Frederick Douglass tops Class 6A in the first RPI Standings of the season released Monday by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association.
The ratings system, which will evolve with each passing week of the regular season, is used to determine seeding for the KHSAA’s playoffs from the second round through the semifinals in all six classes.
This first release comes after Week 6 of the football season. RPI Standings have also been released for boys soccer, girls soccer, girls volleyball and field hockey, but those rankings aren’t used to seed those sports’ postseasons.
Douglass (6-0) ranks as the No. 3 team in the state in the latest Kentucky Sports Radio poll and the PrepSpin Power Rankings, which are based on a different formula. The Broncos have consistently been ranked as Class 6A’s No. 2 in each Kentucky High School Football Media Poll of the season.
Louisville’s Trinity (5-1), the defending Class 6A champion, ranks No. 1 everywhere else, but is No. 4 in the KHSAA’s RPI Standings due in part to the Shamrocks’ one loss and to the fact the KHSAA’s RPI formula dramatically undervalues the strength of out-of-state opponents.
Trinity has played just two Kentucky rivals among its six games because it challenges itself against a slate of often nationally ranked foes outside the state.
In the other classes, the No. 1s are Pulaski County in Class 5A, Paducah Tilghman in Class 4A, Christian Academy-Louisville in Class 3A, Beechwood in Class 2A and Louisville Holy Cross in Class A.
Holy Cross (5-0) will test that ranking against No. 3 Sayre (5-0) in Lexington this Friday in the PrepSpin.com Game of the Week.
Because the RPI Standings formula is largely based on the winning percentage of teams and their opponents with small adjustments for wins against bigger schools and losses against smaller schools, it can also increase the profile of teams who haven’t necessarily won over pollsters.
For instance, the RPI’s Class 5A No. 2 West Jessamine (6-0) was ranked No. 8 in last week’s Kentucky High School Football Media Poll. The Colts’ win over Class 6A’s George Rogers Clark likely shot them up the RPI Standings and will boost their media ranking slightly.
The formula can also cause controversies like the one in Class 4A where No. 3 Boyle County (4-1) ranks ahead of No. 4 Highlands (5-1) despite the Bluebirds’ 41-21 rout of the Rebels on Sept. 11.
That anomaly and others are sure to be a cause for discussion in the weeks ahead.
Here’s a look at the top 10s of each of Kentucky high school football’s six classes. The complete RPI Standings are at khsaa.arbiterwebsites.com/rpi-compilation/standings-rpi-26-27-football/.
Class 6A
1. Frederick Douglass (5-0)
2. Manual (5-1)
3. Madison Central (6-0)
4. Trinity (5-1)
5. McCracken County (4-2)
6. South Warren (4-2)
7. Lafayette (5-1)
8. Eastern (5-1)
9. Bullitt East (4-2)
10. North Hardin (3-2-1)
Class 5A
1. Pulaski County (6-0)
2. West Jessamine (6-0)
3. Owensboro (4-2)
4. Scott County (5-1)
5. Madisonville-North Hopkins (5-1)
6. Woodford County (4-1)
7. Atherton (5-1)
8. Fairdale (5-1)
9. Cooper (4-2)
10. South Laurel (5-1)
Class 4A
1. Paducah Tilghman (6-0)
2. Ashland Blazer (6-0)
3. Boyle County (4-1)
4. Highlands (5-1)
5. Corbin (3-2)
6. Covington Catholic (4-2)
7. Boyd County (4-1)
8. Elizabethtown (4-2)
9. Nelson County (5-1)
10. Logan County (5-1)
Class 3A
1. Christian Academy-Louisville (6-0)
2. Glasgow (6-0)
3. LaRue County (6-0)
4. Lloyd Memorial (6-0)
5. Lawrence County (3-1)
6. Murray (5-1)
7. Lexington Catholic (3-2)
8. Carroll County (4-0)
9. Bardstown (4-2)
10. Rockcastle County (6-0)
Class 2A
1. Beechwood (5-0)
2. Owensboro Catholic (5-1)
3. Lexington Christian (3-2)
4. Danville (6-0)
5. Mayfield (5-1)
6. DuBois (5-1)
7. Somerset (5-1)
8. Breathitt County (5-1)
9. Belfry (5-1)
10. Prestonsburg (4-1)
Class A
1. Louisville Holy Cross (5-0)
2. Pikeville (5-1)
3. Sayre (5-0)
4. Kentucky Country Day (4-2)
5. Middlesboro (5-0)
6. Dayton (5-0)
7. Paintsville (6-0)
8. Bethlehem (6-0)
9. Raceland (3-2)
10. Nicholas County (4-2)