Four weeks are in the books for the 2021 Florida high school football season and the FHSAA has released their first look at the RPI rankings as we head into Week 5 of the season
As such this update provides the entire state a glimpse of what the potential playoff matchups could be looking like come the second week of November, but remember things change, as we still have seven weeks worth of games (including this week) to go and this is just a very early glimpse at things.
In Classes 5A-8A, district record was taken into consideration except on certain exceptions which are noted.
For Class 8A, you will find a breakdown of RPI rankings for each team in every region and a projected seeding (including tiebreakers) based upon the guidelines as published by the FHSAA (click here to view), as well as quick thoughts about each region.
REGION 1
| Rank | School | RPI | OWP | OOWP |
| 1 | Lake Mary | 0.86111 | 0.88889 | 0.66667 |
| 2 | Seminole (Sanford) | 0.81563 | 0.75000 | 0.67708 |
| 3 | Apopka | 0.75694 | 0.72222 | 0.51389 |
| 4 | Winter Park | 0.73125 | 0.75000 | 0.68750 |
| 5 | Creekside | 0.72188 | 0.50000 | 0.65625 |
| 6 | Lake Brantley | 0.67500 | 0.66667 | 0.59722 |
| 7 | Oviedo | 0.65833 | 0.33333 | 0.63889 |
| 8 | Ocoee | 0.64167 | 0.38889 | 0.51852 |
| 9 | Flagler Palm Coast | 0.63611 | 0.61111 | 0.62963 |
| 10 | Bartram Trail | 0.63333 | 0.54167 | 0.60417 |
| 11 | Oakleaf | 0.53167 | 0.56250 | 0.53264 |
| 12 | Evans | 0.51458 | 0.41667 | 0.64583 |
| 13 | Hagerty | 0.46667 | 0.33333 | 0.58333 |
| 14 | Sandalwood | 0.43229 | 0.58333 | 0.46875 |
| 15 | University | 0.43125 | 0.58333 | 0.46528 |
| 16 | Timber Creek | 0.42639 | 0.38889 | 0.57870 |
| 17 | Mandarin | 0.41563 | 0.50000 | 0.51042 |
| 18 | DeLand | 0.38333 | 0.66667 | 0.50000 |
| 19 | Colonial | 0.37222 | 0.33333 | 0.46296 |
| 20 | West Port | 0.34583 | 0.62500 | 0.42361 |
PROJECTED DISTRICT CHAMPS
This is based on current district standings and taking the highest-rated team among the district standings if they have won district games. Should a district not have any district games played as of yet, the highest-rated team will be mythically slotted in as a district champion for projection purposes only.
8A-1: Creekside – No. 3
8A-2: Seminole – No. 1
8A-3: Lake Brantley – No. 4
8A-4: Winter Park – No. 2
PROJECTED REGIONAL QUARTERFINAL PAIRINGS
No. 8 Ocoee vs. No. 1 Seminole
No. 5 Lake Mary vs. No. 4 Lake Brantley
No. 6 Apopka vs. No. 3 Creekside
No. 7 Oviedo vs. No. 2 Winter Park
QUICK THOUGHTS: We got a classic example here of what happens when rankings kind of come out to early, things look a little lopsided when you are trying to project out things. However, this is going to change a lot over the next few weeks, so don’t be surprised if this looks different – like next week.
REGION 2
| Rank | School | RPI | OWP | OOWP |
| 1 | Palm Beach Central | 0.79896 | 0.66667 | 0.71875 |
| 2 | Vero Beach | 0.71250 | 0.83333 | 0.62500 |
| 3 | Park Vista | 0.67500 | 0.33333 | 0.69444 |
| 4 | Treasure Coast | 0.62500 | 0.16667 | 0.72222 |
| 5 | Boone | 0.59861 | 0.61111 | 0.50463 |
| 6 | Palm Beach Gardens | 0.55833 | 0.62500 | 0.54861 |
| 7 | Lake Nona | 0.53333 | 0.66667 | 0.41667 |
| 8 | Forest Hill | 0.51938 | 0.62500 | 0.41875 |
| 9 | Wellington | 0.50139 | 0.77778 | 0.37500 |
| 10 | Jupiter | 0.48646 | 0.41667 | 0.55208 |
| 11 | Oak Ridge | 0.48542 | 0.50000 | 0.45139 |
| 12 | Fort Pierce Central | 0.47778 | 0.33333 | 0.42593 |
| 13 | Royal Palm Beach | 0.47500 | 0.88889 | 0.54630 |
| 14 | Centennial | 0.46250 | 0.45833 | 0.42361 |
| 15 | Freedom (Orlando) | 0.45396 | 0.37500 | 0.49236 |
| 16 | Palm Beach Lakes | 0.37500 | 0.75000 | 0.37500 |
| 17 | Lake Worth | 0.37083 | 0.66667 | 0.45833 |
| 18 | Tohopekaliga | 0.31875 | 0.41667 | 0.28472 |
| 19 | Santaluces | 0.29167 | 0.54167 | 0.34028 |
| 20 | Cypress Creek (Orlando) | 0.28833 | 0.16667 | 0.47500 |
| 21 | John I. Leonard | 0.26354 | 0.20833 | 0.34375 |
PROJECTED DISTRICT CHAMPS
This is based on current district standings and taking the highest-rated team among the district standings if they have won district games. Should a district not have any district games played as of yet, the highest-rated team will be mythically slotted in as a district champion for projection purposes only.
8A-5: Boone – No. 4
8A-6: Vero Beach – No. 2
8A-7: Palm Beach Central – No. 1
8A-8: Park Vista – No. 3
PROJECTED REGIONAL QUARTERFINAL PAIRINGS
No. 8 Forest Hill vs. No. 1 Palm Beach Central
No. 5 Treasure Coast vs. No. 4 Boone
No. 6 Palm Beach Gardens vs. No. 3 Park Vista
No. 7 Lake Nona vs. No. 2 Vero Beach
QUICK THOUGHTS: What is neat is that all four teams being projected as district champs have started off the season really hot and/or have played a solid schedule to put them in this position. However, as I keep stressing, things are going to change as we get closer and closer to November.
REGION 3
| Rank | School | RPI | OWP | OOWP |
| 1 | Venice | 0.89167 | 1.00000 | 0.63889 |
| 2 | Riverview (Sarasota) | 0.70833 | 0.79167 | 0.56250 |
| 3 | Gulf Coast | 0.65972 | 0.66667 | 0.64352 |
| 4 | Plant | 0.65417 | 0.33333 | 0.62500 |
| 5 | Sarasota | 0.63333 | 0.50000 | 0.65278 |
| 6 | Plant City | 0.61667 | 0.66667 | 0.50000 |
| 7 | Dr. Phillips | 0.60208 | 0.70833 | 0.59722 |
| 8 | Newsome | 0.59583 | 0.41667 | 0.62500 |
| 9 | West Orange | 0.58958 | 0.50000 | 0.50694 |
| 10 | Osceola | 0.58056 | 0.44444 | 0.63889 |
| 11 | Durant | 0.55833 | 0.41667 | 0.50000 |
| 12 | Celebration | 0.54306 | 0.44444 | 0.51389 |
| 13 | Palm Harbor University | 0.52500 | 0.33333 | 0.58333 |
| 14 | George Steinbrenner | 0.51250 | 0.75000 | 0.54167 |
| 15 | Riverview (Riverview) | 0.49167 | 0.45833 | 0.52083 |
| 16 | East Lake | 0.48854 | 0.83333 | 0.36458 |
| 17 | Lakewood Ranch | 0.47917 | 0.70833 | 0.47917 |
| 18 | Alonso | 0.46875 | 0.50000 | 0.39583 |
| 19 | Olympia | 0.43056 | 0.50000 | 0.46296 |
| 20 | Windermere | 0.39667 | 0.33333 | 0.35000 |
PROJECTED DISTRICT CHAMPS
This is based on current district standings and taking the highest-rated team among the district standings if they have won district games. Should a district not have any district games played as of yet, the highest-rated team will be mythically slotted in as a district champion for projection purposes only.
8A-9: Dr. Phillips – No. 3
8A-10: Plant City – No. 2
8A-11: Palm Harbor University – No. 4
8A-12: Venice – No. 1
PROJECTED REGIONAL QUARTERFINAL PAIRINGS
No. 8 Sarasota vs. No. 1 Venice
No. 5 Riverview (Sarasota) vs. No. 4 Palm Harbor University
No. 6 Gulf Coast vs. No. 3 Dr. Phillips
No. 7 Plant vs. No. 2 Plant City
QUICK THOUGHTS: Here we go… this is a region where we know lots of football is left to play and I truly don’t belive that outside of Venice on the projected district winners that this list will even look anything like this come late October when we know who the majority of the district champions will be.
REGION 4
| Rank | School | RPI | OWP | OOWP |
| 1 | Miami Palmetto | 0.74028 | 1.00000 | 0.52315 |
| 2 | Cypress Bay | 0.73750 | 0.66667 | 0.51389 |
| 3 | Western | 0.72396 | 0.83333 | 0.56597 |
| 4 | Deerfield Beach | 0.67813 | 0.75000 | 0.51042 |
| 5 | Stoneman Douglas | 0.66806 | 0.77778 | 0.54167 |
| 6 | Boca Raton | 0.63125 | 0.77778 | 0.41898 |
| 7 | Miami Beach | 0.61792 | 0.33333 | 0.50417 |
| 8 | Coral Reef | 0.61667 | 0.50000 | 0.59722 |
| 9 | Miami High | 0.61458 | 0.66667 | 0.49306 |
| 10 | West Broward | 0.57083 | 0.66667 | 0.54167 |
| 11 | Southwest Miami | 0.50000 | 0.50000 | 0.50000 |
| 12 | Coral Glades | 0.47500 | 0.33333 | 0.61111 |
| 13 | Columbus | 0.46667 | 0.66667 | 0.38889 |
| 14 | Monarch | 0.46111 | 0.16667 | 0.56482 |
| 15 | South Dade | 0.45625 | 0.61111 | 0.41898 |
| 16 | Dr. Krop | 0.44792 | 0.33333 | 0.52083 |
| 17 | Flanagan | 0.44722 | 0.22222 | 0.45370 |
| 18 | West Boca Raton | 0.30479 | 0.31250 | 0.35972 |
| 19 | Taravella | 0.28333 | 0.45833 | 0.40972 |
| 20 | Coral Springs | 0.23611 | 0.38889 | 0.33333 |
| 21 | Coral Gables | 0.13750 | 0.11111 | 0.32870 |
PROJECTED DISTRICT CHAMPS
This is based on current district standings and taking the highest-rated team among the district standings if they have won district games. Should a district not have any district games played as of yet, the highest-rated team will be mythically slotted in as a district champion for projection purposes only.
8A-13: Deerfield Beach – No. 3
8A-14: Cypress Bay – No. 2
8A-15: Miami Beach – No. 4
8A-16: Miami Palmetto – No. 1
PROJECTED REGIONAL QUARTERFINAL PAIRINGS
No. 8 Coral Reef vs. No. 1 Miami Palmetto
No. 5 Western vs. No. 4 Miami Beach
No. 6 Stoneman Douglas vs. No. 3 Deerfield Beach
No. 7 Boca Ratonvs. No. 2 Cypress Bay
QUICK THOUGHTS: Very interesting projections for this region and with a lot of games last week having been postponed due to weather, there is a lot of data here that we don’t have and thus the projections are very interesting early on here. A lot of football to come.
