Starting last week, the OSSAA started the release of the weekly OSSAA Fall rankings.
Each week until the postseason, the OSSAA will release the rankings for every team in Classes 2A and A while it’ll just be the top 20 for Class B. These rankings are compiled from the coaches of the teams in their respective classes. When it is time for the pairings for districts and regionals to be announced, these rankings will be used to determine said pairing.
As you may remember, last week I had some “issues” with some of the happenings in the rankings. I know and understand that certain coaches have used these rankings as a way to try an manipulate those postseason pairings and for other reasons that aren’t necessarily reflective of what is truly happening.
After my post last week, I had a coach email me explaining that for the first time he can remember they were able to vote for their own team which may explain some of the teams receiving first place votes that clearly shouldn’t have.
Below you’ll see what the rankings are for the week, but first you’ll see my top 10 for each class. I figured it’s easy to be critical of something, but I needed to be fair an put out there what I think the rankings should be for at least the top 10 in each class. I’m not under the impression that my rankings mean anything, nor should they hold any weight. However, if I’m going to be critical, I need to be transparent…right?
*Just like the coaches, my rankings are done through the games on Saturday, August 31. They do not include games played on Monday, Sept 2.
Before we take a look at this week’s rankings, I do have to say that this week’s rankings are not filled with near as much egregious voting.
Class 2A
- Not too much on this ranking I can argue with.
- Silo is the clear #1 team so them overtaking the top spot from Dale is correct.
- I had Byng at #3 and Oktaha at #4, but this isn’t not that big of a deal.
Class A
- I honestly don’t see how anyone can vote Rattan #1 over Wright City. The rankings should be about where the teams are at this point in the season. While Rattan is still a state championship contender, they have lost 4 games with 3 of them in their last 3 games. Also, Wright City BEAT Rattan, 4-1, in both teams’ last game. Does head to head not count?
- Nothing really egregious with the rest of the rankings, but the only other team that you might convince me of giving a 1st place vote is Okarche because the did beat Wright City 2 weeks ago.
Class B
- Let’s be honest, the top 2 teams so far in Class B are Calumet and Ft Cobb-Broxton. With their 6-0 record last week, FCB has put themselves back in that category.
- No other team should be receiving 1st place votes other than those two, but Stuart and Boswell receiving 1st place votes are not that bad. The have 21 wins between them at this point.
- Having said that, Frontier receiving a 1st place vote is really “something.” I’ll just leave it at that.
It may seem like overkill that I keep harping on these rankings. However, I’ll keep doing it until this practice of trying to manipulate the rankings for your team’s gain is a thing of the past. As someone told me after last week’s rankings, “(I) wish everyone had integrity for the game rather than trying to help pave their own way.”
Like this post? Don’t miss any posts. Enter your email in the box below and have Sooner State Baseball Report content delivered right to your inbox.
Sooner State Baseball Report 
Leave a comment