Media Compilation Top 25 update

– Dallas Jackson, NationalHSFootball.com

There is confusion among the human polls in the Media Compilation Top 25 as to when the high school football season ends.

Both the StudentSports Fab50 and the Scout.com Top 50 have named Miami (Fla.) Booker T. Washington its National Champion despite having multiple weeks of play left across the country.

NationalHSFootball.com HSFB100, the USAToday Super 25, MaxPreps Excellent 25, and PrepNation.com Top 25 all have Booker T. Washington in the pole position but each noted that there are teams that can make a move.

The two most likely threats are Allen (Texas) High and Bellflower (Cali.) St. John Bosco as the pair No. 2 and No. 3 in three of the remaining polls and each has a game against another consensus Top 10 team. Allen will be playing Desoto (Texas) this week while St. John Bosco projects to play Concord (Cali.) De La Salle next week.

A trend that has continued this week is the movement — or lack thereof — across the polls.

The Fab50, Scout.com Top 50, and USAToday Super 25 only made moves based on losses and did apparently did not consider the actual performance on the field of the teams.

Student Sports waited until Wednesday to put out its poll due to the weather pushing games back in Texas but seemingly the pollsters were only waiting to check the boxes. The only moves it made in the Top 25 was to drop Gardena (Cali.) Serra out from No. 14 and slide all of the teams up behind it one spot as nothing changed from No. 1 to No. 13. The other move was based on the loss of Euless (Texas) Trinity at the bottom of its last Top 25 as it pushed up several teams into the bottom of this update. Cincinnati (Ohio) Moeller was the lone team to make a move based on performance as it was boosted four placed inside the poll.

The Scout poll kept its top nine teams the same and dropped Serra out. It slid the rest of the teams up a spot and made a major move putting Pittsburgh (Pa.) Central Catholic into the Top 25. Outside of those two teams there was no change to its poll. Several of its teams had blowout wins against ranked teams while some escaped against unranked foes but nothing moved the needle in the poll.

Similarly the USAToday poll dropped Serra and Mentor (Ohio) High due to losses this weekend and added Moeller and Central Catholic to the bottom of its list. Its top nine did not change either and only the loss of Serra effected its most meaningful ranking slots.

The HSFB100, PrepNation Top25, MaxPreps Xcellent 25 and the Freeman Computer model all made adjustments due to play on the field. While the polls did not agree on all of the moves it was important to note that the panelists are still paying attention to how the results were attained and not just keeping teams that won in its previous placement.

The lone computer model maintained its stereotypical moves as well.

It was most generous to California and Ohio. It was the most harsh on Florida and NorCal teams. It also gave the benefit to dominant teams in states that are not considered among the top 15 states in the nation as opposed to programs that have a better strength of schedule but not the margin of victory that the algorithm favors.

With two weeks of play left there is still movement to be made — except for in two polls which have declared the showdown games immaterial and named its national champion.

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: St. Edward (47); Edna Karr (42); Valor Christian (41); Lee’s Summit West (39); North Gwinnett (38); Maryville (34); Mater Dei (32); St. Vincent-St. Mary (27); Apopka (25); John Curtis (24); American Heritage (23); Oak Grove (21); Mt. Carmel (20); DeMatha (20); Buford (19); Coppell (18); Corona Centennial (18); Eden Prairie (18); Colerain (17); Norcross (17); Portland Central Catholic (17); Armwood (16); and Miramar (16).

PREVIOUSLY RANKED: No. 10 Gardena (Cali.) Serra.

LINKS TO ALL POLLS: NationalHSFootball.com HSFB100; StudentSports Fab50; Scout Top 50; USAToday Super 25; MaxPreps Xcellent25; PrepNation Top 25; and Freeman Computer Top 25