2007 Prep Football Champions
Northwestern, St. Xavier Make Legitimate Claims to National Title
Dec 17, 2007
Even before the final polls are in, both Northwestern of Miami, Florida and St. Xavier of Cincinnati, Ohio can make legitimate claims to the 2007 national prep football championship, which assures there will be no universally recognized champion for that season.
The designation of any 2007 champion will be in the minds of their followers and a few self-appointed experts on high school football. The title will always be debatable because there is no basis for comparing them. Consider:
- Both teams finished their seasons with 15-0 records;
- Both won their respective state high school championships;
- Both topped at least two of the nationally recognized polls in December;
- They did not play each other;
- They played their games in different sections of the nation;
- They did not play any common opponents, or even any opponents that could be compared to one another;
- Comparisons of total points scored and points surrendered is a misleading game at best.
Those factors are additionally complicated by the fact that at least 17 other teams finished the 2007 season without a loss, defying anyone to prove that they did not deserve to be named national champion.
So by what criteria does anyone say Northwestern, St. Xavier or any of the other 17 unbeaten teams is the best team in the nation?
The designation of a national high school football champion is, at best, a media game It’s a game made to order for national publications, polls, Internet blogs and online chat lines.
Like many other chat sessions, the high school football chats feature favoritism more than expertise. Many of the comments sink to obscenities and name-calling between obviously immature participants who don’t even know each other.
The high school polls attempt to emulate the college football polls, but their job is tougher. There is more interplay between the top college teams, many more opportunities to see the collegians in action and more resources to provide detailed reports on them.
The several recognized high school football polls do reflect a surprising amount of similarity, at least in their top 10 selections. That's despite the hundreds of teams to evaluate, the few opportunities to see more than a few of them play and the lack of objective criteria for comparing the teams.
It is just as difficult to select the top high school poll as it is to select the top high school team, but the interested fan can develop a composite poll from the several polls.
The one common criteria of the several major polls seems to be that one loss drops a team out of the top 10. Carroll of Southlake, Texas was the one exception, remaining in the top five or six until it lost a second game. In 2007, two losses meant elimination from just about everyone’s Top 25, no matter how difficult a schedule a team was playing.
Despite their shortcomings, the high school polls probably increase interest in the sport and help to bring national attention to at least a few schools. More than 70 different schools were mentioned in at least one of the polls in 2007, creating at least a week of fame for some that would otherwise never be mentioned beyond their home states.
2007 High School Football ChampsPrep Football Rankings 12.10.07
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