Gone way too soon this season is. Just one week to go until the fun starts.
1 - That preseason rankings don’t mean squat - ask Cary Grove.
2 - That the DVC went all FVC this last week.
3 - That Stevenson is back in the show for 3 year hiatus.
4 - That we get out fair share of win or go home games week 9.
5 - That both Simeon and Morgan Park will cause problems in the playoffs.
6 - That if your team hasn’t learned to adjust to the elements, it’s too late.
7 - That quite likely a 4-5 team will make it, and they shouldn’t.
8 - That something happened long ago to Benet football.
9 - That all gas and no brakes found a running game
10 - That Moline could be a problem in 7A this year.
One more week until the fun starts.
I obviously could be in a minority of one on this, but I think you are way way off in. your Point No. 1 on. the list.
"Preseason rankings don't mean squat."
I am sure that some people think Chicago Sun-Times prep sports guy Mike O'Brien knows his stuff, and others think he is biased and/or clueless.
Regardless of anyone's side, here is O'Brien's Top 15 list of Chicago area high school football teams BEFORE the season started.
1) Mount Carmel (current record 8-0)
2) Lincoln-Way East (8-0)
3) Loyola (8-0)
4) Batavia (6-2 and lost to Naperville North and Lincoln-Way East)
5) Bolingbrook (5-3 and lost to Simeon, Lincoln-Way East and Lockport)
6) St. Rita (6-2 and lost to No. 1 Mt. Carmel and No. 3 Loyola)
7) Glenbard West (7-1 and lost to York)
8) Prairie Ridge (7-1 and lost to Jacobs)
9) Warren (7-1 and lost to Lake Zurich)
10) Kankakee (7-1 and lost to Nazareth Academy)
11) Neuqua Valley (6-2 & lost to Wheaton-Warrenville South & DeKalb)
12) Marist (5-3 and lost to Glenbard West, Mt. Carmel and Loyola)
13) Maine South (6-2 and lost to Warren and Prospect)
14) Naperville North (6-2 and lost to Naperville Central & Neuqua Valley)
15) Crete-Monee (6-2 and lost to Lincoln-Way East and a 6-win team from Indiana)
I am definitely not saying that Mike O'Brien is the end-all when it comes to prep football rankings in the Chicago area.
What I am saying is that anyone who considers him to be ordinary when it comes to team rankings probably could consider this:
The top 6 teams in his rankings have lost exactly three games when not playing another team ranked in the top 6. And one of those three losses was to Chicago Simeon which is unbeaten.
Also, from the Fox Valley Conference, he picked Prairie Ridge No. 10 in the Chicago area and had Cary-Grove listed at 23.
I mean if you are nit-picking, the obvious omissions in the 20/20 vision that is hindsight are York and Palatine.
I understand that you are just trying to be cute by saying nobody saw the sub-.500 season coming for Cary-Grove. But really, focusing on one miss by basically everybody and not acknowledge the fact that at least in O'Brien's case, preseason picks seem to have held up amazingly well, is disappointing to at least one person who reads your list on Sundays.
Finally (!), here's a football ranking list that I think would be kind of interesting.
I'd like to see a ranking of the Chicago area teams based on the likelihood of winning a state title.
Obviously, Hope Academy and Wheaton St. Francis and. Immaculate Conception can't play with Lincoln-Way East, Mt. Carmel etc.
But, what are the top 10 Chicago area football teams this ranked in order of their likelihood of winning a state title? You'd probably give Mt. Carmel the Number 1 spot assuming they will be in 7A. But after that....I mean, Loyola and Lincoln-Way East can't both win a state title. In Class 1A, does Hope have a better chance of winning a state title than Lincoln-Way East because Loyola is in L-W East's 8A class.
The problem right now, of course, is we don't know for another week what class some of these top teams will be in. But where do you slot Richmond as a state title contender if they are playing 4A ball? Are they the No.2 choice after Mt.Carmel? I don't know but I for one would be interested in seeing a list. like that, especially after the classes are set on Saturday.
