Updated Team Rankings for Monday, Sept. 23
I’m not exactly sure how to make sense out of nonsense, but I will give it a try after the past few days of big upsets and absolute head-scratchers. I think what we are seeing in this 2019 season is…
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Continue ReadingI’m not exactly sure how to make sense out of nonsense, but I will give it a try after the past few days of big upsets and absolute head-scratchers.
I think what we are seeing in this 2019 season is an unprecedented amount of balance spread across pretty much all classes. Sure, Papillion-LaVista and Elkhorn South have separated themselves from the pack in Class A and Waverly and Skutt Catholic have done the same in Class B and it looks like St. Paul has done the same in Class C1.
Diller-Odell and Pleasanton are on another level in Class D1 and Wynot and BDS are top dogs in D2, but everything else after that in all the classes? Pure madness.
In the last seven days, we’ve seen Papillion-LaVista South go from a 3-5 record to winning six of seven and finishing third in one of the most difficult tournaments of the season. We’ve seen Norris inexplicably lose to a Lincoln East team that had one one win against a team with a winning record prior.
Wahoo gets knocked off by unranked Broken Bow. A previously undefeated C1 Wayne team gets swept by a C2 team. Hastings St. Cecilia gets knocked from the undefeated ranks by a Fillmore Central team that was 7-4 a week ago today. I could go on and on, but you get that point of what a wild week it was.
So, how do you even try and make sense of anything in putting together the team rankings. Well, as scary as it is, here is a little peak into my mind.
I put much more stock into best-of-five matches during the week than tournament results or triangular results where it’s best-of-three.
While tournament results do matter, you generally see more reliable results in best-of-five matches during the week. In tournaments, you’re getting teenagers up at the crack of dawn to play matches on a Saturday morning. You’re playing multiple matches in a day. The matches are shorter, which works to the benefit of a lesser team.
There is also a reason so few teams ever go undefeated and win a state title. Everyone is bound to get tripped up somewhere along the way, and usually it occurs in a tournament on a Saturday in a best-of-three match. It happens.
Did Broken Bow upset Wahoo this weekend? Yes. Will I rank Broken Bow ahead of Wahoo? No. Did Ashland-Greenwood upset Lincoln Lutheran in a best-of-three match? Yes. Is Ashland-Greenwood ranked ahead of Lincoln Lutheran? No.
Ultimately, when putting together the rankings when things get as muddy as they have in all the classes at this point in the year, comparing two teams and determining who, in my opinion, would most likely win a best-of-five match on a Thursday night on a neutral court. To me, that is a more true indication of where a team should be ranked rather than who might have sniped who in a 10 a.m. match on a Saturday morning when one team might be more focused on homecoming that night.
Alright, now a quick look at each class.
It truly is Papillion-LaVista, Elkhorn South and everyone else in Class A right now. After that, its pretty even among the next 10-ish teams. It will be intereting to see over the next month if anyone can join those top two ahead of everyone else.
In Class B, I think we can just go ahead and cancel the rest of the season and just schedule Waverly and Skutt Catholic for the championship at Devaney Sports Center. I’m serious.
St. Paul takes over the top spot in Class C1 and moves up to #10 in the overall Top 25. The Wildcats are legit and going 6-0 without dropping a set at the Gothenburg Invite is big-time. The Wildcats’ schedule from here on out is really favorable as well, so don’t be shocked if St. Paul is undefeated heading into the postseason.
Hastings St. Cecilia lost to Fillmore Central, but still holds onto the top spot. Had Thayer Central not lost its first match of the weekend, it would have likely moved into the top spot.
Diller-Odell won the MUDECAS championship last week and Pleasanton got a huge win over Class C2 #6 Summerland as those teams are locked in at the top of D1. Wynot remains undefeated and atop Class D2.
Here are the links to each of the rankings.