Four weeks down.
Six weeks to go in the high school regular season.
Here’s what we have learned:
— Cabot appears to be really good.
The 48-32 victory over North Little Rock was impressive. The Panthers have started 4-0 and soared to No. 3 in our overall rankings. It looks like Cabot will be the team out of central Arkansas best able to challenge the northwest Arkansas powers in the Class 7A playoffs.
— No one in Class 6A can contend with Greenwood. If Fayetteville loses and Greenwood keeps winning, we’ll move Greenwood to No. 1 overall. That’s pretty amazing when you consider that Greenwood was competing in Class 5A just a couple of seasons ago.
— We continue to have Pulaski Academy at No. 1 and Camden Fairview at No. 2 in Class 5A, but it’s hard to say which is the best team. They seem to be on a collision course for the playoffs.
— Arkadelphia survived at home against Nashville, but Ashdown and Malvern could give the Badgers problems. They play in what is without a doubt the toughest conference in Class 4A.
— All of the top five teams in Class 3A are capable of winning a state championship if they get hot at the right time.
— The same goes for Class 2A: All of the top five teams are capable of winning a state title.
Here are the rankings for this week:
Overall
1. Fayetteville
2. Greenwood
3. Cabot
4. Pulaski Academy
5. Camden Fairview
6. Bentonville
7. Fort Smith Southside
8. Conway
9. Arkadelphia
10. Pine Bluff
Class 7A
1. Fayetteville
2. Cabot
3. Bentonville
4. Fort Smith Southside
5. Conway
Class 6A
1. Greenwood
2. Pine Bluff
3. Lake Hamilton
4. Russellville
5. Jonesboro
Class 5A
1. Pulaski Academy
2. Camden Fairview
3. White Hall
4. Hope
5. Forrest City
Class 4A
1. Arkadelphia
2. Booneville
3. Pine Bluff Dollarway
4. Valley View
5. Ashdown
Class 3A
1. Charleston
2. Harding Academy
3. Barton
4. Glen Rose
5. Fordyce
Class 2A
1. Junction City
2. Carlisle
3. Bearden
4. East Poinsett County
5. Dierks
Wow – you truly think 5 teams can beat Bentonville? I assume you didn’t see any of the games, but, they have played four really good games against four really good teams. Fayetteville may beat them again in the state championship, but give them a little credit for stepping up and playing the non-conference schedule they typically do. All 10 of those teams would beat Har-Ber?
Like any rankings, Spicoli, these are based on performance so far, not on a prediction of what will happen in the future. We started the season with Bentonville ranked No. 1. If Bentonville and Har-Ber keep winning, they will move back up. And, yes, I think any of the 10 teams could (not necessarily would) beat Har-Ber on a given night.