Coldwater, New Miami No. 1 in debut of football computer ratings

Coldwater and New Miami are No. 1 in the first high school football computer ratings that were released by the Ohio High School Athletic Association on Tuesday.

Coldwater (4-0), a perennial state power from the Midwest Athletic Conference, is No. 1 in Division VI, Region 23. New Miami (4-0) is tops in D-VII, Region 28 and Marion Local (3-1), another MAC small-school state power, is No. 2.

Three Greater Western Ohio Conference teams are among the top eight in D-I, Region 2: No. 3 Springboro (4-0), No. 6 Springfield (3-1) and No. 8 Beavercreek (2-2). Beavercreek is the only GWOC team – of 10 – that has not qualified for the postseason in program history.

Fairfield (4-0) was No. 2 in D-I, Region 4, the best among five Greater Miami Conference teams in the top eight of that region. Lakota West (3-1) was No. 3, Sycamore (3-1) No. 4, Lakota East (3-1) No. 7 and Colerain (3-1) No. 8.

Division III, Region 12 was loaded with Greater Catholic League Co-Ed reps. Chaminade Julienne (3-1) was No. 2, Alter (3-1) No. 4 and Badin (2-2) No. 5. Franklin (3-1) of the Southwestern Buckeye League was No. 3 and Greenville (3-1) No. 6.

Three more SWBL teams were among the D-IV, Region 16 top eight: Milton-Union (4-0) was No. 2, Valley View (4-0) No. 4 and Waynesville (3-1) No. 7.

West Liberty-Salem (4-0) was the highest ranked among Ohio Heritage Conference teams at No. 3 in D-V, Region 20. Cross County Conference member Arcanum (4-0) and Mechanicsburg (4-0) of the OHC were 3-4 in D-VI, Region 24.

Fort Loramie (3-1), also of the CCC, was No. 4 in D-VII, Region 28.

Teams earn computer points for wins and wins by a defeated opponent. There is a sliding scale in numerical value, with D-I the most and D-VII the least.

The top eight teams in each region following the end of the regular season qualify for the playoffs. There are seven divisions and four regions in each division.

There are 712 OHSAA member schools that field 11-man football teams in Ohio. There are 72 teams in Division I; the other six divisions have approximately 108 teams each.

Teams qualify for the postseason based on the Harbin football computer ratings. The Ohio high school football playoffs began in 1972.

Contact this reporter at 937225-2381 or email Marc. Pendleton@coxinc.com. Twitter: @MarcPendleton

FILE New Miami coach Jessie Hubbard, talking to his team in 2018, has the Vikings at 4-0 and Ohio’s top D-VII, Region 28 program so far this season. They host Clark Montessori on Friday.