High School Football Rankings

It's the Monday following the first week of exciting NFL preseason action. How about a look at some preseason 2016 High School Football Rankings?

USA Today's 2016 National Super 25 Computer Rankings

1.   St. John Bosco (Bellflower, CA)
2.   De La Salle (Concord, CA)
3.   Centennial (Corona, CA)
4.   Katy (Katy, TX)
5.   Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, NV)
6.   Colerian (Cincinnati, OH)
7.   St. Edward (Lakewood, OH)
8.   Mater Dei (Santa Anna, CA)
9.   Bishop Amat (LaPuente, CA)
10. DeMatha (Hyattsville, MD)
11. Wayne (Huber Heights, OH)
12. La Salle (Cincinnati, OH)
13. Gilman (Blatimore, MD)
14. IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL)
15. Mission Viejo (Mission Viejo, CA)
16. Trinity (Louisville, KY)
17. Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, NJ)
18. Center Grove (Greenwood, IN)
19. Grayson (Loganville, GA)
20. Lake Travis (Austin, TX)
21. Loyola Academy (Wilmette, IL)
22. Colquitt County (Moultrie, GA)
23. Male (Louisville, KY)
24. St. Joseph (Montvale, NJ)
25. Central (Miami, FL)

The computer sure is fond of the California high schools. Ohio too.

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For over 30 years plodding humans have been ranking high school football teams for USA Today. Here's their non-computer 2016 preseason ranking.

USA Today's 2016 Super 25 Preseason Football Teams

1.   St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
2.   Grayson (Loganville, GA)
3.   Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, NV)
4.   IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL)
5.   Cedar Hill (Cedar Hill, TX)
6.   American Heritage (Plantation, FL)
7.   Colerian (Cincinnati, OH)
8.   Booker T. Washinton (Miami, FL)
9.   DeMatha (Hyattsville, MD)
10. Lake Travis (Austin, TX)
11. McGill-Toolen (Mobile, AL)
12. Katy (Katy, TX)
13. Mallard Creek (Charlotte, NC)
14. Mater Dei (Santa Anna, CA)
15. DeSoto (DeSoto, TX)
16. John Curtis (River Ridge, LA)
17. Central Catholic (Pittsburgh, PA)
18. Allen (Allen, TX)
19. Trinity (Louisville, KY)
20. St. John Bosco (Bellflower, CA)
21. Warren Central (Indianapolis, IN)
22. Petal (Petal, MS)
23. Chandler (Chandler, AZ)
24. Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, NJ)
25. Fort Dorchester (North Charleston, SC)

Petal, MS sure sounds like a pretty place.

Bishop Gorman is shooting for a third straight USA Today national title.

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MaxPreps also puts up high school football rankings. Computer and human rankings.

MaxPreps Xcellent 25

1.   St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
2.   Grayson (Loganville, GA)
3.   Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, NV)
4.   IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL)
5.   Cedar Hill (Cedar Hill, TX)
6.   Mater Dei (Santa Anna, CA)
7.   Roswell (Roswell, GA)
8.   DeSoto (DeSoto, TX)
9.   St. John Bosco (Bellflower, CA)
10. Mallard Creek (Charlotte, NC)
11. American Heritage (Plantation, FL)
12. Steele (Cibolo, TX)
13. Katy (Katy, TX)
14. Colerian (Cincinnati, OH)
15. Central Catholic (Pittsburgh, PA)
16. Central (Miami, FL)
17. Northwestern (Rock Hill, SC)
18. Trinity Christian Academy (Jacksonville, FL)
19. DeMatha (Hyattsville, MD)
20. Lake Travis (Austin, TX)
21. Centennial (Corona, CA)
22. Cass Tech (Detroit, MI)
23. Mountain Pointe (Phoenix, AZ)
24. Valor Christian (Highlands Ranch, CO)
25. Saguaro (Scottsdale, AZ)

This top five matches that of USA Today.

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Here's MaxPreps rankings based on a computer model developed by Ned Freeman.

MaxPreps Freeman Rankings

1.   IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL)
2.   Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, NV)
3.   St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
4.   Trinity Christian Academy (Jacksonville, FL)
5.   Mater Dei (Santa Anna, CA)
6.   American Heritage (Plantation, FL)
7.   Armwood (Seffner, FL)
8.   Lake Travis (Austin, TX)
9.   Colerian (Cincinnati, OH)
10. Northwestern (Rock Hill, SC)
11. DeMatha (Hyattsville, MD)
12. St. John Bosco (Bellflower, CA)
13. Cedar Hill (Cedar Hill, TX)
14. Cass Tech (Detroit, MI)
15. Katy (Katy, TX)
16. Westlake (Austin, TX)
17. St. Edward (Lakewood, OH)
18. Mission Viejo (Mission Viejo, CA)
19. Archbishop Hoban (Akron, OH)
20. Grayson (Loganville, GA)
21. St. Joseph Regional (Montvale, NJ)
22. Booker T. Washinton (Miami, FL)
23. Ryan (Denton, TX)
24. Wayne (Huber Heights, OH)
25. Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, NJ)

There's quite a bit of variety in the four rankings but other than USA Today's computer placing Concord's De La Salle at #2 each has mostly the same cast of schools.

Comparing and contrasting the thousands of high school football teams seem to be an impossible task. The level of play and competition is just so different from region to region. The best teams probably separate themselves fairly easily but the ranking of the best is a guess. Any of the top teams could probably win a mythical "national tournament."