2016 Boys Single-School Rankings #14

A couple of observations as we hit what is very nearly the final rankings for single-school boys teams.

We will update these rankings a few more times because of regional playoffs, but this is the big one - we can't see there being any change in the top three or four.

1) Gonzaga is ranked #1 but this is an tenuous a #1 ranking as we've seen. They beat Jesuit by a point, and were one pass away from losing. In addition, as we wrote earlier, Gonzaga was very fortunate to get by Xavier, who played a very brave game against the Eagles and could have tied that game. 

2) Xavier is probably our team of the Boys HS Rugby National Championships. Not saying they were the best, but more that it seemed they got the most out of their group as a group. They aren't blow-you-away athletes (they'd be the first to admit that), and yet they battled and beat much bigger and supposedly better teams in St. Edward and Penn, and as we said, were this close to tying Gonzaga. As the sum of their parts, they impressed us the most. 

3) Herriman didn't play much outside their state, and that hurts them. Regardless, they dominated in a really good league, and as such get #4. If Penn beat Royal Irish to win Indiana, they might slip. Herriman might be thinking they're the best in the nation ... they could be, but you've got to play at least one team in the top ten to bolster that argument.

4) Despite going 1-2 at nationals, and despite losing to Fairfield earlier this season, Greenwich did just enough, we think, to warrant #7 (although we might see a change if they falter in the state playoffs coming up). Basically Greenwich and Mira Costa had the same schedule at nationals, and against the two common opponents, Greenwich had the better results. Even so, Mira Costa should be given a small pass for having to wait months after their regular season ended to play in Charlotte. With that in mind, they did remarkably well, and stay in the top ten. We've seen Mira Costa and Kahuku play in person. Both are really good, athletic teams. That would be a great game ... right now we say Mira Costa wins, but barely.

There aren't a lot of other drastic changes. Pelham moves up a bit thanks to beating some well-regarded teams. Conestoga moves up a lot after a dominant performance in Pennsylvania. Snow Canyon gets pinged pretty hard for getting blown out in the Utah final.

St. Augustine beat Delbarton in a game that basically meant nothing because those two teams will meet again this coming weekend for the New Jersey championship. So we tied those two and will wait to see how it all shakes down. With Simsbury losing to Fairfield Prep, they drop out and Prep moves in. Union of Oklahoma rebounds to win their state title and they get a bump. 

This entire season has been fascinating, in that we had three different #1 teams and about six different #2 teams. Every team in the top ten lost a game, except Herriman, and, as we said, they didn't play outside their state.