Post by mocofan on Feb 3, 2024 12:22:49 GMT -2
My Top Ten
As of February 2nd. There continues to be plenty of parity and movement in the rankings.
1. Whitman (13-2) - Six straight wins. 3-2 record against other teams in my top ten, plus a win over Landon.
2. Sherwood (13-3) - 5-3 vs. teams in my top ten. Avenged an earlier season OT loss to RM.
3. Wootton (13-3) - Five straight wins. 4-1 record against other teams in my top ten. Only team to beat both Whitman and Magruder.
4. Magruder (13-2) - Five straight wins. Relatively easy schedule; only one win over a ranked team (Blake).
5. Blake (12-3) - Six straight wins. Has struggled against top competition, 2-3 vs. ranked teams.
6. Paint Branch (12-2) - Five straight wins, including three against teams in this ranking. Overall, 4-2 vs. teams in my top ten.
7. B-CC (12-4) - Has struggled against top competition; 1-4 vs. teams in this ranking.
8. Richard Montgomery (10-5) - 5-4 vs. teams in this top ten, but has lost four out of last six overall games.
9. Kennedy (11-4) - Four straight wins. However, just 1-4 vs. teams in this ranking.
10. Springbrook (9-7) - Loss to PB snapped a six game winning streak. 3-5 overall vs. teams in this ranking.
Others considered:
Churchill
WJ
Northwest
QO
Poolesville
*The top two teams (that are not in the same playoff region) based on regular season record will play in the County Championship game.
Coming up - full slate of mostly division games. Best games of the week upcoming:
Monday, 2/5:
RM at Magruder
Sherwood at Springbrook
Paint Branch at Blake
Friday, 2/9:
Kennedy at Paint Branch
Blake at Sherwood
Springbrook at RM
Wootton at B-CC
Division Standings
In case anyone is interested in the division standings, MCPS has five divisions of five teams this season, with every school playing its divisional opponents twice. At the halfway point, here are the division standings (divisional games only):
Central
Whitman 3-1
B-CC and Wootton 3-2
Churchill 2-3
WJ is 1-4
West
QO 4-1
Northwest 3-2
Clarksburg 2-2
Gaithersburg 2-3
Seneca Valley 1-4
East
Sherwood, RM and PB are all 3-2
Blake 2-2
Springbrook is 1-4
South
Kennedy 5-0
Northwood 3-2
Blair 2-2
Einstein 2-3
Wheaton 0-5
North
Magruder 5-0
Poolesville 3-2
Damascus 2-2
Rockville and Watkins Mill are 1-4
Regions - Overall regular season record will determine seeding (holiday tournament results do not count).
4A West I - Looks like this is FredCo's region to lose. I don't think the Frederick teams are unbeatable, but I don't trust the MoCo teams in this region to be able to string together three straight wins to make it out. Frederick has played an interesting schedule; of its four losses, two are to private schools (St. Johns and Goretti) and one to Jefferson WVA. Urbana did beat Frederick in the regular season though.
Frederick 12-4
Urbana 9-6
TJ 7-8
Northwest 6-8
SV 5-11
Clarksburg 2-12
4A West II - Whitman has been the most consistent, navigating a tough schedule. But B-CC is dangerous. Churchill, WJ and QO have played tough schedules but may not have it in them to take down both Whitman and B-CC.
Whitman 13-2
B-CC 12-4
Churchill 8-7
WJ 7-7
QO 7-7
Gaithersburg 3-12
4A North II - A very top heavy region, with PB, RM and Kennedy all among the upper half of the county. Springbrook is coming on strong now and may work its way into consideration.
PB 12-2
Kennedy 11-4
RM 10-5
Springbrook 9-7
Einstein 4-11
Wheaton 1-13
4A South I - This is arguably the least competitive region in 4A, but one of the teams will advance to states. Northwood and Blair are among the bottom third of MoCo, but anything is possibly when playing out of county competition - particularly against teams that are not highly regarded traditionally in their own counties. Northwood may end up with a bye and a home game in the region semifinals. Laurel hasn't beaten many good team, aside from a win over Roosevelt. But of its losses to mostly decent/good teams, Laurel has been competitive in the games.
Laurel 9-5
Northwood 6-10
Northwestern 3-11
Blair 3-12
Reservoir 2-13
High Point 0-14
3A West II - The top four teams in this region are as deep as any region in the state. The region semifinals and finals will be very competitive and any of the four teams could advance.
Magruder 13-2
Wootton 13-3
Sherwood 12-3
Blake 12-3
Damascus 5-10
Rockville 3-11
Watkins Mill 1-14
2A West II - Mixed regions with teams from four different counties can sometimes provide wild results. Poolesville may not be able to hang with the top half of MoCo but has shown the ability to beat the bottom half. Maybe the Falcons can compete with out of county 2As.
Century 10-4
Wilde Lake 9-7
Poolesville 7-7
Southern-AA 6-6
Hammond 4-9
As of February 2nd. There continues to be plenty of parity and movement in the rankings.
1. Whitman (13-2) - Six straight wins. 3-2 record against other teams in my top ten, plus a win over Landon.
2. Sherwood (13-3) - 5-3 vs. teams in my top ten. Avenged an earlier season OT loss to RM.
3. Wootton (13-3) - Five straight wins. 4-1 record against other teams in my top ten. Only team to beat both Whitman and Magruder.
4. Magruder (13-2) - Five straight wins. Relatively easy schedule; only one win over a ranked team (Blake).
5. Blake (12-3) - Six straight wins. Has struggled against top competition, 2-3 vs. ranked teams.
6. Paint Branch (12-2) - Five straight wins, including three against teams in this ranking. Overall, 4-2 vs. teams in my top ten.
7. B-CC (12-4) - Has struggled against top competition; 1-4 vs. teams in this ranking.
8. Richard Montgomery (10-5) - 5-4 vs. teams in this top ten, but has lost four out of last six overall games.
9. Kennedy (11-4) - Four straight wins. However, just 1-4 vs. teams in this ranking.
10. Springbrook (9-7) - Loss to PB snapped a six game winning streak. 3-5 overall vs. teams in this ranking.
Others considered:
Churchill
WJ
Northwest
QO
Poolesville
*The top two teams (that are not in the same playoff region) based on regular season record will play in the County Championship game.
Coming up - full slate of mostly division games. Best games of the week upcoming:
Monday, 2/5:
RM at Magruder
Sherwood at Springbrook
Paint Branch at Blake
Friday, 2/9:
Kennedy at Paint Branch
Blake at Sherwood
Springbrook at RM
Wootton at B-CC
Division Standings
In case anyone is interested in the division standings, MCPS has five divisions of five teams this season, with every school playing its divisional opponents twice. At the halfway point, here are the division standings (divisional games only):
Central
Whitman 3-1
B-CC and Wootton 3-2
Churchill 2-3
WJ is 1-4
West
QO 4-1
Northwest 3-2
Clarksburg 2-2
Gaithersburg 2-3
Seneca Valley 1-4
East
Sherwood, RM and PB are all 3-2
Blake 2-2
Springbrook is 1-4
South
Kennedy 5-0
Northwood 3-2
Blair 2-2
Einstein 2-3
Wheaton 0-5
North
Magruder 5-0
Poolesville 3-2
Damascus 2-2
Rockville and Watkins Mill are 1-4
Regions - Overall regular season record will determine seeding (holiday tournament results do not count).
4A West I - Looks like this is FredCo's region to lose. I don't think the Frederick teams are unbeatable, but I don't trust the MoCo teams in this region to be able to string together three straight wins to make it out. Frederick has played an interesting schedule; of its four losses, two are to private schools (St. Johns and Goretti) and one to Jefferson WVA. Urbana did beat Frederick in the regular season though.
Frederick 12-4
Urbana 9-6
TJ 7-8
Northwest 6-8
SV 5-11
Clarksburg 2-12
4A West II - Whitman has been the most consistent, navigating a tough schedule. But B-CC is dangerous. Churchill, WJ and QO have played tough schedules but may not have it in them to take down both Whitman and B-CC.
Whitman 13-2
B-CC 12-4
Churchill 8-7
WJ 7-7
QO 7-7
Gaithersburg 3-12
4A North II - A very top heavy region, with PB, RM and Kennedy all among the upper half of the county. Springbrook is coming on strong now and may work its way into consideration.
PB 12-2
Kennedy 11-4
RM 10-5
Springbrook 9-7
Einstein 4-11
Wheaton 1-13
4A South I - This is arguably the least competitive region in 4A, but one of the teams will advance to states. Northwood and Blair are among the bottom third of MoCo, but anything is possibly when playing out of county competition - particularly against teams that are not highly regarded traditionally in their own counties. Northwood may end up with a bye and a home game in the region semifinals. Laurel hasn't beaten many good team, aside from a win over Roosevelt. But of its losses to mostly decent/good teams, Laurel has been competitive in the games.
Laurel 9-5
Northwood 6-10
Northwestern 3-11
Blair 3-12
Reservoir 2-13
High Point 0-14
3A West II - The top four teams in this region are as deep as any region in the state. The region semifinals and finals will be very competitive and any of the four teams could advance.
Magruder 13-2
Wootton 13-3
Sherwood 12-3
Blake 12-3
Damascus 5-10
Rockville 3-11
Watkins Mill 1-14
2A West II - Mixed regions with teams from four different counties can sometimes provide wild results. Poolesville may not be able to hang with the top half of MoCo but has shown the ability to beat the bottom half. Maybe the Falcons can compete with out of county 2As.
Century 10-4
Wilde Lake 9-7
Poolesville 7-7
Southern-AA 6-6
Hammond 4-9
