Welcome to 2025 and our first Boys High School rankings.
We have to acknowledge, of course, that we're basing much of this off 2024. Many teams don't know what they have yet and even if they know the pieces of the puzzle but they don't know all those pieces fit yet. But we also have a sense that some teams might drop down because of graduation, or some teams might move up for "reasons."
One of those reasons is Jesuit of Sacramento, a team that took a very young team to the Sanix World Rugby Youth Tournament in Japan. They did win a game, but overall were beaten quite handily from some really well-drilled teams. What the experience did was expose Jesuit to a higher level, and we feel they will bring those lessons to their 2025 season.
We see some teams in North Carolina and Southern California that have already shown they are coming back, but they have more games to play.
And as for #1 ... it's not automatic that Gonzaga should be #1. Yes the Eagles are two-time national champs, but they have graduated a bunch of players and other teams—notably St. Ignatius—are returning a bunch of players. So might we rank Ignatius or De La Salle #1? Maybe, but we haven't seen then play yet, and the idea that Ignatius was underclassmen heavy is a bit of an exaggeration. So we'll wait. Having said that, we think this year there will be several #1-ranked teams over the course of the winter and spring.
There is so much rugby to be played, and so much that could change.
