[Hoot Gibson]

"Keep expectations real" is a Washington DC term that I reject out of hand. High expectations is what makes programs great. Pikeville is ranked 14th overall and will probably be higher than that in Cantrall's ratings tomorrow. And getting better every week. They can play with anybody. And if you think they depend too much on 2 players you are way off base. They are loaded and deep, especially at the skill positions. Could they get upset? Sure, but so can everyone else. Not arguing with you, you don't have any facts on your side. Your argument that big schools should dominate small schools, while good in theory and usually works in practice, is continually and constantly being debunked by the great small school programs year in and year out.

If Pikeville was loaded in every position, then they should be using those players in critical situations. Pikeville has lost to a 4A school and to a 5A school, neither of which is considered the favorite to with their own class. Your claim that Pikeville is now better than Corbin or Covington Catholic because Pikeville is a "different animal" because they made a lineup change and have beaten weaker teams since the change is absurd. If somebody else from another school were making the same claim in another year, then you would be among the first to ridicule them for such wild statements.

Football teams do not develop in a vacuum. Maybe the Pikeville team that enters the playoffs could beat some of the top teams from the bigger classes that opened the season but every good team improves during the season, barring an avalanche of injuries.

Look at Pikeville's stats for the season and try to be objective. Do those stats look like Pikeville has great depth at the skill positions to you, an objective observer? Now take a look at the stats for Boyle County, Trinity, and Saint X. Now, ask your objective self which of those teams appear to have the most depth in the skill positions and which, if any, of those teams are not deeper than Pikeville?

Maybe by the end of the season, you will return to reality, but I expect that you will be ranking the 1A state champ near the top of the list of all state champions without acknowledging the obvious differences in relative strengths of schedule.

BTW, there is a precedent for a team winning all of its playoff games with a running clock, capped by a 48-0 shutout in the title game. Johnson Central was one, if not the only team that pulled off that feat, but even our most enthusiastic fans would argue that the Golden Eagles were better than the 6A champions that season - and that would have been a jump of only two classes. Nor do I recall any Belfry fans making that claim the same year, after Belfry ran the table.