The fifth state rankings for the 2016 the season have been released by the NYSSWA. Below are the WNY teams that made the cut:
Class AA
No Teams Ranked
Class A
Park #1
Canisius #4
Amherst #12
McKinley #15
Williamsville South #23
Class B
Olean #1
Walsh #6
St. Mary's #17
Fredonia #22
Health Sciences #24
Class C
Middle College #8
Tapestry #10
Chautauqua Lake #18
Class D
Franklinville #9
Panama #17
** According to the rankings...
There's still at least three teams from Section V's Class AA that are better than any team in Section VI. Fairport #6, Aquinas #9, and Rochester East #23 all sit in the top 25. Fairport hosts Aquinas on Wednesday night in a likely Section V Class AA final preview.
- Amherst, McKinley, & Williamsville South all moved up one spot in Class A, while Park & Canisius remained where they were (#1 & #4 respectively).
- It will be interesting/laughable to see how they handle the result of Saturday's game between #4 Canisius and #15 McKinley.
- Panama enters the Class D rankings at #17, the second Section VI team to be ranked along with Franklinville.
And now for the fun part...all of the illogical movement this week, starting with Class B:
- St. Mary's smashes Health Sciences (who had been #20 in NYS Class B) by 31 points and beats Cardinal O'Hara, then loses a competitive game to Park (#1 NYS Class A). St. Mary's drops two spots!
- Meanwhile, Fredonia beats unranked Dunkirk & Silver Creek by 10 points each, then loses a competitive game to Olean (#1 NYS Class B). Fredonia makes its first appearance in the rankings at #22.
*** Am I missing something??? The results of St. Mary's & Fredonia are similar, but definitely more impressive from a Lancers perspective. Both won two games and lost one to the number one team in the state. The difference, St. Mary's beat a state ranked Class B team by 31 and lost to #1 in Class A. The Hillbillies beat unranked teams, one in Class C, by 10 apiece, and lost to #1 in Class B. I'm fine with Fredonia entering the rankings, but how in the world does Fredonia move up and St. Mary's move down??? By the way, Health Sciences dropped four spots for that 31 point loss (while St. Mary's, who beat them, dropped two spots).
Now for Class C, and it just keeps getting better:
- Tapestry played just one game last week, a win over Randolph. They had been #5 in NYS Class C. Following the win over Randolph, Tapestry drops five spots to #10. Let that one sink in for a moment. It's going to sound even worse when you keep reading.
- Chautauqua Lake debuts in the Class C rankings at #18, coming off a victory over a two-win Maple Grove team. Now I'm alright with Chautauqua Lake being ranked, but they shouldn't be in over Randolph. Prior to Randolph's one-point loss to Tapestry on Saturday, Randolph beat Allegany-Limestone by 29. Chautauqua Lake lost to Allegany-Limestone by 23. So again, looking at Tapestry dropping five spots for beating Randolph, while Chautauqua Lakes debuts over Randolph, should have scratching your head pretty furiously by now!
- Then there's Middle College, who helps illustrate just how silly the approach to these state rankings is and why they should always be taken with a heavy dose of salt. The Kats go from unranked to #8 and the highest ranked team from Section VI in Class C.
** I'd have been fine with Middle College being ranked all along. But instead, they wait for the record to get above .500 because they are not Mount Vernon. Middle College beating Riverside and Burgard did nothing to show they were a top Class C team in the state, so waiting for a .500 record and then jumping a team from unranked to #8 is so stupid! And they drop Tapestry, FIVE SPOTS, for winning.
For complete NYSSWA State Rankings, click here.
-centercourt
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