Gardner's Inkster Team Ranked #1 in State, #45 in Country
Sure, it's a preseason poll, but #1 in the state of Michigan and #45 in the country is pretty darn good.
http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=967339
August 10th, 2009 at 3:44 PM ^
Actually, it's sad. Michigan's BEST team is worse than 44 others in the country? Not even in the top 25?
August 10th, 2009 at 3:49 PM ^
Actually the best team in the state is ranked at 32.
August 10th, 2009 at 4:09 PM ^
That's in last years poll
Unless you live in Utah: http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?SID=1185&CID=967346
2008 Rankings: http://highschool.rivals.com/viewrankhs.asp?ra_key=457
August 10th, 2009 at 3:51 PM ^
True, but on the bright side, we only had one team (Muskegon) finish in the top 50 (#32) last year. Rockford (#84) and East Grand Rapids (#89) finished in the top 100.
This year, Inkster (#44), Livonia Stevenson (#47), Warren De La Salle (#59) and Detroit Southeastern (#71) are in the top 75.
August 10th, 2009 at 4:36 PM ^
What are the California and Texas teams ranked higher than Inkster? I would be curious to see just how dominant CA, TX, and FL are when it comes to the best high school teams in the country.
August 10th, 2009 at 4:44 PM ^
These rankings are incredibly arbitrary. Pretty much every team in the top 50 will go undefeated and win its state title. How do you compare them?
August 10th, 2009 at 5:33 PM ^
By height?
August 10th, 2009 at 6:11 PM ^
you're a tremendous slouch.
August 10th, 2009 at 5:20 PM ^
If it makes you feel any better, The Sporting News has Muskegon in its preseason Top 30.
August 10th, 2009 at 3:49 PM ^
Um, yes. You don't think there are several schools in Florida alone that are much better than the best high school in Michigan?
August 10th, 2009 at 3:49 PM ^
I mean 45th isn't all that good for the top team in Michigan but they have alot of games to prove themselves and help their ranking get alot higher.
August 10th, 2009 at 6:25 PM ^
Except that zero of Inkster's games are against anyone ranked higher than them, so they've got little chance of going up much. Not that it matters any.
August 10th, 2009 at 4:04 PM ^
Michigan's top team isn't going to be a top 10 type team. We just don't have the same talent here that states like Texas, Florida, California, etc. have. I wouldn't be surprised if Inkster ends up moving up in the rankings throughout the season, though. From what I've heard, being a current Rockford senior, we have a really good running back coming in as a junior. I think Rockford could have a strong season again. Possible back-to-back state titles again? I hope so.
August 10th, 2009 at 4:39 PM ^
I went to Grandville
August 10th, 2009 at 4:51 PM ^
Tough Crowd.
August 10th, 2009 at 11:22 PM ^
Ha I go to Grandville currently and am on the football team right now, class of 2011
August 10th, 2009 at 11:23 PM ^
God I hate Rockford
August 10th, 2009 at 4:08 PM ^
Makes sense, to me, that RR is recruiting so heavily out of state.
August 10th, 2009 at 4:15 PM ^
But can't RR "coach up" a lesser talented player, and can't Barwis turn even the saddest sack of shit into a nail-chewing, fire-spiting, power-cleaner killer?
August 10th, 2009 at 4:49 PM ^
He could, but why would he go for a sad sack of shit when he can go for a gold plated sack of shit that is willing to come play for him?
(I couldn't really think of an opposite metaphor for sack of shit... Fail)
August 10th, 2009 at 5:18 PM ^
Michigan isn't the football state that Texas, California, Ohio, etc. are. This doesn't surprise me in the slightest.
August 10th, 2009 at 5:52 PM ^
Realistically, 45th is pretty good for our top team.
Look at it like this: CA, TX, and FL probably each have 8 teams better than our best. That's 24 teams. States like OH, GA, AL and PA each have 3 better than our best. That's 12 more, putting us at 36. Maybe 2 each from LA, OK, SC, NC, and SC and you have a total of 46 teams.
Kind of a crude breakdown, but those are all states that have better high school football than MI. Some of them are rough estimates, since metro-cities like LA, Dallas and Miami probably have 5-10 teams better than Inkster. Shit, some years Cincinnati AND Cleveland each have 3 teams better than MI's top team. And I played high school football in Michigan.
August 10th, 2009 at 6:37 PM ^
But this isn't a ranking of the quality of football played in states; it's a ranking of individual teams. Didn't we just have a thread in which we noted that the best high school programs aren't always the ones that produce the best players? Doesn't that logic apply here, too?
I don't think there's any way of ever knowing where Inkster (or any other team) actually stacks up nationally. They'll never get to play any of the other "contenders."
August 10th, 2009 at 6:56 PM ^
I was absolutely referring to individual teams. I went to watch Matt Barkley play at Mater Dei last fall (I can't remember who they played, but another Catholic school) and it looked like I was watching small college football. Mater Dei was good, but they weren't the best team in LA by any means. It's just another level of football completely.
August 10th, 2009 at 7:15 PM ^
Every team on this list probably looks like a juggernaut for most (if not all) of the season. But with few exceptions, they never actually play against each other, so how can you rank them with any kind of certainty? I have no idea how you can say things like "some years Cincinnati AND Cleveland each have 3 teams better than MI's top team." That's a completely arbitrary conclusion on your part. Their leagues may be stronger than any league in Michigan, but it does not necessarily stand to reason that the best teams in those leagues are better than the best team in Michigan. It's apples/oranges.
Let's go back to the EGR/Inkster example. Inkster competes in what is definitely a stronger league, and furthermore, produces more college-bound players than EGR. If the two were never able to compete, would anyone rank EGR higher than Inkster? Probably not. But when they did compete, EGR won. Comparing two teams with the same record that don't play each other is just guesswork.
August 10th, 2009 at 7:30 PM ^
If you simply look at wins and losses, then yes, it's just guesswork. But I've played a lot of football, and I've watched a lot of football. When I lived in Cincinnati I went to the Herbstreit Challenge (or whatever it's called) which pits some of the best Ohio teams against top teams from other states. I've also been to the MHSAA championships many, many years. I'm telling you, there is just not the level of play in MI (with exceptions, there have been a few teams that would match up) that there is in those states.
And although the West Michigan vs. Metro Detroit example shows that the most talented areas don't always have the best teams, most of the time the teams and areas with the most talent also has the best teams.