Ho-hum.

Another week down, another poll out, and the only real surprise is that it's already Week 9.

Not much changes this week in my votes or in the official AP poll.

To break up the boredom, this week we'll have some fun with the two most loaded words in the sports lexicon: overrated and underrated. Those two always seem to get feathers ruffled, despite the fact that if you're rated at all, things ain't all bad.

As always, the lists you see below are my votes in the poll. For the results, see the link above.

Class A

Rank, team, previous vote
1. Wesleyan (1)
2. Savannah Christian (2)
3. Lincoln County (4)
4. Wilkinson County (5)
5. Twiggs County (7)
6. Holy Innocents' (8)
7. Emanuel County Institute (10)
8. Johnson County (3)
9. Greeville (9)
10. Treutlen (-)

UNDERRATED: No. 7 Twiggs County.

HERE'S WHY: The Cobras' only loss came in Week 1 to No. 4 Wilkinson County, 16-6. Since then, they've been on a tear, outscoring opponents by an average score of 40-5. They've only beaten two teams with winning records during that span, but they've made it count, thumping Wilcox County (5-2) 48-12, and shutting out Hawkinsville (4-3) last week, 39-0. 

OVERRATED: No. 4 ECI

HERE'S WHY: They got pummelled by Savannah Christian, 34-0. ECI is a much younger team this year than they were when they appeared in the state finals the last two seasons, and they seem to have progressed throughout the season, as young teams tend to do. They've proven worthy of a top-10 spot by beating Treutlen and Johnson County in back-to-back weeks, but both games went down to the wire (combined margin of victory = eight points). I see them less as a semifinalist, and more as a quarterfinal-type of team.

Class AA

1. Calhoun (1)
2. Fitzgerald (2)
3. Buford (3)
4. Jefferson County (4)
5. Jefferson (5)
6. Lovett (6)
7. Charlton County (7)
8. Thomasville (8)
9. Chattooga (9)
10. Armuchee (10)

UNDERRATED: Unranked Chattooga.

HERE'S WHY: Not only are the Indians unranked, I'm the only pollster voting for them. Maybe it's just me (and apparently it is), but when your only loss comes in a fairly competitive contest (27-12) to No. 1 Calhoun, I'm not docking a team too many spots in my top 10. The fact that Chattooga struggled with one-win Sonoraville is disconcerting, but not enough to leave the Indians out completely.

OVERRATED: No. 10 Brooks County.

HERE'S WHY: There are a few teams that could fit the bill here, but I'm singliing out Brooks County because I don't have even have them in my top 12 (I've got 'em at 13). The Trojans are popular with computer-generated power rankings, but I'm not sure why. They kept it close (21-6) in a loss to Thomasville, but until last week, they hadn't beaten any teams with a winning record.

Class AAA

1. Gainesville (1)
2. Carver-Columbus (2)
3. Peach County (3)
4. St. Pius X (4)
5. Washington County (5)
6. LaGrange (6)
7. Baldwin (7)
8. Jackson (8)
9. Carrollton (9)
10. North Hall (-)

UNDERRATED: No. 9 Baldwin

HERE'S WHY: Because I believe in such a thing as "good losses," at least when it comes to polls. The Braves' only losses were against No. 2 Peach County and No. 3 Carver-Columbus, and both were relatively close. There haven't been many easy outs on the Braves' schedule, either. For the season, Baldwin County's opponents are winning 60 percent of their games.  

OVERRATED: No. 6 Carrollton.

HERE'S WHY: Strength of schedule (it's a recurring theme here). The Trojans are a perennial power, but how much does that have to do with this year's team? Only a little, I would argue. Carrollton's oppenents this season have a combined winning percentage of .353, and when you take out their two Class AA foes, it sinks to .243. None of their wins have come against Class AAA teams with winning records.

Class AAAA

1. Westside-Macon (1)
2. Griffin (2)
3. Southwest DeKalb (3)
4. Marist (5)
5. Tucker (6)
6. North Clayton (7)
7. Sandy Creek (8)
8. Apalachee (9)
9. Hiram (10)
10. Hillgrove (4)

Honestly, there's not much to quibble with here. I've got a couple of teams slotted differently, but it's hard to argue with the AP's take on AAAA. For continuity's sake, here's a half-hearted attempt...

UNDERRATED: No. 8 North Clayton.

HERE'S WHY: It's a little hard to get a good handle on the Eagles. They've beaten good teams, but no great ones. And they're winning convincingly, even if they're not envoking the mercy rule every other week.

OVERRATED: No. 5 Sandy Creek. 

HERE'S WHY: Think of this as the fourth chorus of a Nashville pop song - if you've been paying attention, you know the words by now.  Zero wins versus teams with winning records. In the Patriots' defense, they are blowing everybody out. 

Class AAAAA

1. Northside-Warner Robins (1)
2. Grayson (2)
3. Lowndes (3)
4. Stephenson (5)
5. North Gwinnett (6)
6. Newnan (7)
7. ML King, Jr. (4)
8. Camden County (8)
9. Peachtree Ridge (9)
10. McEachern (10)

OVERRATED: No. 5 McEachern

HERE'S WHY: The Indians are scoring in bunches this year. The problem: they're giving 'em up too - 23.5 per game to be exact. To be fair, a lot of those points were yielded as the Indians began the season with four straight games against winning teams. But in the last two weeks, they've give up 57 to a pair of teams that have seven combined wins. I may have them too low at No. 10, but I like a little more defense from my top 5 teams.

UNDERRATED: No. 2 Northside-Warner Robins.

HERE'S WHY: May be splitting hairs here, but let me build the case for the Eagles to be No. 1. When comparing Northside and No. 1 Grayson, there's little-to-no difference in the strength of schedule or point differentials. Grayson's opponents win 57 percent of their games, Northside's win 55 percent. Grayson is winning by an average of 28-8; Northside is winning by an average of 30-8.

Northside gets my vote for two reasons: Lowndes and Carver-Columbus. Both were ranked No. 1 until they ran into the Eagles, and both have a better-than-decent chance of winning state titles in their respective classes. Grayson has good wins (see the season opener vs. Camden County), but they don't quite match Northside's.