The seventh state rankings for the 2018 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 #5
Canisius #6
West Seneca West #12
Timon #22
(Williamsville South #28)
Class B
Health Sciences #4
Olean #5
St. Mary's #15
Middle College #19
(Niagara Catholic #27)
Class C
Tapestry #6
Chautauqua Lake #20
Class D
Franklinville #3
East #4
Ellicottville #8
******** According to the rankings above........
- The Class AA saga rolls on for the entire Far West Region. However, Rome Free Academy, who has wins over Niagara Falls and St. Francis, has cracked the rankings at #25. So there's hope. The loss to RFA for Falls was the game that got them dropped.
- There's a new #1 in NYS Class A and it's not Park, who knocked off the former #1 Canisius this week. Park is now #5, while the Crusaders fell five spots to #6.
- Here's where it gets really interesting...When Timon defeated Park, they were #25 in NYS Class A and Park was #4. That win got Timon moved up two places to #23. They are currently #22 this week. So over in Section V last week, Pittsford Sutherland (#10 in NYS Class A at the time) losses to unranked Pittsford Mendon. So how do they handle a win over #10 when you're unranked? Well you come crashing into the rankings at #15 of course. That's right, previously unranked Mendon is now #15 for beating #10, while Timon who was #25 when they beat #4 only got to #23 for the win and still sits at #22. So Mendon jumped in over Timon. Are you freaking kidding me? Outrageous! Or uninformed? Or lazy? Or biased? It's one of those. Or a combination of those. There's only one logical explanation for this - we screwed up. Usually there's an attempt at a comedic undertone when I do this. I'm not trying to be funny today. This deserves an explanation! Otherwise, we should safely assume it's all about who you know - politics.
One last recap in case this gets confusing:
#25 Timon beats then #4 Park. That takes them to ---> #23
Since then, Timon has not lost, while Park has since knocked off #1 Canisius. Timon is currently #22
Unranked Pittsford Mendon beats #10 Pittsford Sutherland. That takes them to ---> #15 ???
** Neil Kerr, who compiles these state rankings, welcomes your feedback: neilkerr38@yahoo.com
- Williamsville South earned the equivalent of a participation trophy this week when the state rankings suddenly expanded the rankings to include 30 teams in Class A. The Billies are #28. You mean they could've been ranked all this time, possibly sitting at #30 last week. Or #33 the week prior, should you ever take it up to 35 spots? There's only even 20 teams ranked in Class C.
- Health Sciences falls from #2 in NYS Class B to #4 because they lost to an out-of-the-area team that the panel knows nothing about. The same thing happened to Mount Vernon last week, but they hung on to the top ranking in the whole state, #1 in NYS Class AA. Reports suggest Neil got a hoodie out of that deal, an upgrade from last year's tee shirt.
- Olean is now just one spot behind the Falcons, at #5 in NYS Class B. Those two should play each other this year.
- Niagara Catholic is another interesting case this week, but it should quickly become clear what's going on - it's the Timon Bias! After earning a big road win at O'Hara - the team who won at NYS Class B #15 St. Mary's, Niagara Catholic lost to Timon. The Patriots dropped from #24 in NYS Class B to #27 - another participation trophy. So rather than reward the O'Hara win and have perspective on the Timon loss, they apply the Timon Bias. Timon is a nobody in the state's eyes and a loss to them is a punishable offense.
- Chautauqua Lake hangs on to a state ranking in Class C, coming in at #20 this week after losing both its games last week. The Thunderbirds are now 8-5. Yet Silver Creek sees its 11-game win streak end to Class B Gowanda and slips to 11-2 on the season and falls out completely.
- We finally have the highest ranked teams in the Far West Region, as Franklinville and East both passed Prattsburgh of Section V who lost last week. Good. It's about time. Section VI is winning the Class D regional this year.
Click HERE for the complete NYSSWA State Rankings
-centercourt
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