Before we get into the big decision here ...
Owyhee, SLUH, and Marist all join the Top 50. Detroit Catholic and Bishop Dwenger were teams we were just waiting on one more thing. Actually it was the same thing—DCC's defeat of St. Edward push them up significantly and we think Dwenger deserves to rise as well thanks to a connected result. Both teams had looked good with wins over a not-full-strength St. Ignatius team, so while we felt that was a good thing, we needed more.
OK, now to #1. Saturday afternoon we were all set to move Herriman into the #1 spot, and maybe they deserve to be there. Herriman was idle this weekend, but if Ignatius were to be replaced, it would not be by Xavier, who beat Gonzaga, by much less than Ignatius did, and had already lost to Ignatius.
St. Ignatius, for their part, had lost 43-12 to Charlotte Cardinals in a game where they objectively did not play particularly well. The Cardinals, for their part, did perform well and avoided silly errors and penalties ... the kind that plagued the second half of the Utah final, for example ... or the first half for St. Ignatius.
But, a disinterested third part chimed in for us and suggested we take a closer look. Basically it comes down to this: Ignatius lost to the best HS Club team in the country, and weren't steamrolled, just beaten fairly well. Herriman might be #1 ... let's call it a tie. So then we need to look at strength of schedule. That seems right.
Ignatius has played three teams on tour in Spain (went 3-0), played the defending Illinois state champs, the Indiana state favorites, the strongest single-school team in Illinois, Xavier HS NY (ranked #1 at the time), the defending HS Club national champions, the defending Single-School national champions, their Ohio league season, and the Midwest Championships (without their seniors). Wins 12, losses 2. Points For 619; Points Against 205.
Herriman has played the top two HS Club teams in Utah (a total of three teams), the top teams in Hawai'i and Montana, the defending Utah champion, and a finalist for Rugby Washington's D1. Wins 11, losses 2. Points For 546; Points Against 198.
So virtually identical records. A yeah-but loss for each (yeah Herriman lost to Cavemen ... but they beat them earlier; yeah SIHS lost to Bishop Dwenger ... but this was a short game without most, if not all, their starters). Points for and against per game basically the same. So the difference is, for us, strength of schedule, and St. Ignatius clearly has a slightly stronger schedule.
