3ADL Week 5 Top 25

[big daddy russ]

RK (PVS) TEAM (W-L)—PTS (First-place Votes)

1. (1) Gilmer (5-0)—317
2. (3) Abilene Wylie (4-0)—295
3. (2) Giddings (4-0)—271
4. (5) Carthage (5-0)—270
5. (6) Navasota (5-0)—260
6. (4) Cuero (5-0)—258
7. (7) Prosper (5-0)—221
8. (8) Monahans (4-0)—189
9t. (11) Graham (4-0)—137
9t. (18) Argyle (5-0)—137
11. (14) LaGrange (5-0)—136
12. (11) Celina (3-2)—130
13. (13) West Orange-Stark (3-1)—126
14. (15) Brownwood (3-1)—124
15. (17) Rockdale (5-0)—101
16t. (10) Bellville (3-1)—75
16t. (16) Jasper (3-1)—75
18. (9) Mexia (4-1)—67
19. (22) Sealy (5-0)—47
20t. (20) China Spring (4-1)—29
20t. (NR) West (5-0)—29
22. (19) LaVernia (3-2)—16
23. (22) Caldwell (3-1)—12
24. (23) Cleveland (3-1)—10
25. (NR) Stafford (5-0)—6

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Ingleside 3, Kenndale 1, Sinton 1, Snyder 1

TEAMS WHO FELL FROM THE RANKINGS: Sinton (25); Palestine (23)

[big daddy russ]

1. GILMER (5-0)
LAST WEEK: Defeated 2A #1 Daingerfield, 43-20
UP NEXT: Bullard (in two weeks)
WHY THEY SHOULD BE LOWER: They just keep blowing out everyone. They’ve outscored their opponents 266-93 (average score of 53-15) and their victims include #16 Jasper, 2A’s top-ranked Daingerfield, then-12th-ranked Liberty-Eylau, and a decent 4A squad in Kilgore. And despite all of it, we still don’t know how they’re going to do with their backs against the wall. It may be nitpicking and focusing on the little things, but (as I said last week) they’re legit questions when everyone’s gunning for you.

2. ABILENE WYLIE (4-0)
LAST WEEK: Defeated 4A Canyon, 41-24
UP NEXT: Bye
WHY THEY SHOULD BE HIGHER: The Bulldogs just keep rolling. Their latest blowout of 4A Canyon was just as impressive as all the others so far. You know they’ll make a run this year just like every year the past decade. Tradition is on their side…
WHY THEY SHOULD BE LOWER: As good as Wylie’s win over Canyon was, it wasn’t nearly as impressive as Cuero’s blowout of an incredible LaVernia squad. Giddings, Cuero, and the two reigning state champs have looked every bit as impressive as Wylie and haven’t had nearly the publicity. And while tradition may be on their side, are they getting this ranking because they deserve it right now or because they’ve been one of the state’s top two or three 3A programs over the past decade?

3. GIDDINGS (4-0)
LAST WEEK: Defeated 4A Elgin, 26-3
UP NEXT: Waco Robinson
WHY THEY SHOULD BE HIGHER: One of the toughest non-district schedules in the state have fallen one by one to the Buffs, and they face an underrated Robinson squad this week to cap non-district. They own a rare shutout of Liberty Hill and they haven’t been slowed down this year…
WHY THEY SHOULD BE LOWER: …except against a LaVernia squad that was mauled by Cuero on Friday. Cuero, FYI, is ranked sixth. Was that just a matchup problem for the Buffs, or are they not quite as good as we think? They begin district play in two weeks, and if they thought non-district was tough, they’re playing in the most loaded district in the state.

4. CARTHAGE (5-0)
LAST WEEK: defeated 4A Jacksonville, 21-17
UP NEXT: Center (in two weeks)
WHY THEY SHOULD BE HIGHER: The Champs just can’t get any love. They won the whole thing last year, begin the season with wins over four 4A’s and a tough Atlanta squad, and are still only fourth.
WHY THEY SHOULD BE LOWER: Wow. Not taking anything away from Jacksonville, but that was close. Sure, Jacksonville looks like an early playoff contender in the 4A ranks, but shouldn’t the fourth-ranked put them away with at least a bit of breathing room? That one-point win over a mediocre Henderson team still looms.

5. NAVASOTA (5-0)
LAST WEEK: defeated Bryan Rudder, 41-14
UP NEXT: Caldwell (in two weeks)
WHY THEY SHOULD BE HIGHER: They have as much pure talent as anyone this side of Gilmer and two signature wins (Palestine and Bellville) under their belts. The win against Hearne is looking more and more impressive by the week. The Rattlers’ offense has plenty of studs, but the defense has looked even more impressive. Two shutouts to date. They’re also allowing fewer than 10 points per game.
WHY THEY SHOULD BE LOWER: As good as they’ve been, they weren’t dominant against either Palestine or Bellville. Play those games again, Navasota may be sitting at 3-2 instead of 5-0.

6. CUERO (5-0)
LAST WEEK: defeated #19 LaVernia, 41-16
UP NEXT: Yoakum (in two weeks)
WHY THEY SHOULD BE HIGHER: Was there a bigger statement game in the state? They blow out the team that gave third-ranked Giddings a scare, are currently outscoring their opponents 39-10… and still fell two spots in the rankings.
WHY THEY SHOULD BE LOWER: The champs are looking up at Cuero. Read on...

7. PROSPER (5-0)
LAST WEEK: defeated Decatur, 49-10
UP NEXT: #9 Argyle (in two weeks)
WHY THEY SHOULD BE HIGHER: How good are the Eagles? Let me put Prosper’s dominance into perspective for you. We’re halfway through the season. Prosper’s played five games. In those five games, they’ve outscored their opponents by a total of 168-22. If you average it out, they’re scoring roughly 34 points per game. Meaning their AVERAGE SCORE is still 12 points higher than the TOTAL points they’ve allowed. And on top of that, let’s go back to the Carthage argument—the champs just can’t get any love.
WHY THEY SHOULD BE LOWER: Who have they played? The only team that looks like they might make it into the playoffs is Bridgeport, and the Bulls aren’t exactly an elite team this year. Can this Prosper team win when they need to? I guess we’ll find out in two weeks.

8. MONAHANS (4-0)
LAST WEEK: defeated 4A San Angelo Lake View, 43-13
UP NEXT: Fort Stockton
WHY THEY SHOULD BE HIGHER: They’ve dominated everyone and were as impressive as ever against Lake View. They held the Chiefs, who were averaging 300 ypg, to just 139. And half of those yards came on a 79-yard TD run in the fourth quarter. Much like Prosper, they’ve rolled absolutely everyone…
WHY THEY SHOULD BE LOWER: …and much like Prosper, they’ve played absolutely nobody. With a combined record of 7-11, none of their opponents are what you would consider quality opponents. They get a small road bump this week in the form of District 4 favorite Fort Stockton, but until they hit the Abilene Wylies and the Liberty Hills in the playoffs, we won’t truly know how good the Loboes are.

9. ARGYLE
LAST WEEK: defeated Bridgeport, 44-14
UP NEXT: #7 Prosper (in two weeks)
WHY THEY SHOULD BE HIGHER: Impressive. As. Hell. They blow out DCTF preseason 5-3A favorites Bridgeport, holding them to 211 of total offense, a week after doing the same to Decatur. They own increasingly impressive wins over Burkburnett and Iowa Park. They get their chance to show how good they are when they open 9-3A play in two weeks against Prosper.
WHY THEY SHOULD BE LOWER: They squeaked it out against Iowa Park. Was the Bridgeport win as impressive as it seems? Although the Bulls may have been the preseason 5-3A favorites, they’ve seemed to regress this season. Once again, they get their chance to show how good they (really) are when they open 9-3A play in two weeks against Prosper.

9. GRAHAM (4-0)
LAST WEEK: defeated Glen Rose, 21-10
UP NEXT: Bridgeport
WHY THEY SHOULD BE HIGHER: Last week I posed the question, “How good is Graham?” I went on to talk about QB Case McCoy, and was thinking in my head that this team will only go as far as he takes them. I was wrong. While McCoy had a decent night (9-14, 153 yds, 2 TD’s), it was running back Cameron Bailey who carried the team with a 213-yard night. The Steers just keep showing up with more weapons and just keep rolling. Also, Graham (like Argyle) holds quality victories over Burkburnett (41-7) and Iowa Park (38-6).
WHY THEY SHOULD BE LOWER: They seemed to control the game against Glen Rose, but didn’t really dominate it. Although GR is a quality program, Graham will face actual top-ten competition when district rolls around in two weeks. Will they be able to handle it?



THOUGHTS/OBSERVATIONS ON THE REST OF THE TOP 25:

MOVERS AND SHAKERS:
-Argyle and Mexia made the biggest changes. They each moved nine spots. Crazy thing is, they just traded places. Mexia fell to 18th after losing to West while Argyle jumped to ninth with their win over Bridgeport.

-More shuffling than anything in the rankings. Only other major move was Bellville’s fall to 16th from tenth following a close call against Brookshire-Royal.

-LaGrange continues to climb, this time to 11th following a 42-0 thrashing of Goliad.

-Sinton falls out after a close call against Orange Grove. Palestine falls out after a loss to 4A Kilgore.



DISTRICTS WITH MORE THAN ONE TEAM IN THE RANKINGS:
2-3A
2. Abilene Wylie
9t. Graham
14. Brownwood

7-3A
20t. China Spring
20t. West

9-3A
7. Prosper
9t. Argyle
11. Celina

18-3A
4. Carthage
16t. Jasper

24-3A
5. Navasota
15. Rockdale
23. Caldwell

25-3A
3. Giddings
11. LaGrange
16t. Bellville
19. Sealy



UNDEFEATED TEAMS NOT RANKED:
Van Alstyne, Kennedale, Lucus Lovejoy, Mount Vernon, Brownsboro, Edna, Pearsall, Ingleside, Sinton, Lyford



TAKEN FROM THE “TEAMS NOT GETTING MUCH ATTENTION BUT WILL LEAVE A WAKE OF DESTRUCTION THROUGH THE PLAYOFFS” FILE: LaVernia, Atlanta, Center, Liberty Hill, Kennedale.

[HEMOTOXIC]

Good stuff. Navasota went on the road against Palestine and Bellville. Give us those game at Rattler Stadium or better yet, a neutral site, I will still give the Rattlers the egdge. But its district time now, we must focus on 24-3A.

Go Snakes!

[1st and goal]

Russ, you are spoiling us....Thanks

[Old Green]

Originally posted by 1st and goal
Russ, you are spoiling us....Thanks Thanks again Russ for another great preview.

[Reds fan]

Originally posted by Old Green
Thanks again Russ for another great preview.

Absolutely!

[pirate4state]

Originally posted by 1st and goal
Russ, you are spoiling us....Thanks

+1

Good stuff, as always! :2thumbsup

[Looking4number8]

Originally posted by big daddy russ


DISTRICTS WITH MORE THAN ONE TEAM IN THE RANKINGS:
2-3A
2. Abilene Wylie
9t. Graham
14. Brownwood



Oh man, dont forget Snyder, they got there feelings hurt when Rocket left them out eairler in the week....

Just messing with you snyder boys...:) :) :)

[Snyder_TigerFan]

Originally posted by Looking4number8
Oh man, dont forget Snyder, they got there feelings hurt when Rocket left them out eairler in the week....

Just messing with you snyder boys...:) :) :)

Oh, it'll be fine. Don't worry about Snyder.

Great stuff Russ. Very good analysis.

[Tx Challenge]

BDR, Again, GREAT JOB!!!! Don't know that personally I would not include "your school" They are doing awesome.

Still waiting for the SEC rankings. Maybe on "our" team, you should just do the offensive ratings:D :D :D

[trojan37]

Thanks Russ, and I appreciate you putting West at 5-0. I guess you're saying the boys will win Friday night.;)

[lostaussie]

25-3A
3. Giddings
11. LaGrange
16t. Bellville
19. Sealy

WOW! one if not more of theswill stay at the house!!!

[Move The Chains]

Originally posted by lostaussie
25-3A
3. Giddings
11. LaGrange
16t. Bellville
19. Sealy

WOW! one if not more of theswill stay at the house!!!
IMO.... Sealy is better than Bellville.


LG is legit and Giddings is going to go about 3 or 4 rounds. They do every year.

[big daddy russ]

Originally posted by Tx Challenge
BDR, Again, GREAT JOB!!!! Don't know that personally I would not include "your school" They are doing awesome.

Still waiting for the SEC rankings. Maybe on "our" team, you should just do the offensive ratings:D :D :D
Haha. These are the rankings of people of the Downlow. I had nothing to do with the numbers, I just put the words next to the teams. :D

And I know I'm fine with those boys being unranked. If it were up to me, I wouldn't rank them either. ;) :D


----------------------------
College Football News (the most accurate college site on the net) has our boys on the Plains ranked fifth overall.

Why would they go and do something like that? Because they actually pay attention and couldn't give a crap about what some AP sportswriter in Los Angeles thinks about the Big East or SEC. That's right, they actually watch the games. They were the first to drop our boys like a bad habit last year and the first to pick them up this year. Good news for us, ol' buddy.

Remember me saying this team was legit after the LaTech game?

CFN Ranking of Every Team (http://cfn.scout.com/2/903411.html)

CFN calling out the Coaches' Poll (http://cfn.scout.com/2/557950.html)


Originally posted by CFN
Nebraska is ridiculously low, and Auburn at 28 is a joke.



------------------------


Originally posted by trojan37
Thanks Russ, and I appreciate you putting West at 5-0. I guess you're saying the boys will win Friday night.;)
Oops. I'll have to fix that.

[Gobbla2001]

Originally posted by Move The Chains
IMO.... Sealy is better than Bellville.


LG is legit and Giddings is going to go about 3 or 4 rounds. They do every year.

Not only is Sealy better than Bellville, Sealy is probably 50 points better than Bellville... and that's just if they played the first quarter...

[sinton66]

-Sinton falls out after a close call against Orange Grove.

There won't be many blowout victories in these district 31 games. Sinton, Ingleside, Orange Grove, Mathis, and Robstown usually play each other very closely. They are all very used to playing each other and know each other's teams well. To base a move in any poll on a "narrow" victory over a district 31 rival is kinda silly in my opinion.

That said, however, I'd be very happy to keep the Pirates off everyone's radar.;)

[Txbroadcaster]

Great job, though I do think Gilmer proved how they would respond when backs are agianst the wall in the LE game.