" on their very obviously not preseason ranking image.

-No unanimous #1 this week, and it's apparent which rankings were released before and after Monday's games, as St. X is still the #1 on average with Male behind them.  That'll flip next week, and it would be surprising if Male wasn't a consensus #1 next week.

-We still have four consensus top 5 teams, but Male joins the group with Covington Catholic not part of the consensus (more on that in a second).  St. X, Male, Frederick Douglass, and Madison Central are in every top five.  Covington Catholic is in three of the four, but drops to #10 in Nations Elite rankings, from #2 last week, which frankly, is inexplicable.  Their only loss was to Male by eight during the KOB.  They beat North Laurel, who Nations Eilte ranks 15th in the same week.  An eight spot drop makes no sense, and it did Nations Elite no favors that Covington Catholic absolutely dragged North Oldham, who they had freshly elevated to sixth in those rankings.  Expect a course correction next week for a team that probably deserves to be in every top 5.  Daviess County (NE #4) was the only other team rated in a top 5.

-All six of those teams were consensus top 10 teams, joined by Butler and Warren Central who were in the top of every poll.  Butler was rated ahead of Warren Central in half of the polls, something that will also probably flip after the Dragons knocked off Butler on Monday.  North Oldham, George Rogers Clark, Lexington Catholic, North Laurel, and Seneca were teams that appeared in at least one top ten.

-The rise for Seneca into a top ten has been meteoric, as they were unranked in all polls just two weeks ago, and were not even a consensus top 25 team last week.  They did lose on Monday to McCracken County, which will likely knock them from the top ten, but they have played an outstanding schedule, going 3-2 against teams that are ranked in at least one poll, and are 5-2 overall.  The elevation to #8 by Nations Elite meant that Seneca ended up with the widest disparity of ranking this week, with 14 spots separating their high in that poll and the #22 ranking given by Kentucky High School Sports Zone. 

-Second widest disparity this week? For the second week in a row, McCracken County has a very wide difference in high to low rank.  Nations Elite and KSR both have them 11th, NextUp Recruits has them 13th, and Kentucky High School Sports Zone stood pat at 24th, just as they were last week, giving them a range of 13 spots from high to low.  
The Mustangs are 7-1 on the year, with their only loss coming to Archbishop Alter (OH) by four points on Saturday.  I'd say the Seneca result will lead to KYHSZ elevating them, but then again, KYHSZ has Seneca 22nd, so maybe not much.  

-Both Highlands and South Oldham returned to the ranks after being initially ranked two weeks ago but dropping last week.  Highlands was in three polls, unranked only by KYHSZ.  Highlands is a perfect 7-0 on the year, so if you wondered why they would have dropped last week without a loss, you'd certainly not be alone.  They've played only one game within 10 points all year, and it was after last week's ranks - just strange.  That they're not consensus this week is likewise strange, given they beat Ballard on Saturday, who KYHSZ has ranked 17th.   Unbeaten, beat one of your ranked teams, naturally they're unranked..... Meanwhile South Oldham returned via Nations Elite and NextUp Recruits after a week that saw them narrowly edge out Bryan Station after beginning the week with a loss to Christian Academy-Louisville.  It's no surprise South Oldham was unranked by KYHSZ, they only beat a team that KYHSZ has ranked ELEVENTH. 

-Exiting the rankings this week after being ranked last week - Grayson County, Great Crossing, Lyon County, and Woodford County.  The former three had been ranked by at least one outlet the first two weeks, while Woodford County was a one-week wonder.

-Entering the rankings for the first time this week were Pikeville (NUR #20), Pulaski County (NE #23), and WEB Dubois (KYHSZ #23).  

-All three of those are unicorns (teams ranked by only one outlet), joined by four others - ALL ranked only by Kentucky High School Sports Zone: Montgomery County (#11), Bryan Station (#14), Caverna (#18), and Jeffersontown (#20).  That gives that outlet five of the seven unicorns, continuing their streak of being out on a limb.  This week seems especially bad or them, as their ranking oddities are many.  Montgomery County nearly being a top ten team despite being unranked by every other poll stands out.  They did have a perfect week prior to Monday, losing to Covington Holy Cross on the 22nd.  It still doesn't explain why they'd be ranked 10 spots ahead of a Russell team that beat them by 18 just 11 days ago.  And their ranks came out before South Laurel was similarly destroyed by South Laurel on Monday, so it's just odd.  Bryan Station has played a brutal schedule and lost to three teams that are ranked, so that limb doesn't seem as bad.  It's actually a bit more surprising every other outlet dropped them.  

-Through three weeks, KSR has yet to have a team that no one else had ranked.  

-Only 17 teams were ranked in all four polls, down from 18 the previous two weeks:
St. X
Male
Frederick Douglass
Madison Central
Covington Catholic
Daviess County
Butler
Warren Central
North Oldham
George Rogers Clark
Lexington Catholic
North Laurel
Seneca
McCracken County
Ashland
Boyd County
Marshall County

-Marshall County is the lowest average rank of the consensus rated, with an average rank of 20.25, with a low rank of #25, that being by, who else, Kentucky High School Sports Zone.

-34 teams were ranked in at least one poll this week, up from 33 teams the past two weeks.  

[DragonFire]

A bonus rank from Jason Frakes - the first media poll won't be out until January, but these would be his top ten currently:

Rankings very obviously influenced by the King of the Bluegrass.  Three of the top four were semifinalists in the tournament, with Covington Catholic (finished fifth) a quarterfinalist who lost to Male.  Warren Central won the consolation bracket over Butler, Frederick Douglass was a semifinalist, and North Oldham finished sixth with losses only to St. X and CovCath.  In all, eight of the ten teams he ranked competed in the tournament.

[16thBBall Fan]

Maybe for the first time ever two of the polls KSR and Kentucky High School Sports Zone have 3 teams from the 16th region in the top 25. Ashland, Boyd County, and Russell.

[Tigerpride94]

Maxpreps Top 100 National rankings has Male #69 and St. X #73. Cov. Catholic #81. 

[Tigerpride94]

Maxpreps Top 25. 

[Runcible Owl]

📊 Massey Ratings: For games through *Sunday, December 21*

2️⃣5️⃣ The Best of the Bluegrass:

1. St. Xavier, 2. F Douglass, 3. Cov Cath, 4. Madison Cent, 5. Male

6. N Oldham, 7. Warren Cent, 8, Ashland, 9. Butler, 10. Cov Holy Cross

11. Highlands, 12. Daviess Co, 13. GR Clark, 14. Manual, 15. McCracken Co 

16. Ballard, 17. Lex Cath, 18. Pleasure Ridge Park, 19. Great Crossing, 20. Campbell Co

21. Eastern, 22. Henderson Co. 23. Marshall Co, 24. N Laurel, 25. Woodford Co 

🇺🇲 US Ranking ~ KY Top 10:

38. St. Xavier, 130. F Douglass, 137. Cov Cath, 174. Madison Cent, 198. Male

311. N Oldham, 339. Warren Cent, 360. Ashland, 496. Butler, 569. Cov Holy Cross 

🆘️ Strength of Schedule *through 12/21*

1. Cooper, 2. Trinity, 3. Warren Cent, 4. St. Xavier, 5. S Kenton 

6. F Douglass, 7. Manual, 8. St. Henry, 9. Cov Cath, 10. N Oldham 

11. Ryle, 12. Madison Cent, 13. Boyd Co, 14. N Laurel, 15. Ballard 

16. GRC, 17. Male, 18. J'town, 19. Moore, 20. Grayson Co 

21. Great Crossing, 22. CAL, 23. Fairdale, 24. Lex Cath, 25. Frankfort 

🔗 masseyratings.com/hsbb/KY Boys

[The Professor]

I think Montgomery County will move up when guard Austin Sears becomes eligible. I hear it could be any day now. 

[24Rocks]

How many of these teams will be in the All A tournament?

[Runcible Owl]

3 hours ago, 24Rocks said:

How many of these teams will be in the All A tournament?

From looking at last year's entries, who's eligible, and those mentioned above: Covington Holy Cross, Danville Christian, and Pikeville.

I know you're familiar with the Massey Ratings. For others interested, from the Top 100:

Rank, Team, (Region)

10. Cov Holy Cross (R9), 26. Beechwood (R9), 28. DCA (R12), 32. Pikeville (R15), 40. WEB Dubois (R6)

41. Newport (R9), 43. Clinton Co (R4), 50. Lyon Co (R2), 57. Evangel (R6), 68. Caverna (R5)

70. O'boro Cath (R3), 73. Walton-Verona (R8), 90. Sayre (R11), 91. Hazard (R14), 94. LCA (R11), 100. Paintsville (R15)

[24Rocks]

3 hours ago, Runcible Owl said:

From looking at last year's entries, who's eligible, and those mentioned above: Covington Holy Cross, Danville Christian, and Pikeville.

I know you're familiar with the Massey Ratings. For others interested, from the Top 100:

Rank, Team, (Region)

10. Cov Holy Cross (R9), 26. Beechwood (R9), 28. DCA (R12), 32. Pikeville (R15), 40. WEB Dubois (R6)

41. Newport (R9), 43. Clinton Co (R4), 50. Lyon Co (R2), 57. Evangel (R6), 68. Caverna (R5)

70. O'boro Cath (R3), 73. Walton-Verona (R8), 90. Sayre (R11), 91. Hazard (R14), 94. LCA (R11), 100. Paintsville (R15)

Thanks for the info.