#HSFB100 Rankings Primer: Five team turnover

— Dallas Jackson, NationalHSFootball.com

It is now basketball season for five teams that were previously ranked in the NationalHSFootball.com HSFB100 rankings.

Pre-Thanksgiving November losses are nearly impossible to overlook in the rankings process as they are usually too early in the playoffs to justify a national ranking. Such is the case this week for Pittsburgh (Pa.) Upper St. Clair, Tallahassee (Fla.) Godby, Spring Branch (Texas) Smithson Valley, Cincinnati (Ohio) Elder and Cincinnati (Ohio) Winton Woods which all lost and are all being replaced in the national poll.

The door was left open for two programs who have been nationally ranked in previous weeks, as well as three newcomers that had been lurking in the shadow of the HSFB100 all season.

Mentor is playing well at the right time. Photo courtesy of MentorFootball.com

Mentor (Ohio) High will re-enter the HSFB100 as the No. 72 program. The Cardinals are on a 10-game winning streak and have a chance to avenge its only loss of the season this coming weekend against a nationally-relevant Cleveland (Ohio) St. Ignatius team. St. Ignatius downed Mentor in the second game of the season.

Finally healthy — and with some off-the-field issues behind it — Lake City (Fla.) Columbia narrowly edged Tarpon Springs (Fla.) East Lake for the No. 14 team in the Sunshine State and the No. 97 spot in the HSFB100. The team won its first round playoff game against St. Augustine (Fla.) High, 42-24, and is moving on to play St. John’s (Fla.) Bartram Trail in the Class 6A playoffs.

The other three programs to make a move into the bottom of the poll feature two power state teams from areas that are generally not well respected and the No. 2 team from a state that has struggled to consistently produce multiple programs in the poll.

Spanish Fort (Ala.) High is the No. 1 team in Class 5A and has been dominant all season. It has waded it way into the HSFB100 at No. 94 and is the favorite to win a state title before moving to Class 6A next year. It has multiple wins against 6A programs and defeated Mobile (Ala.) McGill-Toolen in a full-scrimmage in Week 0.

[READ MORE: Upsets end the season of nationally ranked teams.]

El Dorado Hills (Calif.) Oak Ridge also nudged into the HSFB100 this week. The No. 11 team within the state barely held off Murietta (Calif.) Vista Murrieta for the No. 95 spot in the national rankings as each team moves through its respective sectional playoffs. Each has some quality victories but the better loss went to Oak Ridge as it fell to Folsom (Calif.) High while Vista Murietta fell to San Diego (Calif.) Cathedral Catholic.

The final new name to the rankings is one that has never been ranked in the history of HSFB100 polls — San Antonio (Texas) Brennan. The program has a very weak strength of schedule and that is holding it back until much deeper in the playoffs but it has outscored opponents 640-30 through 10 games. Without much standing in the way of a Class 4A Division I final appearance, it could make for an amazing showdown with Denton (Texas) Guyer — one that could break scoring records for a state title game.

GEORGIA GETTING GOOD

There is very little doubt that Georgia high school football has elevated itself into the top five nationally — along with Texas, Florida, California, and Ohio — and this season it has two of the best playoff brackets as its highest two classes are loaded with nationally ranked and nationally relevant programs.

Of the 16 teams left battling for the Class AAAAAA title, 13 are among the nation’s best.

The depth was discussed in the state’s Bracket Breakdown but now, with the first round complete, the match-ups are now set.

Colquitt could run to another state finals. Photo Mark Almond/AL.com

On one side of the bracket, nationally-relevant Kennessaw (Ga.) North Cobb will play No. 66 Moultrie (Ga.) Colquitt County and No. 71 Lovejoy (Ga.) High takes on nationally-relevant Valdosta (Ga.) Lowndes, while No. 39 Norcross (Ga.) High and nationally-relevant Suwannee (Ga.) Peachtree Ridge will take on Snellville (Ga.) Brookwood and Dacula (Ga.) High, respectively.

The opposing side of the bracket features a showdown between No. 48 Suwannee (Ga.) North Gwinnett and just-outside the HSFB100 Archer (Ga.) High for the opportunity to play either No. 51 Kingsland (Ga.) Camden County or nationally-relevant Powder Springs (Ga.) Hillgrove.

In the other quadrant on that same side of the bracket, either No. 87 Suwannee (Ga.) Collins Hill or its opponent Alpharetta (Ga.) High will emerge to face either Powder Springs (Ga.) McEachern or Fairburn (Ga.) High. McEachern has been ranked in the HSFB100 and Alpharetta is a nationally-relevant opponent.

There are very few states that just in the second round will produce as many quality contests.

Class AAAAA will have to wait until the next round for its time in the spotlight as its quarterfinal round could feature seven of eight programs that are nationally relevant.

Currently the only programs that are ranked in that classification are Tucker (Ga.) High and Gainesville (Ga.) High at No. 68 and No 73, respectively.

But there are also programs in that bracket including Fairburn (Ga.) Creekside, Warner Robins (Ga.) High, Kell (Ga.) High, Warner Robins (Ga.) Northside, and Stone Mountain (Ga.) Stephenson that all are nationally-relevant.

The state is fourth among all states with nationally ranked teams, but that number could grow depending on which teams advance.

LOOKING FOR LAKES LOVE

The season is desperately close to ending and outside of Ohio and Michigan, much of the rest of the Lakes region is without representation.

It is not all that unusual for states like Wisconsin and Minnesota to be without a program in the HSFB100 — although Arrowhead (Wisc.) High was ranked previously and Eden Prairie (Minn.) High is currently — as neither are major players in the rankings landscape.

Warren Central came together to fulfill preseason HSFB100 rankings.

But for states like Illinois and Indiana to not have representation nationally as the playoffs come to a close is a surprise — but one that could be remedied in the coming weeks.

Indiana is down to its state final and preseason favorite Indianapolis (Ind.) Warren Central will play Carmel (Ind.) High — which spent several weeks ranked as well.

Illinois is still a few weeks away from crowning its winners, but there are nationally-relevant programs battling for the top two class titles and each could end up ranked.

In Class 7A, Chicago (Ill.) Mt. Carmel, Glen Ellyn (Ill.) Glenbard West and Lake Zurich (Ill.) High are all in the semifinals.

The highest classification may not wind up with a representative depending on how the games play out. Its final four teams are Wilmette (Ill.) Loyola Academy which plays Lincolnshire (Ill.) Stevenson and Naperville (Ill.) Central which will take on Chicago (Ill.) Marist. The favorite for rankings purposes would be Loyola and it may be the lone team that would end in the HSFB100 with a Class 8A title.