So the first rule is head-to-head: If Team A beats Team B, then Team A is better.
Simple enough. And margin of victory and location count.
Next, if Team A loses to Team B, but then beats Team B later, that loss is avenged. Especially if the first game was close and the second game was a rout.
Now if Team A has lost to an unranked team, that's a black mark. But if Team A has beaten a ranked team, that erases the black mark.
Finally, strength of schedule matters. A lot. That's why Konawaena, last week's No. 21, dropped out. They may return, but at this point the win over Riverdale Baptist in December isn't nearly as important as we thought then, as Riverdale Baptist has struggled.
Usually, applying the rules makes the Xcellent 25 fall more or less neatly into place -- but not this year. Team A beats Team B, which beats Team C, which beats Team A. And then Team C loses to no one in particular but bounces back to beat Team D, which beat Team B.
The aspirin bottle is empty, so this is how it winds up. This week. Team Z will probably beat someone next week, and it will all start again.
MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Girls Basketball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard
Gabrielle Camponegro and St. John-Vianney have entered the Xcellent 25 from New Jersey.
File photo by Richard Ta
The Monarchs headed to the edge of the San Francisco Bay Area to play NorCal power Miramonte in Stockton, and rolled to a 22-point win. This weekend, they'll take on 14-2 Fairmont Prep, a relative newcomer to the scene, before returning to league play.
2. (2) Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia), 15-0Some felt battle-tested Archbishop Wood would give Neumann-Goretti a battle in Philadelphia's Catholic League, especially at Wood. Not so: Neumann-Goretti proved it belongs at No. 2 with a 26-point win.
3. (3) Blackman (Murfreesboro, Tenn.), 16-2Blackman will be tested again this week, first by visiting crosstown rival Oakland Friday night (which has beaten No. 7 Potter's House Christian) and then by traveling to Louisville to play one of Ohio's best, Rogers.
4. (4) St. Mary's (Stockton, Calif.), 16-1 The Rams' unrelenting pressure claimed another pair of victims this past week, and even though Piedmont (alma mater of Courtney and Ashley Paris) is a pretty good team, don't expect a different outcome this weekend.
5. (5) Whitney Young (Chicago), 16-1The Dolphins won by five and four this past weekend, but a win's a win, regardless of margin, and it looks like they should swim through the rest of the regular season.
6. (6) Bedford North Lawrence (Ind.), 18-0Roncalli is a perennial Indiana power, and has lost to No. 15 North Lawrence by seven and three, so Saturday's home game could be a serious challenge to Bedford North Lawrence's perfect record.
7. (7) Potter's House Christian (Jacksonville, Fla.), 25-2IMG gave Potter's House a battle last weekend, and this weekend No. 19 Miami Country Day will host the Lions. As is almost always the case, Potter's House travels to play top opponents -- seldom do those opponents come to Jacksonville.
8. (9) Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.), 17-1Paul VI has lost only to No. 2 Neumann-Goretti, and plays in arguably the toughest league in the country. This week they host St. John's and Our Lady of Good Counsel, and though they should win, don't expect it to be too easy.
9. (11) Elizabethtown (Ky.), 18-2Elizabethtown lost to Miami Country Day by one, in Florida, and otherwise lost only to No. 3 Blackman. They've moved up, but the stay could be brief, as Tennessee power Riverdale is on the schedule Saturday.
10. (13) Myers Park (Charlotte, N.C.), 14-1Myers Park doesn't play the toughest overall schedule, but that 62-58 win over No. 16 New Hope Christian was a big one. Remember, the only loss is to No. 3 Blackman.
11. (17) Cypress Woods (Cypress, Texas), 22-1Cypress Woods just keeps winning, but in Texas -- with so many games and so many quality teams -- it's hard not to stumble somewhere along the way. And Cypress Falls, on tap this Friday, is one of those quality teams.
12. (12) Long Beach Poly (Calif.), 14-2
Kylee Donahue, Desert Vista
Photo by Mark Jones
So Long Beach Poly handled No. 13 Desert Vista in December fairly easily, but lost to No. 19 Miami Country Day (in Florida). But Miami Country Day just lost to a team Desert Vista beat. If you enjoy perplexity, contemplate this week's rankings.
13. (24) Desert Vista (Phoenix), 16-3Why the jump? As Long Beach Poly keeps rolling, that makes Desert Vista look better. And the win over No. 17 Dillard, that team's only loss, looks more and more impressive as Dillard keeps winning.
14. (14) Rock Bridge (Columbia, Mo.), 12-3Rock Bridge doesn't duck anyone, and after finishing up the Truman tournament Saturday will take on Shawnee Mission Northwest, which knocked off Leavenworth, a team that beat Rock Bridge a couple weeks ago.
15. (15) Lawrence North (Indianapolis), 16-0We'd love to know just how good Indiana basketball is this year, but state rules, plus a reluctance on the part of many teams to travel even when they can, limits the perspective. But Lawrence North did outlast nemesis Pike, 48-46, over the weekend.
16. (16) New Hope Christian Academy (Thomasville, N.C.), 20-2The four-point loss to No. 10 Myers Park isn't a killer, as the only other blemish is a loss to No. 7 Potter's House Christian. But New Hope won't get too many more shots at top-flite opposition, though Archbishop Williams of Massachusetts (Jan. 31) will provide some competition.
17. (NR) Dillard (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), 20-1Dillard's 10-point loss to No. 13 Desert Vista had kept the Panthers on the outside of the Xcellent 25 looking in, but a four-point win over previous No. 10 Miami Country Day is good reason to re-think.
18. (8) Long Island Lutheran (Brookville, N.Y.), 9-3So Long Island Lutheran has some very good wins -- No. 9 Elizabethtown, No. 14 Rock Bridge, No. 18 Miami Country Day -- but some odd losses like Archbishop Molloy (no longer ranked), Ursuline of Delaware (never ranked) and now McDonogh. Clearly a good team, but hard to say just how good.
19. (10) Miami Country Day, 20-2Miami Country Day has lost to perplexing No. 18 Long Island Lutheran and now to No. 17 Dillard, which lost to No. 13 Desert Vista. But then there are those wins over No. 9 Elizabethtown and No. 12 Long Beach Poly (by 20). Go figure.
20. (NR) St. John-Vianney (Holmdel, N.J.), 10-1St. John-Vianney's win over Manasquan is a big one, but the 14-point loss to middling Franklin is very hard to explain away. But St. John-Vianney also has a win over Maryland's Roland Park Country, so here they are.
21. (19) Hopkins (Minnetonka, Minn.), 15-1There's only one game for Hopkins this week, and Minnetonka's only advantage is the crosstown rivalry. Otherwise, Hopkins has the edge in pretty much every category.
22. (20) Gonzaga Prep (Spokane, Wash.), 14-0Gonzaga Prep needed some late heroics from
Lauren Weir to survive league rival Central Valley, 53-51. That will most likely be the closest call for Gonzaga until deep into the state playoffs.
23. (22) Princess Anne (Virginia Beach, Va.), 16-0Just one game this week, and it should be no threat to Princess Anne's place in the Xcellent 25. Still, lacking any quality wins, it's hard to know how good they really are.
24. (23) Braintree (Mass.), 8-0Maybe Braintree will get tested in the Massachusetts' postseason. Maybe not.
25. (NR) Holy Innocents Episcopal (Atlanta), 19-0Beating former No. 1 McEachern, even without injured star Caliya Robinson, is an impressive statement for a Georgia AA school. And Holy Innocents has played a solid regional schedule and survived some close encounters.
Dropped out: No. 18 Manasquan, No. 21 Konawaena, No. 25 Easton.
