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