October 18, 2009

Dallas Jackson
Rivals High Senior Analyst

Dallas Jackson is the high school sports expert for RivalsHigh.com. Send him a question or comment at DallasJ@Yahoo-Inc.com and follow him at twitter.com/rivalshigh.

The new RivalsHigh Top 100 rankings will be posted on Monday, but here's a sneak peak at some of the things we're looking at across the country:

Close shaves cost teams slots

Here's what we think is the best part of the RivalsHigh 100: Our weekly re-evaluation of teams. Our extensive network allow us to see more games, scout more teams, and make more proactive movements, giving us the most fluid poll in the nation. A "win-and-advance" mentality doesn't fly with us. Big movements in the RivalsHigh 100 can come after a loss or a victory.

This week several of the nation's top teams will be sliding down based on sub-par performances against teams they were expected to show well against.

Round Rock (Texas) Stony Point, previously No. 22 nationally, will take a fall down the Texas state as well as national rankings following a 21-14 win over four-loss Austin (Texas) McNeil. Stony Point is only the second team this season to fail to break the 35-point barrier against a weak McNeil defense and will fall from its spot in the Texas top five.

Another member of last week's Top 25 which will be slipping down the ranking is Cincinnati (Ohio) St. Xavier, which narrowly escaped Lakewood (Ohio) St. Edward, 3-2. Despite playing the toughest schedule in the nation, a 3-2 win over an underperforming team will not keep St. X with its lofty perch at No. 24.

Four moves also will be made in Florida as previously ranked No. 26 Miami (Fl.) Booker T. Washington, No. 38 Miami (Fl.) Northwestern and No. 55 Bradenton (Fl.) Manatee combined to win their three games by 11 total points.

New No. 1s

Five states will have new No. 1 teams this week, with three of those team making RivalsHigh 100 debuts for 2009.

In Pennsylvania, the Monroeville (Pa.) Gateway Gators will move past Lansdale (Pa.) North Penn and Harrisburg (Pa.) Bishop McDevitt from No. 3 in state to No.1 and into the top 50.

Michigan's new top team also will jump from No. 3 to No. 1 in the state as Grand Rapids (Mich.) East Grand Rapids will vault up to the top spot after defeating the state's current No. 5 team Lowell (Mich.) High.

Also joining the RivalsHigh 100 this week will be the new No. 1 teams from Oregon, Nebraska, and Hawaii.

In Oregon, Eugene (Ore.) Sheldon will take over the No. 1 spot from Portland (Ore.) Jesuit as well as claim Jesuit's spot in the 100. The Irish have been dominating teams while Jesuit has struggled - including last week's 24-23 escape of Portland (Ore.) Westview.

The No. 1 team in Nebraska will re-enter the ranking as Millard (Neb.) South will crack the RivalsHigh 100. The Patriots are 8-0 and have scored over 40 points in each of their past five games.

The last No. 1 to make their mark in the RivalsHigh 100 will be Kahuku (Hawaii) High. The Red Raiders made it through regular-season play undefeated at 8-0 and are set to begin play in the state playoffs. Their best win was early in the season against Honolulu (Hawaii.) Punahou.

California Dreamin'

Formerly No. 51 ranked San Diego (Calif.) Catholic Dons will fall out of the rankings this week following a 22-21 loss. They will not be the only California team to take a fall as Sherman Oaks (Calif.) Notre Dame will fall from No. 79 to the outside of the rankings despite a 28-24 win over La Canada (Calif.) St. Francis. Notre Dame's win would not have be as damning if not for the loss to Moorpark (Calif.) High earlier in the season.

The drop out of the rankings for those two teams would have left The Golden State with just eight teams in the RivalsHigh 100. However, two squads who were on the fringe will make the climb into the rankings with La Puente (Calif.) Bishop Amat and Stockton (Calif.) St. Mary's joining the top 100.

Ventura (Calif.) St. Bonaventure, who fell from the rankings two weeks ago, is climbing back on the bubble as well as Moorpark (Calif.) High.

To make certain the correct teams are ranked in the state a trip out west is scheduled for the RivalsHigh team this week and fans of California high school football can look for major movement in next week's rankings.

Parity Problems

While parity certainly makes for great playoff match-ups it also makes it very difficult to rank teams.

Illinois football is in flux this season with a lot of teams battling for the No. 2 spot in the state.

Right now Park Ridge (Ill.) Maine South is the lone team standing out in a crowd. Behind them is a stack of teams including Wheaton South, Glenbard West, Sacred Heart Griffin, Providence and a host of others.

Sound off!

If you have seen a team that you think should be moved higher or lower in the weekly rankings be sure to have your opinion heard.

The RivalsHigh message board is a great place to sound off on who, in your opinion, is among the nation's elite.

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