Many of you know, I created a Point System many years ago that dates back to the first crowned State Champion via tournament. The year was 1963 and Coral Gables claimed the title, defeating Tampa Robinson 16-14. The purpose of the point system was not to measure program strength. Instead, I was interested in looking at program success. I looked at how many teams had advanced to the State Semi-Final game and developed a point system using these criteria:  State Semifinal Loss = 1 point: State Championship Runner up = 2 points; State Championship Tie = 4 points. State Championship Win = 5 points. From 1963-2024, 310 different schools have made it to the State Championship Semi-Final and have at least 1 point. This year there are 13 schools looking to add their names to the list. However, none of the 13 are guaranteed a spot because none of them are playing each other. In order to get there, they will have to knock of a team that is already on the list. The 13 schools looking for their first trip to the State Semifinals are: Archbishop McCarthy (SW Ranches) Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) Carrollwood Day (Tampa) Goleman (Miami) LaSalle (Miami) McArthur (Hollywood) Mitchell (New Port Richey) Nature Coast Tech (Brooksville) Port Charlotte Riverdale (Fort Myers) South Lake (Groveland) Sumner (Riverview) West Broward Here are the teams on the list that are still alive and their all-time ranking and points: All Time Rank SCHOOL POINTS 1 St. Thomas Aquinas 101 2 Bolles 76 3 Chaminade 60 4 University Christian 57 5 T Lakeland 56 5 T Trinity Christian (Jax) 56 9 Pahokee 52 11 Cocoa 50 12 Miami Central 48 13 Miami Northwestern 47 16 T Manatee 38 18 Amer. Heritage (Pl) 35 19 T Armwood 33 24 T Venice 30 26 T Blountstown 28 33 T Miami Southridge  25 40 T Raines 22 43 T Bradford 20 43 T Jesuit 20 47 T Mainland 19 52 T Hawthorne 18 52 T St. Augustine 18 55 T Cardinal Gibbons 17 62 T Clearwater Central Cath 15 62T Edgewater 15 68 T Buchholz 14 73 T Cardinal Mooney 13 73 T Lake Wales 13 85 T Bishop Moore 11 85 T Dr. Phillips 11 85 T Vero Beach 11 103 T Choctawhatchee 9 116 T Chiefland 8 116 T Jones 8 128 T Mandarin 7 138 T Booker 6 138 T Pensacola Catholic 6 150 T West Boca Raton 5 167 T Lakewood 4 177 T DeLand 3 199 T Lake Mary 2 199 T Ponte Vedra 2 247 T Cardinal Newman 1 247 T Eau Gallie 1 247 T Miami Palmetto 1 247 T St. Petersburg Catholic 1 247 T True North 1    

BLOUNTSTOWN HAWTHORNE TRINITY CARROLLWOOD CARDINAL N BOLLES COCOA CARDINAL G EAU G NORTHWESTERN ST AUGIE JONES AHP MAINLAND LAKELAND MANATEE BUCHHOLZ ARMWOOD SOUTHRIDGE DELAND

You need to take a closer look at Booker's first two playoff opponents, I believe Booker has Manatee topped in the "two worst Opponents any team could face" category. Lee County has become what Pinellas and Hillsbourgh county's were during the 80's, they were collectively are all that bad. But yeah Pinellas County was so bad during the 80's, they petitioned the FHSAA to move Manatee, Sarasota, and Sarasota Roverview out of their districts, because they didnt have a competitive team that stood any kind of chance  against those 3. In fact any of that 85 group of Manatee, Riverview, and Sarasota could have taken the 5A state title that year.

Years ago, Thanksgiving weekend was the 2nd round of the playoffs.  It was an exciting time.  Today, it's the 3rd round.  And so now there's only half as many schools/games.

Keystone Heights. https://www.jacksonville.com/story/sports/high-school/football/2025/11/24/keystone-heights-football-coaching-change-steve-reynolds-out/87436494007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z115901p000350c000350d00----v115901b0059xxd005965&gca-ft=181&gca-ds=sophi