[EKUAlum05]

Bringing this one from the depths for a minute!

I have been doing extensive research for Belfry History so while I have been stuck in the 80's I decided to try and figure out the truth behind the Pikeville urban myths discussed in this thread.

Here are some interesting findings:
- This thread was about 1987 Pikeville... but almost all signs point to 1988 Pikeville as being the best team of the lot!

1987 Final Rankings
Lit- 12th in the State Overall, the #4 ranked small school overall (yes behind Mayfield in 1987 as well who finished #6 overall)
Cantrall- 11th in the State Overall, the #3 ranked small school (once again Mayfield finished higher at #7)

1988 Final Rankings
Lit- 6th in the State Overall, the #2 ranked small school overall (Fort Knox just ahead of them).

Cantrall-6th Overall in the State, the #2 small school overall behind Fort Knox.

1989 Final Rankings
Lit- Did not finish in the Top 20 overall. They technically would have finished #24, the #3 overall small school in the State.

Cantrall- 11th Overall in the State, the #3 overall small school in the State.


- The myth about Pikeville being the #1 overall team in the State at one point? Technically TRUE. On the first set of Cantrall Ratings in 1988, September 7th to be exact, the Pikeville Panthers debuted as the #1 team in KY! The stint would be short lived as Trinity would take the top spot the next week and Pikeville would never regain it. Pikeville never reached higher than #3 in the Lit Ratings at any point, they did that in 1988.

1987 Lit Peak- #8, never was the top ranked small school.
1987 Cantrall Peak- #11, never was the top ranked small school.

1988 Lit Peak- #3, #1 small school for 4 weeks.
1988 Cantrall Peak- #1, #1 small school for 6 weeks until Fort Knox overtook them.

1989 Lit Peak- Never cracked the Top 20
1989 Cantrall Peak- #14, never was the top small school. Pikeville debuted at #17 then moved to #14 but after the loss to Belfry never re-entered the Top 20.

So even if it was for only one week, Pikeville fans there is documented proof that you WERE THE #1 rated team overall in the state of Kentucky at least for a week. That 1988 run is also by far the best run of the Lit and Cantrall Ratings a 1A team from EKY has ever had.


- As for the National Ranking....

This urban myth is FALSE. There were two reputable weekly National Rankings during this time. One was the USA Today Super 25 and the other was a National Prep Poll that actually also did Regional Top 10 rankings every week.

From the 1987-1989 Pikeville never appeared in either Top 25 or even appeared in any of the Regional Top 10's. Paducah Tilghman (1987 Regional), Trinity (1988 Regional and Super 25, 1989 Regional and Super 25), St. Xavier (1987 Regional), and Shelby County (1988 Regional) were the KY teams to make appearances during this three year stretch.

This is not to say that somewhere out there wasn't a different ranking from a different service, but between the two predominant and universally accepted rankings Pikeville's National Ranking is a MYTH.