Whether you are going out to get that highly sought after job or looking to be the last team in the NCAA Tournament, resumes matter. If they didn't, why would we waste the time jazzing them up with all the wonderful things we 'proclaim' to have done or make sure we have every last honor we ever won including taking 3rd place in our elementary school kick ball tournament. Third place in the elementary school kick ball tourney is a definite resume builder considering Matt Lucki was on the winning team. No one ever beat Matt Lucki at anything.
Why, when it comes to ranking high school basketball teams do people believe resumes don't matter? Is is because it's your team and most people have very slanted views toward 'their' team and almost always have duct tape over their eyes? Possibly. If a team is 15-0 but plays mainly smaller schools or average competition does that automatically mean they should be ranked due to being unbeaten? Should they be ranked higher than a team that is 12 or 13-3 that has played a couple nationally-ranked squads and a handful of D-1 Top 10 Teams? Most people believe that should be the case. If so, than someone that graduated with a 4.0 grade point average from a commuter school will always get a job over someone graduating from Yale with a 3.5 gpa. That is the same thing correct, is it not? We understand that everyone believes 'their' team is the best, and that is great but it's not always accurate.
We, at OHSH, love everyone's opionion and value those opinions but that doesn't always mean we agree especially in this case.
We are going to use Mansfield Senior, who is traditionally a very good program, for our example. In our rankings this week, we have the Tygers at No. 20 which may even be a bit high but people have commented to us that Mansfield is unbeaten how can they not even be ranked? Well, they are, No. 20 and again they may be too high. Some go on to say that they Top 5 may be a bit high but Top 10-12 is realistic. That is certainly fine to make that statement if you are going to tell us why you believe they are Top 10-12, but just making the statement doesn't tell us much.
We know this, the Tygers play in the Ohio Cardinal Conference that consists of four D-2s, one D-3, and two other D-1s beside Mansfield. Ashland and Wooster being the other D-1s. They have three out-of-conference wins against Cleveland East, Lima Senior (68-65), and Sandusky. Senior is probably its best win but they are young and just (8-7). In conference, they have two wins over a good D-3 Orrville team, two wins over D-1 Wooster, and one over a good D-2 Lexington team. The conference is not great especially for a D-1 team hoping to make a tournament run, but it is better to be undefeated playing this schedule than not be.
Now, let us take a look at some of the teams in our Top 10.
No.1 Columbus Northland, who is unbeaten, has beat nationally-ranked Findlay Prep (NV) and Oak Hill Academy (VA) along with Indiana-power Bishop Luers. In state, they have knocked off 15-3 D-1 Canton Timken, D-1 Columbus Brookhaven twice, and D-1 Columbus Beechcroft.
No.2 Lakewood St.Edwards's is (13-3)with wins over Akron SVSM, Cleveland CC, Strongsville, Bishop O'Connell (VA), Cleveland Benedictine, Toledo Libbey, St.Paris Graham, Cleveland VASJ, Cleveland St.Ignatius, University of Detroit Jesuit, Garfield Heights, and Mentor. The three losses all came in the same week, which was a week the Eagles played in the Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach (SC). Two of the losses came to Wheeler (GA) and Baltimore St.Frances (MD), and then after three games in South Carolina Ed's played and lost to Toledo St.John's that weekend. Not sure how this team could not be ranked in the Top 10 with that resume. Team-for-team Ed's has probaly played the best schedule in Ohio. That is where seeing all the teams comes into play. Seeing both Northland and Ed's gives us a good idea who should be ranked higher.
No.3 Gahanna Lincoln (16-0) may be a bit high based on its resume, but again, we have seen them several times and know what they bring to the table. A trio of D-1 guards is a lethal weapon. The Lions own quality wins over Huber Heights Wayne and Cleveland Heights along with a pair of wins over Ohio Capital Conference foe Pickerington North. The Lions should run the table in the regular season.
No.4 Mentor (14-2)has quality wins over D-2 University School, Woodcreek, Massillon Jackson, Warren Harding, Cleveland Heights, Euclid, and Cleveland VASJ along with losses this past weekend to Shaker Heights and Lakewood St.Edward's.
No.5 Warren Harding (13-2) has wins over Euclid, D-2 Cardinal Mooney, Canton Timken, Akron SVSM, Farrell (PA), Glen Oak, Brush, Erie (PA), and Cleveland St.Ignatius along with setbacks to Mentor and Canton McKinley.
No.6 Huber Heights Wayne (13-2)has wins over Kettering Fairmont, Spingfield, Urspring (Germany), Centerville, Massillon Jackson, Northmont, and Troy with closes losses to Gahanna Lincoln and nationally-ranked Montverde Academy (FL).
No.7 Massillon Jackson (13-2)had two quality wins in San Diego (CA) over Mt.Si (WA) and Chartiers Valley (PA) along with victories over D-2 Carrollton, Glen Oak, Canton McKinley, North Canton Hoover, and Canton Timken. The Polar Bears two defeats were to Mentor and Huber Heights Wayne.
No.8 Westerville South (17-0)has one signature win over Westerville North and a quality victories of D-2 Logan Elm and Bishop Watterson along with conference foe Olentangy Liberty. The Wildcats may be a bit too high, but seeing them several times we know guards can win basketball games and they have plenty of those.
No.9 Cincinnati LaSalle (14-2)has wins over D-2 Roger Bacon, Lakota West, Elder twice, Cincinnati Aiken, Mason County (KY), Moeller, and Winton Woods. They have two losses by a total of six points to Moeller and St.Xavier. LaSalle should probably be up a couple more spots after looking at its resume even closer.
No.10 Toledo St.John's (13-2)owns triumphs of University of Detroit Jesuit, Lakewood St.Edward's, Bowling Green, Toledo Start, Toledo CC, Toledo Rogers, and Toledo Waite. The Titans have setbacks to Sylvania Southview and Romulus (MI) by two points. This may be a bit high for St.John's based on its resume considering the victory over Ed's came at home and the Eagles were playing their fourth game of the week after traveling home from South Carolina.
No.11 Cincinnati (13-3) is probably a bit low considering its history and quality resume. The Crusaders have wins over D-3 Hamilton Badin, Cincinnati Withrow, Cincinnati Woodward, St.Joseph's (NJ), LaSalle, Elder, and St.Xavier. Moeller's three defeats are to Brother Martin (LA) in overtime, Dayton CJ by four points, and LaSalle.
These are just a few examples of how resumes play a role in our rankings and actually getting out to see the teams. Obviously, we could be wrong and lot of the time we are, but resumes have to be taken into serious consideration. If not, I should be getting a call from a local hospital to perform an appendectomy anytime now.
Regardless, we love you all, and respect that each person has his or her own opinion. We just don't agree when it comes to ranking, but it is certainly all in fun on our end.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
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10 comments:
At least you give logic with your rankings...much more than the AP offers up.
Senior has Warren Harding and Akron St V left on their schedule. If they win both of those, they're clearly a top 10 team.
I saw them against Orrville early on, and they're good, maybe not as good as some of their recent teams, but definately regional quality.
Red Rider,
Absolutely. Those are two resume building games for Mansfield.
By the way, great blog.
So do you feel Gahanna Lincoln should not be ranked number 2? Even though they play a weak schedule, they are doing what they are supposed to do. Which is beating all central opponents by double digits. The only close games they have had was against out-of-area teams. The also own one of the best 3-guard tandems in the state of Ohio.
Love your rationale. Take a look at Madison though in your D3 rankings. their opponents have a sub .400 winning percentage. Love the site and how well you cover the whole state
In regards to teams like Middletown Madison, you are exactly correct. We took a look at what they returned from last year and how well they performed last year with basically the same cast of characters. You are correct, may be a bit high.
We were waiting on someone to bring up Plymouth. This is our rationale for them. When you have a D-1 player at a D-3/D-4 school that holds a lot of weights. Kahlig at Fort Recover, Craft at L-B, and Turson at Plymouth. Not many teams at that level have a player of that caliber in comparison to D-1/D-2 schools.
Love all the comments though. We appreciate everyone's opinion and insights.
Gahanna Lincoln fan,
Perhaps, you overlooked our comments on Gahanna Lincoln. You just echoed what we already said. OHSH has the Lions at No. 3.
how is gahanna number 3 when they are undefeated you have to give them their credit the team ahead of them has more losses than them you make this poll look very bias...
How is Lakewood number 2 when Gahanna is undefeated and Westerville South is undefeated to? Also, Mentor only has 2 losses and Lakewood has 3. This poll is looking real bias
Look at the competition between the two. Not bias just facts.
By the way, Lakewood St.Edward's just beat Mentor (78-63) this past Saturday. You must not have looked at Lakewood's resume. Please, do your homework before shouting inaccurate opinions. We love opinions but do some research first.
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