Florida has long been known for one of the best states in the nation when it comes to high school football, but how do we tell who is really the best football team in a certain time frame? There are many answers to this question, but we are going to provide you with our answer. That answer is 10 years.
Why 1o years? It is a decade and we felt it would be a good thing to keep things in perspective. Going beyond 10 years or cutting it short with the amount of information readily available for us ton consider could have many different effects.
With that we are launching what we believe is the first ever attempt to establish dynasty rankings for high school football in Florida. We have compiled data from nearly 450 teams that have made the playoffs in the last 10 years and we taking a look at the top 200 teams based on a points system we came up with.
First, we took 10 years worth of the Associated Press/Florida Sports Writers Association final regular season polls and gave teams points in each classification based upon final standing. That means a first place team in any classification would get 10 points.
Second, we came up with a playoff points system going from 32 points with the state champion of each classification down to 1 point for the worst team in the playoffs. To make this as simple as possible, the later a team exited the playoffs, they received a higher point value after records were imputed with amount of points determined based upon overall winning percentage. If a bracket only had 16 teams the highest 8 teams were given 32 points down to 25 points. The last 8 teams, which exited in the first round got points anywhere from 8 points down to 1 point.
As the points added up it became clear this was easily the best way to determine dynasty rankings and we think you will be impressed what our formula has churned out on our end.
With that said, we want to present to you the first part of the Florida HS Football Ultimate Dynasty Rankings, which will expand out over 10 days. Everything will be counted down in groups and you can easily share them with anyone using our share buttons above.
Breakdowns: 1-25 | 26-50 | 52-75 | 76-100 | 102-123 | 127-150 | 151-175 | 178-197
Condensed list: View full condensed list here
The Varsity Message Board: Share you thoughts on the Ultimate Dynasty Rankings here
| 1. Bolles | 391 points | ||||
| The Bulldogs have collected five state titles in the last ten years and have appeared in seven state finals games in the last 10 years. | |||||
| 2. St. Thomas Aquinas | 384 points | ||||
| The Raiders have won four state titles in the last ten years, but have appeared in the same amount of title games as Bolles has: seven times! | |||||
| 3. Armwood | 382 points | ||||
| While there are some denotations about this teams, especially the teams from 2010 and 2011 which had wins stripped from the record, we count the on the field effort, which put the Hawks in here with five state title appearances in ten years. | |||||
| 4. Booker T. Washington (Miami) | 366 points | ||||
| The Tornadoes have won three state championships in the last ten years and have appeared in four title games in the last ten years, all under former head coach Tim “ICE” Harris, Sr. | |||||
| 5. Lakeland | 349 points | ||||
| Bill Castle has built a legacy for this Polk County powerhouse having won three state titles in the last 10 years while appearing in four overall state title games during this stretch. | |||||
| 6. Warner Christian | 342 points | ||||
| While the Eagles have not won any state titles, high finishes including state runner-up finishes and state semifinalist appearances were enough to put the South Daytona school into the Top 10. | |||||
| 7. Dwyer | 339 points | ||||
| The Panthers have won two state titles in the last ten years and deep runs in the playoffs in most of years during our 10 year look, helped this Palm Beach Gardens school in to the top 10. | |||||
| 8t. Madison County | 328 points | ||||
| The Cowboys have appeared in four state title games in the last ten years, while coming away with the crown in 2011, but missing the 2013 playoffs had them just missing the top 5. | |||||
| 8t. St. Augustine | 328 points | ||||
| Joey Wiles has built St. Augustine into being a team that is consistently ranked and an annual playoff contender year-in and year-out. The Yellow Jackets have appeared in two state title games in the last ten years and has won one state title. | |||||
| 10. Glades Central | 323 points | ||||
| Although the Raiders haven’t won a state title since 2006, three overall appearances in state title games and deep runs in the last ten years helped Glades Central cracked the Top 10 in the Dynasty Rankings. | |||||
| 11. Trinity Catholic | 321 points | ||||
| The Celtics might not be one of the oldest programs in the state, but they have built up a legacy of being a state championship caliber program. The Celtics in the last 10 years have won two state titles and have appeared in four overall finals. | |||||
| 12. Plant | 316 points | ||||
| The Plant Panthers have built a legacy around head coach Robert Weiner, who has won four state titles in the last 10 years and has taken the team to five overall state final games in the same stretch. | |||||
| 13t. Cocoa | 310 points | ||||
| Head Coach John Wilkinson has been the man who put Cocoa on the map. Having won three state titles between 2008 and 2010, the Tigers are consistently in the hunt to compete for a state title every year. | |||||
| 13t. Glades Day | 310 points | ||||
| Another team located within the “Muck Area” of Palm Beach County that has tons of tradition. In the last ten years the Gators have won three state titles on top of quite a few deep finishes in the playoffs. | |||||
| 15. Miami Central | 301 points | ||||
| The Rockets have been a rising program over the last ten years, but mostly within the last five years. Since 2010 they have won three state titles while appearing in four overall games. However, officially the Rockets 2011 season was overturned by the FHSAA, but we count the on the field record here for the Dynasty Rankings. | |||||
| 16. Fort Meade | 295 points | ||||
| Despite missing the playoffs this past season, the Miners rich heritage and deep runs in the playoffs put the Miners inside the Top 25 of the Dynasty Rankings. Fort Meade has appeared in three state title games in the last 10 seasons and has come away a winner in one of those games. | |||||
| 17. North Florida Christian | 286 points | ||||
| The Eagles have been a consistent playoff team, but the four years straight that the Eagles won the state championship in their respective classification don’t count. However though the Eagles have appeared in four state championship games in the last en years, coming away with two titles. | |||||
| 18. Manatee | 279 points | ||||
| The Hurricanes can thank head coach Joe Kinnan for their successes over the last 30 plus years. However, within the last 10 years the Hurricanes have only two state title games, coming away a winner in the 2011 Class 7A final. | |||||
| 19. Mainland | 271 points | ||||
| Mainland won the 2003 Class 5A state title, but that doesn’t factor into the Dynasty Rankings unfortunately However, with deep finishes in the playoffs in most years in our research, this help put the Buccaneers inside the Top 25 of the Dynasty Rankings. | |||||
| 20. Apopka | 270 points | ||||
| Apopka has appeared in two state finals in the last 10 years, winning the 2012 Class 8A state championship. The Blue Darters, however can say HokaHey to the fact they have made deep playoff runs most of the years that didn’t include a state final. That helped them just land inside the Top 25. | |||||
| 21. Lincoln | 268 points | ||||
| The Trojans have appeared in three state titles games in the last 10 years, winning the 2010 Class 4A state championship in the finals minutes of the contest against Armwood. Overall, tradition does not lack for this Tallahassee program. | |||||
| 22. Jupiter Christian | 263 points | ||||
| While this program doesn’t get talked about much these days, the fact this team was able to win two state titles in their only two appearances in the game is impressive itself,. However, if you look back overall the last 10 years, the Eagles have been successful when they do make the playoffs. | |||||
| 23. Godby | 262 points | ||||
| The Cougars have finished deep in the playoffs most years and shocked everyone in 2012 when they went on the road for five weeks straight to capture the 2012 Class 5A state championship in a hot and heavy contest with Immokalee. Overall though, the Cougars have been to the state finals twices in the last ten years total. | |||||
| 24. Miami Northwestern | 260 points | ||||
| Most would think the Bulls would be higher up on this list, but missing the playoffs the past two out of three seasons hurts when you look at how far this program has finished in other seasons. Besides that the Bulls can count three state title appearances in the last 10 years, claiming titles from two of those games. | |||||
| 25. American Heritage (Delray Beach) | 258 points | ||||
| The Stallions might have missed the playoffs totally in 2013, but can claim three state titles in the last 10 years, while appearing in four overall state finals during the same stretch. | |||||
Breakdowns: 1-25 | 26-50 | 52-75 | 76-100 | 102-123 | 127-150 | 151-175 | 178-197
Condensed list: View full condensed list here
The Varsity Message Board: Share you thoughts on the Ultimate Dynasty Rankings here
