January Power Rankings: Division II
Here’s what we know: The race for the Division II State Championship is going to be insane. There’s not much separation between teams 1-8 on our rankings.
Here’s what we don’t know: who exactly is the best team in Division II. Sure, you could say that about all of the divisions and that’s probably not a persuasive way to sell my opinion. But, let’s be real, any of these top eight teams could beat each other, making D-II especially difficult to forecast.
Getting more specific now, numbers 1, 9, and 10 were the least tedious choices to make. Wauseon is the reigning D-II runner-up, they’re undefeated, have four quality wins, and a game-changing player. They’ve earned the top spot. Number 10 was easy-ish, but Lake Catholic just barely made it in over Gilmour Academy, Columbus South, Indian Valley, and Poland Seminary. Why? They’re 12-2 with one of their losses coming when their two best guards were out. Lake Catholic has the most consistent résumé of that group of five.
We rewarded teams 2-4 (Eastmoor Academy, Cincinnati Hughes, and St. Vincent-St. Mary respectively) for finding success against some of the most challenging schedules in the state. They have the three lowest margins of victory, but that’s because they’ve played majority of their games against strong competition. EA has played in nine such games (6-3 record), STVM a whopping 12 (6-6 record including wins over Fairland and Trotwood), and Hughes eight (6-2 record and losses to EA and Cincy Woodward in the opener by 11 total points).
Beechcroft slid off the #1 spot, going 7-1 in January and losing against their lone quality opponent. Division II in Ohio is so good that Beechcroft is #5, guys. The Cougars stayed barely above Trotwood-Madison, Fairland, and McNicholas because of the combination of their one-loss record, two quality wins, and loaded roster.
There’s plenty of reasonable arguments to be made about our top ten, and we’d love to hear those, but that’s our reasoning in the meantime. Just remember that most importantly, get your popcorn ready for the D-II playoffs because it’s going to be a lot of fun for the kids and fans.