Football: It's shakeup Sunday for rankings

There's not much time to tinker with the rankings before the playoffs, so I figured it was time to straighten a few things out. Here are the penultimate rankings that will be published in Monday's paper, with comments on team movement after the jump (last week's ranking in parentheses):

1. Crenshaw 9-0 (1)

2. Edison 9-0 (3)

3. Oaks Christian 9-0 (2)

4. Servite 8-1 (5)

5. Lakewood 8-1 (4)

6. Mission Viejo 9-0 (7)

7. Gardena Serra 9-0 (6)

8. Moorpark 9-0 (8)

9. Redlands East Valley 9-0 (9)

10. St. Bonaventure 8-1 (11)

11. S.O. Notre Dame 8-1 (12)

12. Valencia 9-0 (14)

13. Norco 8-1 (16)

14. Bishop Amat 8-1 (10)

15. Rancho Cucamonga 8-1 (17)

16. Fountain Valley 8-1 (15)

17. Carson 7-2 (18)

18. Corona Centennial 7-2 (13)

19. Vista Murrieta 9-0 (19)

20. Los Alamitos 7-2 (20)

21. Dana Hills 8-1 (21)

22. Rancho Verde 9-0 (22)

23. Westlake 9-0 (23)

24. Charter Oak 8-1 (24)

25. Venice 8-1 (25)

Moving in: Nobody.

Moving out: Nobody.

Moving up: We had to do it. Edison has played the toughest schedule of anyone in Southern California and Oaks Christian's schedule is looking shakier by the moment. So we flip-flopped the Chargers and Lions. And if Edison wins out, it will probably overtake Crenshaw for the top spot (provided the Cougars don't receive an invitation to the open division bowl game and win that game). We also had to switch one-loss Servite and Lakewood using similar logic; the Friars have thrived while playing a difficult schedule and the Lancers have defeated nobody of note (sorry, Long Beach Poly doesn't count in 2009). When it comes to Mission Viejo and Gardena Serra, you just have to wonder if the small-school Cavaliers are really better than the Pac-5 Diablos. Should Serra beat Oaks Christian, there might not be any doubt. Until then, there's plenty. Norco got a three-spot bump for its big victory over Corona Centennial and St. Bonaventure, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and Valencia all moved up in the wake of Bishop Amat's loss to Crespi.

Moving down: See above for Oaks Christian, Lakewood and Gardena Serra. We didn't want to penalize Bishop Amat too harshly for a loss to a Crespi team that is very solid (despite not being ranked). Corona Centennial could have won both games it lost, so we're not going to bump the Huskies out of the rankings. And just chalk up Fountain Valley's 24-0 loss to Edison to running into a hot team at the wrong time (rivalry week).

On the doorstep: Crespi, St. Francis, Orange Lutheran, Mater Dei, Redlands.

Games of the week: Moorpark at Westlake Village, Dana Hills at Mission Viejo, Redlands East Valley at Redlands, L.A. Cathedral at Gardena Serra, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame at Bishop Amat, San Pedro at Carson.

--Ben Bolch

Comments

[blng_blng]

Edison has played and beaten 4 teams in the Times top 25...
To Crenshaws one and Jokes Xitans zero (0)...
Really hard choice...

[shaw dog]

edison beat #4 and #16 crenshaw beat #5 and #13, crenshaw has found itself on defense ask DDP.....hopefully politics doesn't come into play, We'll know city can't compete with the big bad southern section

[Vandy]

When Crenshaw loses to Venice or any other team in the City playoffs, Edison loses in the Pac-5 playofs and Oaks Christian goes 14-0 with a championship game win against Serra, are the Lions going to be No. 1?

Or will you come up with some reason like you have done all year to keep Oaks Chr. out of the top spot just because you obviously have something personal against the school?

[James B]

Enough of the whining from Oaks Christian on why they are not ranked higher in the LA Times polls. When they are 9-0 in the Marmonte League, then they have a legit gripe. If they spent as much time scheduling D1, D2, D3 & D4 teams instead of scoreboard/poll watching, then they would have nothing to complain about. And don't tell me that no one will play you. Ever since Oaks refused to play Mission Viejo, they can never use that excuse. I don't hear Cathedral or Serra complaining, both are 9-0 & in D10.

[blng_blng]

My bad Crenshaw did beat Lakewood...
So they have two wins to Edisons 4...
Edison beat teams 4, 16, 20 & 21

[socalhsfootball]

Oaks should not even be in the top 10. Redell should have thought of that when he was scheduling games. (Maybe he is a genius). The times ranking is proof even they have drank the Oaks Celebrity koolaide.

[HSFB Fan]

To Edison Fan and Oaks Christian Fan: As a long, long, long time follower of LA City HS Football, Having seen all three teams in person. Edison would beat Oaks Christian by 2 TD's......Crenshaw could beat either team by 4 scores any day....and twice on Sunday if allowed. Give them their props.

[Bruce]

Ben Bolch is either sniffing his socks or just simply an Alemany hater. He has both Crespi and St Francis knocking on the door of the top 25. Oh wait a second, Alemany beat both of these teams this year. Maybe he should actually watch some games, instead of just receiving reports from other people.

[condad]

If Lakewood hadn't lost to Crenshaw by 1 point , would Lakewood be #1 ?

[Warriors]

Alemany needs to get some props...played Oaks Christian really tough in the opener with a QB starting his first varsity game, and wins over Crespi, St. Francis and Taft!

[Bruce's Logic]

Bruce, by your logic then Serra and Cathedral have to be added to the equation. Both beat Harvard Westlake rather handidly and Harvard Westlake beat Alemany. How can Crespi and Mater Dei with a combined 8 losses still be on the doorstep? Cathedral and Serra will be starting their playoff run this Friday when they play against each other - the victor will more than likey go on to play Oaks Christian who beat Alemany. At least you have Serra up there since they beat Carson who beat Mater Dei. And I thought the BCS was BS - maybe the high schools should just play their 3 or 4 league games then allow for a 10 week playoff schedule.

[BigNDfan]

If ND executes, as they did last week, they'll be hosting a game the following week. If not, they could lose the coin flip and have a very sudden ending to their (our) season. This is a great test of the boys' self discipline, on both sides of the ball.