How we came up with our preseason power rankings

[ Take me straight to the power rankings. ]

There are so many variables when trying to put together a ranking of teams that haven’t played a snap yet.

Obviously, past success has a lot to do with how teams are perceived heading into the season. And there’s a reason for that.

This exercise almost always nets a certain amount of head-scratching when you look back after the season has revealed all of its secrets.

But more often than not, there’s a lot of things that makes sense. Every member of last year’s preseason Top 10 won at least one playoff game. No. 3 Loyola and No. 4 Nazareth both won state titles.

Whirlwind turnarounds experienced by Brother Rice (Class 8A finalist) don’t happen every year. (Although Rice did appear in last year’s preseason Top 25 at No. 22), the cream usually rises to the top and more often than not usually stays there.

That’s not to say that there won’t be some surprise teams lurking out there waiting to make themselves known. And that’s what makes it all so fun.

Check out our preseason power rankings here.