November 20, 2009

Dallas Jackson
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.

MORE: Dallas Jackson ranks all of the states: 1 to 50 | RivalsHigh 100: November 16 update

Florida vs. Texas.

With all due respect to California and a few other states, was it really necessary to have 12 teams and three days of games to come to this match-up in the championship?

With all due respect ... yes.

We had fun - and thought it was interesting - seeing how the states went up against each other. And if you're one of those who thinks the title game is obvious, then riddled us this:

Who wins?

Thought so. This figures to be a better game than any of those recent BCS title games.

But we digress.

If you need a primer on the rules, click here.

If you want to see how the first three rounds played out, check out the links at the bottom.

Right now, it's time for kickoff:

No. 1 Texas HS Football

No. 2 Florida HS Football

Teams in the Top 25	Teams in the Top 25
Total Teams: 5 Top Team: No. 3 Dallas Skyline Raiders Texas has some of the best football teams in the country. There is no defined "football season" in Texas, because for successfull programs, it is always football season. After the season, it is weight lifting, then spring practice, onto 7-on-7's and the summer time before the season. It is a way of life and it shows. Skyline may not be the best team in Texas this year, but there is not a far drop off to find out who is.	Total Teams: 4 Top Team: No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders Aquinas is on course to win back-to-back national titles. The Raiders are very close to fielding a complete Division I football team at the high school level. Florida also has Glades Central, Lakeland, and Dwyer in the Top 25. At one point this season the state had three teams in the Top 10 before a logjam in Miami pushed both Central and Northwestern into the 40s
A 5-on-5 battle would be amazing, Texas by sheer volume, 3-0.
Teams in the RivalsHigh 100	Teams in the RivalsHigh 100
Total teams ranked: 12 Texas may actually be underrated on this rankings list as there may be 15 deserving teams. Teams in 4A Texas could probably win other states highest classification. The state semifinals in Texas 5A Divison I and Division II are fiercely competitive. While this may be a 'down' year for traditional powerhouses, there are plenty of great teams to fill in voids.	Total teams ranked: 11 It is a pretty safe bet that at any point in any season the Top 10 teams in Florida could be pulled out of state and placed into another and make a run to that state's semi-finals or state title game. While the teams in the Sunshine State may not have to play in the cold weather games that northern teams do, it is a misconception that Florida teams can not play physical football; many can line up and punch people in the mouth just as easily as spread it around.
Another raw numbers win by the largest state, Texas goes up, 6-0.
Players in the Rivals 250	Players in the Rivals 250
Total in Rivals 250: 35 Highest: No. 4 Lache Seastrunk Seastrunk has been on the national radar since his 3,000-yard sophomore season. He followed that up with a 3,000-yard junior season and a Rivals 100 ranking. Now, the No. 4 player nationally, Seastrunk is one of the hottest recruiting commodities. He has been graded out to "as good as it gets" for his speed and agility. Rivals.com analyst Barry Every thinks that he could be the next Jahvid Best or Reggie Bush.	Total in Rivals 250: 37 Highest: No. 13 Matt Elam Florida is in rare air when it comes to producing college-ready football players. This season, the state boasts 37 players in the Rivals 250 and are headlined up Matt Elam. Elam is drawing comparisons to long time Eagles safety Brian Dawkins. Rivals.com analyst Barry Every is impressed at seeing Elam in person saying, "Elam is built like a tank, both in the upper and lower body. He looks like a beast and plays like a beast."
Florida is king of talent production and is on the board, 6-3.
Depth in-state	Depth in-state
Texas is so good at the highest level it splits its classes into Divisions for the playoffs. But do not be fooled and think that only 5A schools can compete. There are plenty of 4A schools (some which are over 2,000 kids) that can compete in any state. Lake Travis, Waxahacchie, Longview and Guyer Denton have all be considered for ranking out of the 4A this season. There are certainly dead spots in Texas - but most metroplex areas have great football and very good surrounding areas.	While Florida does split its lowest two divisions into 2A/2B and 1A/1B, it is hard to say this is a watered down product. There are teams in all levels that can compete nationally. From the highest level with Central, Northwestern, DeLand, and Dr. Phillips on through to 5A with Aquinas, Lakeland, Venice, Plant and Ely. The 4A teams with Niceville, Dwyer, and Armwood could be rolled with 3A Booker T. Washington (which downed several 6A and 5A teams in 2009) and St. Augustine. The cluster of Class 2 schools - Bolles, Pahokee and Pace in 2B combined with Glades Central, Cocoa, Madison and Godby in 2A - would be an outstanding class in any state.
Florida has a lot of depth and a lot of good teams on all levels. It jumps ahead, 10-6.
Out-of-state competition	Out-of-state competition
2009 Record for OOS games: 46-32 Texas has started to welcome the Herbstreit Classic to Jerry World and it has been met with mixed results. This season, Trinity was able to knock off the best in Utah (Bingham), but Klein Oak was trounced by Sherman Oaks (California) in what was a surprise result. Most of the wins have come against New Mexico (29-11) but they still take on more squads than most.	2009 Record for OOS games: 15-11-1 Here is hoping that Florida high school football doesn't start thinking that the competition in state is so good that it does not need to play out-of-state competition. This year was not very impressive and last year it did not look good with a lot of high-profile losses. With so few games out of state, it is tough to grade.
Texas has more out-of-state wins. Wish both played more games, Texas back up, 13-10.
Intangibles	Intangibles
It's Texas football ... there is not much need for intangibles. This is a great state for football in the country. More out-of-state games would be nice, but that is trying to poke holes in their arguement. Coaches at the highest level just coach, which makes a big difference compared to those who also teach classes.	Winning Class 6A down to 2A is impressive in Florida. There would be few states that can argue that their same-sized class winner could have the same results in Florida. Reclassification from last year has made 2009 even better in-state. Having a top 10 in state that spans six classes shows the depth Florida has.
This is a great argument, but Texas is still King in football, 23-10.

The results

Tuesday (Nov. 17): First round

No. 5 Louisiana beats No. 12 South Carolina

No. 6 Pennsylvania tops No. 11 Virginia

No. 7 Ohio trounces No. 10 Mississippi

No. 8 Michigan dominates No. 9 Maryland

Wednesday (Nov. 18): Quarterfinals

No. 5 Louisiana tops No. 4 Georgia

No. 3 California beats No. 6 Pennsylvania

No. 2 Florida pounds No. 7 Ohio

No. 1 Texas overwhelms No. 8 Michigan

Thursday (Nov. 19): Semifinals

No. 1 Texas blanks No. 5 Louisiana, 30-0

No. 2 Florida topples No. 3 California 23-7