TnTxn

Well, Ravenwood actually will have a pretty good chance of making it back to the state title game. There, obviously, anything can happen. Most of the really good teams will be on the other side of the bracket. According to the "experts", Maryville and Murfreesboro Oakland are the 2 best teams in 6A and will have to play each other in the semis at the latest. Maryville is a machine and has played for the state title something like 13 years in a row. Great program. Oakland is loaded this year with some great talent, and their coach is in his second year. Oakland's region is very tough. In their first game last week, Ravenwood scored 13 points in the final 8 minutes for a 23-19 win against the 6th best team (according to MaxPreps) out of 8 in Oakland's region.

A new high school opened up and took about half of Ravenwood's freshmen and sophomores. More importantly, it took the Head Coach and a lot of the coaching staff. Ravenwood had an excellent senior class last year. They have lots of question marks this year, and Maryville is very good every year. They have a great system and a great coach and staff.

The only team to beat 6A Ravenwood last year was 5A state champ Independence. They, along with BA, are in the same county. But, publics and privates don't play well together. Long and complicated history that is ever-evolving.

I haven't seen any TN/FL games scheduled this year, either. Unfortunately, historically for publics in TN, any loss would count against a team for playoff eligibility and seeding - even out of region and out of state games. So, they were very careful in who they play. Granted, not every team shied away from good competition. But, it definitely limited the number of quality out of region opponents. The big privates (the division which BA plays up in) only has 11 schools across the state. They are always looking for games and often have to play out of state to fill the schedule (everyone makes the playoffs and seeding is based on region play only). But, there just aren't that many of them. All 3 of BA's non-region games are out of state games this year: Olive Branch, MS; Louisville Trinity; and a private from Texas, A+ Academy (I've never heard of them).

That is correct - it was just a 1-year deal for last year.