FLORIDA POWER RANKINGS INDEX: Week 1 shakes up the Florida Power 25

The first Florida Power 25 of the regular season still looks familiar at the very top.

IMG Academy National is No. 1.

Raines is No. 2.

St. Thomas Aquinas is No. 3.

That part did not change.

Almost everything immediately behind them did.

West Boca Raton jumped three spots to No. 4 after beating American Heritage (Plantation) 24-7. Lake Mary moved four places to No. 5 despite being open in Week 1. Miami Northwestern and Cardinal Mooney slipped from the Top 5, while Cardinal Newman and Buchholz moved into the Top 10.

The movement becomes much more dramatic farther down.

American Heritage dropped nine spots. Jones fell 10. West Broward climbed five without playing. Mandarin moved into the Power 25. West Orange made the biggest jump of anyone in the rankings, soaring 27 places from No. 52 to No. 25 after beating Archbishop Hoban (Ohio).

That is the difference between the preseason rankings and this week’s update.

The preseason gave the Enhanced Florida Power Rankings Index a starting point.

Now the games count.

And with another loaded schedule ahead — including the Broward County National High School Football Showcase — there is little reason to expect the rankings to settle down yet.

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IMG, Raines and St. Thomas Aquinas Still Set the Standard

The first three teams are exactly where they started.

IMG Academy National remains No. 1 with a 104.35 rating after opening the season with a 59-3 win over Lone Peak (Utah).

Raines stays No. 2 at 98.21 after beating Oakleaf 21-7.

St. Thomas Aquinas remains No. 3 at 96.64 following a 42-0 shutout of Western.

There is still meaningful separation between IMG and everyone else. The Ascenders are the only team in Florida with a rating above 100 and carry a 6.14-point advantage over Raines.

Raines remains the highest-rated FHSAA program in the state.

The Vikings are doing that from Class 3A, sitting ahead of every program in Classes 6A, 5A, 4A, 2A and 1A.

Then there is St. Thomas Aquinas.

The Raiders did exactly what a perennial state championship contender should do in Week 1, but their position has become considerably less comfortable because of what happened one spot behind them.

West Boca is coming.

West Boca and Lake Mary Change the Shape of the Top 5

The first significant change comes at No. 4.

West Boca Raton was No. 7 in the preseason rankings.

Then the Bulls went to Heritage Field and beat American Heritage (Plantation) 24-7.

They now sit No. 4 with a 96.26 rating.

That leaves West Boca only 0.38 points behind St. Thomas Aquinas.

It also makes the top of Class 5A one of the most interesting races anywhere in the FPRI. St. Thomas Aquinas is No. 1 in the classification. West Boca is No. 2.

The difference is almost nothing.

Lake Mary makes another unusual move at No. 5.

The Rams climb four places despite being open in Week 1.

Their 94.12 rating did not change because of a new result. The teams around them did.

That moved Lake Mary ahead of Miami Northwestern and Cardinal Mooney and left the Rams as the highest-ranked Class 6A team in Florida before they have even played a regular-season game.

Those two moves knock Miami Northwestern from No. 4 to No. 6 and Cardinal Mooney from No. 5 to No. 7.

Neither team lost.

Northwestern survived Lakewood 20-18 in St. Petersburg, while Cardinal Mooney beat Berkeley Prep 39-21.

The movement is a good reminder that the FPRI is not simply a list of winners moving up and losers moving down. Performance, opponent strength and changes throughout the broader ratings network affect where teams land relative to one another.

After one week, West Boca and Lake Mary are the biggest beneficiaries near the top.

The Rest of the Top 10 Has a New Look

Lakeland remains No. 8 after shutting out Kathleen 47-0.

The Dreadnaughts carry a 92.84 rating and remain No. 3 in Class 5A and No. 1 in the Tampa Bay regional rankings.

Cardinal Newman moves up one position to No. 9 following a 37-7 win over Community School of Naples.

The Crusaders remain No. 1 in Class 2A and now sit among the first 10 teams statewide.

Buchholz also moves up one spot, reaching No. 10 after surviving Vanguard 34-28 in overtime at Booster Stadium.

That gives North Central Florida two teams inside the Florida Power 25, with Buchholz at No. 10 and Hawthorne at No. 19.

It also means two preseason Top 10 teams are no longer there.

American Heritage falls all the way from No. 6 to No. 15 after the West Boca loss.

Miami Northwestern and Cardinal Mooney remain inside the first 10 but both give ground.

The result is a Top 10 that already looks noticeably different from the one published before the season.

Florida Power 25 – Aug. 23

Only 7.85 points separate No. 3 St. Thomas Aquinas from No. 10 Buchholz.

The top two still have some breathing room.

The traffic behind them is getting heavier.

The Second 10 Might Be Even More Interesting

The middle of the Power 25 contains some of the week’s most significant movement.

Chaminade-Madonna climbs two spots to No. 11 after beating Monarch 49-21.

St. Augustine also rises two positions, reaching No. 12 after shutting out Palatka 49-0.

Venice moves three places to No. 13 after surviving Rabun Gap-Nacoochee (Ga.) 42-40 in overtime.

Armwood climbs one spot to No. 14 following a 17-7 win over Lennard.

Then comes the biggest fall near the top.

American Heritage (Plantation) was No. 6 in the preseason Power 25.

The Patriots are now No. 15.

West Boca’s 24-7 victory did not simply move the Bulls upward. It changed the entire relationship between two programs that began only one spot apart in the rankings.

American Heritage also fell from No. 2 to No. 3 in Class 4A and from No. 3 to No. 6 in South Florida.

One result moved the Patriots nine statewide positions.

West Broward follows at No. 16 after climbing five spots without playing.

The Bobcats were open in Week 1, but movement around them elevated their position. That makes West Broward one of the more intriguing teams in the rankings because its first regular-season test is still ahead.

Miami Central moves up one place to No. 17 after edging Orange Lutheran (Calif.) 23-22.

Vero Beach climbs two positions to No. 18 following a 34-0 shutout of Jensen Beach.

Hawthorne remains No. 19 after surviving Bishop Moore 28-25 in overtime.

Edgewater moves up two spots to No. 20 after beating Ocoee 34-6.

That gives Nos. 16 through 20 an extraordinarily tight shape.

West Broward is at 83.80.

Miami Central is 83.07.

Vero Beach is 83.01.

Hawthorne is 83.00.

Edgewater is 82.29.

Only 1.51 points separate five teams.

That is not much margin for error.

American Heritage and Jones Take the Biggest Falls Inside the Power 25

American Heritage was not the only preseason heavyweight to take a major hit.

Jones falls 10 positions from No. 12 to No. 22 after losing 27-0 to Santa Margarita (Calif.).

The Tigers also fall from No. 2 to No. 3 in the Central Florida regional rankings and from No. 3 to No. 4 in Class 4A.

The statewide fall is much sharper.

That is the kind of early-season movement a shutout loss can produce when there is still so little regular-season information available.

American Heritage and Jones remain in the Power 25 because their broader ratings profiles still support it.

Other preseason-ranked teams were not as fortunate.

Bolles drops from No. 17 to No. 28 following a 20-19 loss to Columbia.

Nease falls from No. 23 to outside the Top 25 after losing 21-14 to Creekside.

Cocoa, which opened at No. 25, plunges to No. 52 after a 44-19 loss to Merritt Island.

The first update has already removed three teams that began inside the Power 25.

And several more are close enough to the bottom that another difficult result could do the same.

West Orange Makes the Biggest Jump of the Week

Nobody moved more dramatically into the Power 25 than West Orange.

The Warriors began No. 52.

They are now No. 25.

The reason is easy to find.

West Orange beat Archbishop Hoban (Ohio) 28-24 at Raymond Screws Field.

That result moved the Warriors 27 places statewide, four positions in Central Florida and two places in Class 6A.

It also demonstrates exactly why the early weeks can produce dramatic movement.

Before the regular season, West Orange had a preseason profile.

Now the FPRI has evidence that the Warriors can beat a highly regarded interstate opponent.

That matters.

Seminole did something similar without reaching the Power 25 yet.

The Seminoles beat Mountain Vista (Colo.) 26-17 and jumped 46 statewide positions to No. 40.

Columbia moved up 44 places to No. 56 after beating Bolles 20-19.

University Christian rose 43 positions to No. 66 after beating Ponte Vedra 31-29.

Merritt Island climbed 48 spots to No. 71 after its 44-19 win over Cocoa.

Lake Nona jumped 47 places to No. 77 after beating Evans 31-27.

Columbus climbed 53 spots to No. 80 following a 45-7 win over Miami Southridge.

Those teams are not in the Power 25.

Yet.

Week 1 showed how quickly that can change.

The Bottom of the Power 25 Has Almost No Separation

Carrollwood Day moves up three positions to No. 21 after beating Eau Gallie 41-7.

Jones follows at No. 22 after its 10-place fall.

Mandarin enters the Power 25 at No. 23 following a 38-21 win over McArthur.

Atlantic climbs three places to No. 24 after beating Spanish River 18-7.

West Orange takes the final spot after its 27-place surge.

The remarkable part is how closely packed the final three teams are.

Mandarin has a 77.13 rating.

Atlantic sits at 77.09.

West Orange is at 77.03.

Only one-tenth of a point separates Nos. 23 and 25.

The pressure from outside the rankings is not much lighter.

Port Charlotte is No. 26 at 76.35.

Archbishop McCarthy is No. 27 at 75.25.

Bolles is also at 75.25 at No. 28.

The First Academy sits No. 29 at 75.23.

Pace is No. 30 at 75.21.

Only 1.92 points separate No. 23 Mandarin from No. 30 Pace.

That is essentially one crowded neighborhood.

And Week 2 includes several games that will force those teams to sort themselves out.

South Florida Still Has the Deepest Bench

The preseason Power 25 had eight South Florida teams.

The first in-season version has nine.

St. Thomas Aquinas is No. 3.

West Boca Raton is No. 4.

Miami Northwestern is No. 6.

Cardinal Newman is No. 9.

Chaminade-Madonna is No. 11.

American Heritage is No. 15.

West Broward is No. 16.

Miami Central is No. 17.

Atlantic is No. 24.

That means four of the first 10 teams and nine of the entire Power 25 come from South Florida.

The region’s depth is even more apparent just beyond the rankings.

Archbishop McCarthy is No. 27.

And unlike the preseason, we now have actual head-to-head evidence inside that group.

West Boca beat American Heritage.

That single result moved the Bulls into the statewide Top 5 and sent the Patriots nine places backward.

The hierarchy is no longer hypothetical.

And Week 2 brings an event designed almost perfectly to test it again.

The Broward County National High School Football Showcase Puts the Power 25 on Display

South Florida’s concentration of highly ranked teams makes the Broward County National High School Football Showcase especially important to this week’s FPRI.

Four current Power 25 teams are part of the event, and several other participants sit close enough to the rankings to matter.

West Broward gets things started Thursday against McEachern (Ga.) at Western HS Stadium.

The Bobcats enter No. 16 statewide without a Week 1 result. Their first regular-season data point will come against an interstate opponent on a Showcase stage.

Also Thursday, No. 11 Chaminade-Madonna faces Sierra Canyon (Calif.) at Heritage Field.

The Lions already have a 49-21 win over Monarch. Now comes an entirely different test.

Friday may be even more revealing.

No. 15 American Heritage faces East St. Louis (Ill.) at Heritage Field.

The Patriots do not get a comfortable opportunity to recover from the West Boca loss. Instead, they immediately face another nationally known opponent.

That makes American Heritage one of the most important Power 25 teams to watch this week.

Then Saturday brings the Showcase to Brian Piccolo Stadium.

Columbus faces Bishop Gorman (Nev.) after the Explorers’ 45-7 win over Miami Southridge produced a 53-place statewide jump.

Columbus is still only No. 80 in the FPRI, so this is not about immediately entering the Power 25. It is about whether that Week 1 result was the beginning of a much larger climb.

Then comes St. Thomas Aquinas against DeSoto (Texas).

The Raiders enter No. 3 statewide.

West Boca is only 0.38 behind them.

And West Boca is open.

That means St. Thomas Aquinas will have the stage to itself while the team directly behind it cannot add another result.

A strong performance could create separation.

A poor one could make the Top 5 even more crowded.

The Showcase is not simply a collection of attractive interstate games.

From an FPRI perspective, it is a significant data weekend.

Cardinal Newman-Cardinal Mooney Headlines a Loaded Week 2 Outside Broward

The biggest Week 2 game involving two Top 10 teams is not part of the Showcase.

No. 9 Cardinal Newman travels to Sarasota to face No. 7 Cardinal Mooney at Austin Smithers Stadium.

Only 2.71 rating points separate them.

The matchup crosses classification lines — Cardinal Newman is No. 1 in Class 2A, while Cardinal Mooney is No. 2 in Class 3A — and regional lines, with South Florida meeting Southwest Florida.

It also gives the FPRI something particularly valuable: a direct head-to-head result between two teams already ranked among the state’s best.

There are several other important games.

No. 18 Vero Beach hosts No. 24 Atlantic at the Citrus Bowl at Billy Livings Field.

No. 20 Edgewater hosts No. 29 The First Academy at Frank E. Lough Stadium. The Royals sit just outside the Power 25 after beating Dr. Phillips 58-7.

No. 12 St. Augustine hosts Nease at H.L. “Foots” Brumley Stadium.

No. 14 Armwood heads to New Jersey to face Don Bosco Prep.

No. 10 Buchholz hosts Gainesville at Citizens Field.

No. 19 Hawthorne hosts Newberry at Annie Mae Phillips Stadium.

And No. 1 IMG Academy National hosts Cornerstone Christian (Texas) at IMG Academy Stadium.

There is enough quality on the schedule to reshape every portion of the Power 25.

Open Weeks Could Matter in a Crowded Ranking

Not everybody gets another opportunity this week.

West Boca Raton is open.

Lakeland is open.

Miami Central is open.

Jones is open.

Those dates create some intriguing situations.

West Boca sits only 0.38 points behind St. Thomas Aquinas while the Raiders face DeSoto.

Lakeland is No. 8 with Cardinal Newman, Buchholz and Chaminade-Madonna all playing below it.

Miami Central is No. 17 in the middle of the tightest cluster in the rankings. Vero Beach, Hawthorne and Edgewater are all within 0.78 points behind the Rockets.

Jones may have the most precarious situation.

The Tigers sit No. 22 at 77.39.

Mandarin, Atlantic and West Orange are all within 0.36 points behind them, while Port Charlotte, Archbishop McCarthy, Bolles, The First Academy and Pace are stacked immediately outside the Power 25.

An open week does not automatically cause a team to fall.

But when the margins are this small, every new result around an idle team has the potential to change the order.

The First Update Shows Why Preseason and In-Season Rankings Are Different

The preseason Florida Power 25 was built to establish where teams should start.

The first regular-season update is beginning the transition toward where teams have earned the right to be.

That distinction explains much of what changed.

West Boca did not move from No. 7 to No. 4 because of reputation.

The Bulls beat American Heritage.

West Orange did not jump from No. 52 to No. 25 because the model suddenly reconsidered the preseason.

The Warriors beat Archbishop Hoban.

Merritt Island did not climb 48 places because of what happened last season.

The Mustangs beat Cocoa 44-19.

Columbia beat Bolles.

Seminole beat Mountain Vista.

Columbus beat Miami Southridge by 38.

Those are results the preseason rankings could not know.

Now they are part of the system.

There are also teams that moved despite being idle, because FPRI is still a connected rating system rather than a simple weekly poll. Lake Mary and West Broward are the clearest examples.

That should become less unusual as the season grows.

Every week adds more current-season information.

Every week reduces the influence of the starting assumptions.

Eventually, almost everything has to be defended by what happened on the field.

The Top Is Familiar. Everything Underneath It Is Moving.

IMG Academy National remains No. 1.

Raines remains No. 2.

St. Thomas Aquinas remains No. 3.

That is where the familiarity ends.

West Boca is now fourth.

Lake Mary is fifth.

American Heritage has gone from sixth to 15th.

Jones has fallen from 12th to 22nd.

Mandarin has entered the rankings.

West Orange has gone from No. 52 to No. 25.

And Nos. 23 through 30 are separated by less than two points.

The first regular-season update did exactly what an in-season ranking should do.

It reacted.

There will be more evidence this week.

Cardinal Newman and Cardinal Mooney face each other.

Atlantic visits Vero Beach.

The First Academy gets Edgewater.

St. Thomas Aquinas, Chaminade-Madonna, American Heritage and West Broward step into the Broward County National High School Football Showcase.

Teams sitting just outside the Power 25 get opportunities to force their way in.

And several teams already inside will have to prove they belong there.

The preseason gave us the opening argument.

Week 1 started the rebuttal.

Now the rankings have to survive another Friday night.

Want to See Where Every Team Ranks?

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Explore every classification Power 10, all eight regional rankings, SSAA classifications and independent rankings throughout the 2026 season.

Every ranking is free to view and will continue to update as regular-season results are added to the system.

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