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Poll talk: Week 10
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Last comment by Times_Sports 3 weeks, 2 days ago.

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Another week with almost no movement in AP polls.

Last week we spiced things up (and predictably hurt some feelings) by focusing on some teams that we felt may have been overrated or underrated in the polls.

This week, we'll turn it around and put the microscope on my votes and see who the polls say I'm wrong about. And because I can't resist, I'll defend my reasoning.

Here's this week's official poll.

My votes/notes are below. As always, feel free to chime in if you think we're perpetrating some gross miscarriage of justice here.

Enjoy.

 

Class A

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

THEY SAY: I'm not giving ECI enough credit.

WE SAY: The Bulldogs haven't done enough to get back into the top half of the poll quite yet. Since taking a 34-0 loss to Savannah Christian, ECI has come back strong with close wins over Johnson County and Treutlen, two teams that have been in or around the top 10 all year.

I'll grant that ECI could occupy the No. 6 spot as justly as Holy Innocents', whose only loss came 28-2 to No. 1 Wesleyan. But you can't put the Bulldogs over a Wilkinson County team that lost by just 7 to Savannah Christian, and has wins over Twiggs County and Wilcox County to its credit.

 

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)

THEY SAY: Westminster deserves to be ranked.

WE SAY: They may be right. The Wildcats lost a pair of two-point games to Class AAA teams to open the season (vs. Carrollton and Woodward Academy). Those two have a combined record of 14-2, and Carrollton is ranked No. 6 in Class AAA.

I'm not quite a believer in the Trojans' unbeaten record yet,  but that doesn't diminish Westminster's track record, which includes a win over Lovett. A good showing this week against Buford would say a lot. A win, and I might have to re-think AA completely.

 

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 (10)

THEY SAY: Creekview is better than North Hall.

WE SAY: How do you figure? And I'd really like an answer on this one. North Hall dominated Creekview by more than the final margin (45-21) showed. The Trojans had 542 yards of total offense in that game, and outgained Creekview on the ground, 440-182. Hard to believe that's a fluke.

Creekview (7-1) gets the one-game edge in record, but then again, the Grizzlies didn't play Buford and Gainesville, like North Hall did. 

The only other feather in Creekview's cap is the win over Sequoyah in Week 1. Sequoyah was ranked No. 6 in AAAA at the time, but has lost twice more since then and struggled in wins over Cass (1-7) and Rome (3-6).

 

Class AAAA

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

THEY SAY: Griffin is No. 1.

WE SAY: That's hard to argue against. Westside-Macon got my No. 2 vote after four of my top five (SW DeKalb, Marist, Rome, Sandy Creek) lost in Week 1, and they took over the top spot when Marist beat Tucker. I've kept them there basically because they haven't done anything to lose it. But Griffin's resume is looking more impressive each week.

Westside plays their toughest opponent of the regular season - Thomas County Central - this week. It'll be interesting to see how they fare. I doubt anything less than a loss will convince me to move them from the top spot, but a solid win would certainly leave me more confident in my vote. 

 

Class AAAAA

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

THEY SAY: I'm overrating MLK.

I SAY: The Lions are nasty on defense and their only loss is to unbeaten Stephenson. Space in the AAAAA poll is hard to get this year, but I've gotta believe with all the talent MLK trots out each week (they're more than just Mack Brown) the Lions are one of AAAAA's top 10 teams.



Latest Activity: Oct 27, 2009 at 2:53 PM



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joseywales commented on Tuesday, Oct 27, 2009 at 15:26 PM

I guess you do a lot of research, but Wilkinson did not lose to Savannah Christian, they lost the Savannah Country Day, a team with a 4-4 record who lost to Claxton last week. Does this change your opinion on your statement about how good you think Wilkinson is and should be ranked ahead of ECI, By the way ECI defeated Savannah Country Day!

Brent_Holloway commented on Tuesday, Oct 27, 2009 at 16:26 PM

Nice catch, Josey. Nice handle, too.

Indeed, I had the wrong Savannah school, and I'll reconsider when voting next week. I still think Wilkinson is a good team, but a loss to Country Day is a whole lot different than one to Sav. Christian.

We'll see how Wilkinson does against Lincoln County this week and re-evaluate things then.

Thanks for the heads up.

ericcloy commented on Wednesday, Oct 28, 2009 at 21:25 PM

Brent, Man I know you work for the Gainesville Times and your loyalty is to the many Hall County schools but give Creekview some respect. In your review of Creekview you forgot to mention the 600 plus yards of total offense on PRECIOUS FLOWERY BRANCH. I'm not making excuses about the loss to North Hall They destroyed us but We've played pretty much the same teams as Gainesville and have Won in the same fashion. Also we are 3-0 against Region 7B-AAA. Please stop hating on the View!!!!!!!

Times_Sports commented on Wednesday, Oct 28, 2009 at 22:35 PM

Not hating, but rolling up big yards on FB doesn't get you a ton of respect this year. The Falcons score a ton, and that makes them dangerous, but they've been unable to cope with good running games.

And I don't think Creekview is bad, by any means. I've got them on the cusp of the top 10 with Ridgeland and Grady. But to rank them ahead of a team they were dominated by is silly, in my opinion.


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