[HAIL PIKEVILLE!]

I will give you the super seven:
1) Belfry-multiple state titles and a fan base second to none in the mountains. 6 state championship appearances.
2) Breathitt County. 3 titles makes a statement in itself.
3) Bell County. Multiple state titles and one of the greatest coaches.
4) Ashland-If you go back to the no face mask days, they are number 1. The 1990 team has to rank as one of the most potent ground attacks in state history
5) Russell. Basically a mirror image of Belfry's history with one of the greatest coaches ever.
6)Pikeville. 3 championships says a lot. Recent history keeps the Panthers down the list a little bit.
7) Corbin and Presonsburg. Great traditions and fantastic followings.

Though I do have these in a list and ranked, they are very interchangeable. For my money when you look at a program it is not just championships or wins and losses. It includes the fans, the passion and support for the program, the respect that other schools view that program with, and an overall aura that the program radiates. Belfry tops my list, but out of the teams I named, I could make a similar case for Pikeville, Ashland, Russell, Bell County and Breathitt County.

If were going all time Pikeville has to be higher. Yes weve had a few down years but so has every team above us on this list at one time or another. Like when Belfry went an entire DECADE without a region title in the '90s. Pikeville has more state titles with 4 (Folks forget about the 1955 title team) than any program in the mountains still in existence (I think Lynch won more but Im not sure). They also have as many State title appearances as Belfry with 6. Also they have a better State title game record than Belfry (3-3 vs 2-4). But the one factor that should put them higher above all these other reasons Ive given is the exposure that Pikeville give mountain football not just on a state level but on a national level as well.