With no football in the area tonight I thought I would answer a question that gets asked a lot in regards to our football rankings: Who are the “real” top ten teams in the Valley? People always ask things like, “How can you rank Baldwin Park and San Dimas ahead of Damien when you know if Damien really played them, Damien would win.” Same could be said about Diamond Ranch. Or how could we rank Walnut and Rowland ahead of South Hills and West Covina when they have competed against far different competition. Wouldn’t West Covina and South Hills be undefeated if they played the same opponents? Probably. But to answer the question, wins and records do matter in rankings. Whether it’s the Associated Press, USA Today, the CIF poll or ours, you get rewarded for winning and impressive win-loss records. I do reward teams when they lose close games against superior competition, as is the case with West Covina, South Hills, and Damien, all of whom also have solid wins on their resume, but it’s a balancing act and the end result will always be debatable. So, to answer the original question, if I had to pick the best teams in the Valley based purely on who I think are the best teams, regardless of record, and based on what I have seen so far,it would look like this. I know I’m going to get hammered for taking Charter Oak over Bishop Amat, but I still believe in a head-to-head, the Chagers edge them out.

1. Charter Oak
2. Bishop Amat
3. West Covina
4. Damien
5. South Hills
6. Glendora
7. Diamond Ranch
8. Rowland
9. San Dimas
10. Walnut

BTW, you have to check out this video. I felt bad for the kid, but almost fell to the floor laughing…..