[Hoot Gibson]

Pikeville and Raceland both schedule games that in all probability they're going to lose. Campbellsville doesn't. If Campbellsville had done that last year they may have beat Pikeville in the finals?? I don't have a problem ranking them at the one. Most polls reward undefeated teams. But, whatever level they're playing at now would not be as high if they had played better teams, even if it means a loss and an RPI hit. In my opinion you shouldn't punish Pikeville and Raceland for losing the games they should lose. They did it to make themselves better. If Campbellsville  wins 1A that's fine by me...but... they would be better equipped to do so if they played a tougher schedule.

Do you really think that Campbellsville expected that Whitley County and Somerset would be easy wins? I'm guessing that they expected those games to be competitive.

As I said in an earlier post, I expect Pikeville to win another state title in the playoffs. I don't see polls as rewarding or punishing schools over their schedules. The RPI does that. Campbellsville has played well enough that neither Pikeville nor Raceland are going into a game with them and assuming that they will walk out with a win.

I agree that it is better to take a hit to the RPI by playing and losing some games on a tough schedule, than it is to schedule to not lose a game. But a team can't have it both ways, schedule tough competition to prepare for the playoffs and stay atop meaningless polls after a string of regular season losses.

I don't know much about Whitley or Somerset so I couldn't tell you what Campbellsville was thinking...but...they're not Ashland, Highlands, LCA, Johnson Central, Corbin, or Ironton, Ohio. Raceland and Pikeville both know that in a good season they may beat one or two of these type of teams but they also stand a good chance to lose all of them. I think we're pretty much on the same page and just splitting hairs here. Polls and RPI reward wins, polls do it unofficially and RPI does it mathematically. My subjective opinion is that Raceland and Pikeville are both better than Campbellsville, which again, and we agree, means nothing. If Campbellsville wins it all then keep it rolling so guys like us can have fun "making much ado about nothing".

At some point, when you play a tough schedule, you have to win a game in which you are an underdog because losing takes a toll on a team. I am sure that Pikeville did not expect to lose to every strong team on their schedule when that schedule was made. Pikeville will not have any real momentum until they have beaten a couple of good teams, and I am not sure that Raceland qualifies. They can win the 1A state title, but entering the playoffs with a couple of wins against good teams would have made it easier.