Centennial, Chandler, Liberty top rankings
Peoria Centennial is No. 1, Chandler 2 and Peoria Liberty 3 in the Arizona Interscholastic Association’s first high school football power ratings that were released Tuesday.
But pump the brakes.
Nobody disputes Liberty, at 4-1, is the best team in Arizona. And probably by a mile, right now.
Nobody will ever know the recipe for the AIA’s computer rankings. They will never tell. It all has to do with algorithms.
But, hey, this sets up Friday’s game between Chandler and Centennial even more at Chandler. They’re both 6-0. They’ve both played one more game than Liberty, which is coming off a bye week and gets 5-1 Phoenix Pinnacle on Friday.
Once Chandler and Centennial get their bye weeks, things will even out.
Teams with two more wins always will get rated higher in the AIA rankings, it seems, no matter the competition.
But the one thing Centennial and Chandler don’t have under their belts is a contest against Corona (California) Centennial, which should be a top 10 team in the nation. Liberty was leading Centennial most of the game, before Centennial put together a 92-yard scoring drive in the last minute to pull out a 42-35 win two weeks ago in California.
Another thing that is obvious with these initial rankings is that the Open is now an upper 6A state tournament.
The AIA rankings reflect how the teams would be seeded in the state playoff tournaments. The eight top teams from among the 6A, 5A and 4A conferences are placed into the Open Division playoff tournament based on an AIA formula. From there, the top 16 teams in each of the six conferences make those playoff tournaments.
Of the top eight teams by the AIA in the Open, Scottsdale Desert Mountain is the lone 5A team at No. 5. That rating is generous. The Wolves had big scares from Chaparral and Horizon to be 6-0 at this point. The wheels are coming off of Chaparral in 6A, and Horizon was handled easily by 6A Pinnacle, which is ranked No. 7 in the Open by the AIA.
American Leadership Queen Creek (5-1), which is in 6A for the first time, must be regarded as AIA’s favorite team, being ranked as high as No. 4 in the Open. The ALA school made it to the Open out of 4A and 5A the last two years, which resulted again in their elevation to a higher conference. Unless there is a collapse the rest of the season, it will be the first school ever to get to the Open from each of the three big-school conferences.
Defending state champion Chandler Basha (5-1), with the lone loss to Gilbert Highland, is No. 6 and Hamilton (5-1) is No. 8 in the Open. Ouch. That 56-20 loss to open against Liberty must still be lingering in the eyes of the AIA computer.
Highland (4-2), despite losses to No. 2 Chandler and to Lone Peak, Utah, may not make it into the Open once again despite defeating Basha. The Hawks won 6A each of the last two years and made it to the 6A final in 2020. The Hawks are ranked 12th in the Open, and the remaining four opponents are Williams Field, ALA Queen Creek, Queen Creek and Desert Ridge. The ALA QC game on Oct. 20 becomes an Open qualifier, it appears.
One thing that’s concerning is that a couple of 4A schools, Canyon del Oro and Mica Mountain are right behind the top eight Open field. No way they belong in the Open, along with Phoenix Arcadia, another 4A school rated 13th in the Open. Arcadia has played one of the weakest schedules in the state to go 6-0
The AIA doesn’t give Yuma Catholic and Northwest Christian an Open ranking, despite playing in 4A, where YC is ranked No. 1 in 4A and Northwest No. 4 in 4A. Next to those teams in the rankings, it states “3A school are not eligible for the Open.”
Maybe it’s because the rest of the sports at those schools play in 3A? But the football teams are two of the best in 4A.
David Hines, executive director of the AIA, texted that “those schools cannot play a 6A school, thus they cannot qualify for the Open championship.”
“I don’t understand how it all works,” Yuma Catholic coach Rhett Stallworth said. “I have learned to just keep coaching and work on putting the best product on the field. This process doesn’t make sense. But in all reality there isn’t a 4A team that could compete in the Open.
“We are still playing Ironman football with the same 15 people playing the entire game.”