LAZ

I’m still here. Going on vacation for the entire month of September. If I make it back in one piece, I’ll try to catch up on the rankings. If not, I’ll be back in 2023.

Winner, winner chicken dinner.

Dillard is not a perennial loser. This team had only three winning seasons in 20 years prior to 2019. Clue: school is in Miami-Dade County.

Hahaha no. You’re bad.

This perennial South Florida "bottom feeder" posted an amazing 27-3 "in-state" record over the past three seasons. A winning percentage of .900 which ranks 7th best in the state over the same period, not including IMG. From 1999-2018 this school had only three winning seasons. I was surprised when I saw it and thought I made a mistake. But my data was correct........ Anyone?

So sorry to hear this. His game forecasts were second to none. I always compared mine to his to see if I was in the right ballpark. RIP Joe. You’ll be missed.

Here are the rest of the Playoff Rosters with Florida representation: NCAA D3 (127 ex-Florida High School players) Mount Union (OH) 25 Aurora (IL) 15 Huntingdon (AL) 12 Greenville (IL) 8 Wheaton (IL) 8 Johns Hopkins (MD) 6 Springfield (MA) 5 North Central (IL) 5 Lake Forest (IL) 5 Albion (MI) 5 Birmingham Southern (AL) 4 Carnegie Mellon (PA) 4 Rensselear (NY) 4 St John's (MN) 4 Bethel (MN) 3 Central (IA) 2 Anna Maria (MA) 2 DePauw (IN) 2 Washington & Lee (VA) 2 Cortland St (NY) 1 Rose-Hulman (IN) 1 Mary Hardin-Baylor (TX) 1 Framingham St (MA) 1 Endicott (MA) 1 La Crosse (WI) 1 Delaware Valley (PA) 0 Salisbury (MD) 0 Linfield (OR) 0 Redlands (CA) 0 Trinity (TX) 0 Muhlenberg (PA) 0 Whitewater (WI) 0 NAIA (118 ex-Florida High School players) Keiser (FL) 88 Northwestern (IA) 5 Indiana Wesleyan 4 Central Methodist (MO) 4 Reinhardt (GA) 4 Kansas Wesleyan 3 Grand View (IA) 2 Southwestern (KS) 2 Marian (IN) 1 Dickinson St (ND) 1 Lindsey Wilson (KY) 1 Morningside (IA) 1 Ottawa (AZ) 1 Concordia (MI) 1 Montana-Western 0 St Xavier (IL) 0 Interesting to note - There are no Division 3 schools based in the state of Florida, yet the winningest program in all of college football over the past 25 or 30 years, regardless of classification (Mount Union OH) has 25 Floridians on their roster. Coincidence? I think not. As Ray mentions, there are 504 teams playing in D2, D3 and NAIA combined. This list only reflect the 76 playoff teams and their Florida connections. There are many, many more Floridians continuing to represent at these levels. As for the 483 Florida "kids" playing this weekend, their families, friends and ex-coaches, these playoff games are as important as it gets. Best of luck to all of them.

Ray, It's somewhat of a travesty to think of all the Florida players that are still playing but in terms of notoriety have been somewhat forgotten other than by family and friends. This state is so well represented in the upcoming playoffs it's really amazing. I've just started going through the rosters of all these playoffs teams and what I'm seeing is incredible. For example, here's a look at the number of Florida players on D2 playoff Rosters. 238 players on 20 of the 28 teams. Look at Ferris (MI) with 24 Floridians! Pipeline? These are just the D2 teams that made the playoffs. There are 138 D2's that didn't make the postseason. I haven't even looked at D3 and NAIA yet. My initial post said "scores" of ex-Florida players. It should have said "hundreds". West Florida 77 Valdosta St (GA) 52 Ferris St (MI) 24 Albany St (GA) 17 Lenoir-Rhyne (NC) 11 Notre Dame (OH) 11 Harding (AR) 6 Bentley (MA) 5 Findlay (OH) 5 Nebraska-Kearney 4 New Haven (CT) 4 Slippery Rock (PA) 4 Augustana (SD) 3 NW Missouri St 3 West Georgia 3 Angelo St (TX) 2 Bemidji St (MN) 2 Shepherd (WV) 2 Newberry (SC) 2 Lindenwood (MO) 1 Minnesota-Duluth 0 Kutztown (PA), 0 Colorado School of Mines 0 Grand Valley St (MI) 0 Washburn (KS) 0 Bowie St (MD) 0 Western Colorado 0 Central Washington 0

While so many of us are focused on which teams will be selected for the Four Team FBS tournament, the smaller guys are set to decide it on the field beginning this weekend. These lower level playoffs will include scores of ex-Florida high school stars who have continued their careers at less publicized universities. There are also Florida college teams that will be participating in these tournaments. Here are the participants for this week's college playoff games. I have handicapped each of them beginning with NCAA Division II. NCAA Division II (28 team field - Top 4 seeds receive 1st round byes) Byes - Kutztown (PA), Valdosta St (GA), Ferris St (MI), Colorado School of Mines Angelo St (TX) over Minnesota-Duluth by 17 Augustana (SD) over Bemidji St (MN) by 12 Grand Valley St (MI) over Lindenwood (MO) by 11 Harding (AR) over Washburn (KS) by 8 Lenoir-Rhyne (NC) over Bowie St (MD) by 12 Nebraska-Kearney over Western Colorado by 1 New Haven (CT) over Bentley (MA) by 3 Notre Dame (OH) over Slippery Rock (PA) by 5 NW Missouri St over Central Washington by 10 Shepherd (WV) over Findlay (OH) by 8 West Florida over Newberry (SC) by 19 West Georgia over Albany St (GA) by 10 NCAA Division III (32 team field) Birmingham Southern (AL) over Huntingdon (AL) by 9 Central (IA) over Bethel (MN) by 6 Cortland St (NY) over Springfield (MA) by 15 Delaware Valley (PA) over Anna Maria (MA) by 37 DePauw (IN) over Rose-Hulman (IN) by 3 Johns Hopkins (MD) over Salisbury (MD) by 7 Linfield (OR) over Redlands (CA) by 16 Mary Hardin-Baylor (TX) over Trinity (TX) by 10 Mount Union (OH) over Washington & Lee (VA) by 24 Muhlenberg (PA) over Framingham St (MA) by 30 North Central (IL) over Carnegie Mellon (PA) by 22 Rensselaer (NY) over Endicott (MA) by 6 St Johns (MN) over Lake Forest (IL) by 21 Wisconsin-La Crosse over Albion (MI) by 13 Wisconsin-Whitewater over Greenville (IL) by 43 Wheaton (IL) over Aurora (IL) by 13 NAIA (16 team field) Grand View (IA) over Dickinson St (ND) by 6 Indiana Wesleyan over Kansas Wesleyan by 11 Lindsey Wilson (KY) over Montana-Western by 23 Marian (IN) over Southwestern (KS) by 9 Morningside (IA) over Ottawa (AZ) by 9 Northwestern (IA) over Central Methodist (MO) by 15 Reinhardt (GA) over Keiser (FL) by 8 St Xavier (IL) over Concordia (MI) by 1 Note - NCAA D1 FCS Selections will be made this coming Sunday

Spruce Creek is 7A and I completely agree with Darter. They have been smoking teams this year and we need to pay closer attention.

AA Christian Academy (Winter Haven) vs Ambassadors Christian (Winter Haven) Archbishop Carroll (Miami) vs Everglades Prep (Homestead) Astronaut (Titusville) vs Melbourne Central Catholic Avon Park vs Lake Region (Eagle Lake) Benjamin (Palm Beach Gardens) vs St. John Paul II (Boca Raton) Coral Shores (Tavernier) vs Ferguson (Miami) Dr. Krop (Miami) vs Coral Gables Durant (Plant City) vs Sickles (Tampa) Fort Lauderdale vs Coral Springs Fort Myers vs Lehigh (Lehigh Acres) Glades Day (Belle Glade) vs Lake Placid Miami vs Miami Beach Miami Springs vs Hialeah-Miami Lakes Miramar vs Flanagan (Pembroke Pines) Monarch (Coconut Creek) vs McArthur (Hollywood) North Broward Prep (Coconut Creek) vs Pine Crest (Fort Lauderdale) Northeast (Oakland Park) vs Pompano Beach Pine Forest (Pensacola) vs Pensacola Catholic Plantation vs Everglades (Miramar) Reagan (Doral) vs Braddock (Miami) Riverdale (Fort Myers) vs Mariner (Cape Coral) Southwest Miami vs Coral Reef (Miami) Stranahan (Fort Lauderdale) vs Boyd Anderson (Lauderdale Lakes) Surge Academy (Hollywood) vs Westminster Academy (Fort Lauderdale) Suwannee (Live Oak) vs Bradford (Starke) Wakulla (Crawfordville) vs FAMU (Tallahassee) West Nassau (Callahan) vs Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) Westland Hialeah vs Mourning (North Miami)

Somerset Homestead beat Palm Glades Prep 29-0. Not the other way around. Come on people. This score reporting for high schools in this state really....... .... me upset.

Doing good Dan, Thanks! By the way, I think we’re neighbors now. Hope you’re doing well, also!!

Aucilla Christian (Monticello)vs.Joshua Christian (Jacksonville) Boyd Anderson (Lauderdale Lakes)vs.Everglades (Miramar) Canterbury (Ft. Myers)vs.Out-of-Door (Sarasota) Cardinal Newman (West Palm Beach)vs.Fort Pierce Central Centennial (Port St. Lucie)vs.South Fork (Stuart) DeLandvs.Oviedo Esterovs.Mariner (Cape Coral) Father Lopez (Daytona Beach)vs.Trinity Prep (Winter Park) Ferguson (Miami)vs.Miami Coral Park Fort Myers vs.Cape Coral Hagerty (Oviedo)vs.Timber Creek (Orlando) Jensen Beachvs.Boynton Beach John Carroll (Fort Pierce)vs.Sebastian River (Sebastian) Liberty (Kissimmee)vs.Melbourne Central Catholic Miami Norlandvs.South Miami North Miami Beach vs.Hialeah-Miami Lakes Reagan (Doral)vs.Varela (Miami) Somerset Academy (Pembroke Pines)vs.Avant Garde (Hollywood) Somerset Silver Palms (Miami)vs.Dade Christian (Miami)

Thanks for the plug Darter. Well, I certainly hope everything is well with Joe Pinkos. He is an icon who's tremendous forecasting accuracy and results ability is amazing. And I believe he does it "manually!" As Darter states, I do rankings and game forecasts for all the schools. I've been doing this for Florida high schools since 1999. Joe has been around a lot longer than that. And we all look forward to his picks every single week, including myself (Yes, I like to compare). If you want to look at my weekly forecasts, they are on my site. Accuracy of the computer lags behind Joe for a few weeks and usually runs in the mid 70's until about week 4 when the 80% range is achieved. Another site that ranks every high school team in the nation and forecasts every high school game in the nation is run by Kenneth Massey. Get back soon Joe.