LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Back-to-back Georgia state 7A champion Buford starts 2024 exactly where it ended last season — in the top spot in the NFCA Summer/Fall High School Top 25 Coaches Poll.
The (4-0) Wolves, who were a perfect 32-0 a year ago, haven’t lost since a 1-0 defeat to Lambert on Oct. 20, 2022 in the 7A Super Regionals. They play Mill Creek later today to start a run of four games over the next three days.
Buford and No. 4 East Coweta (11-0) combined for five of the last seven state 7A titles, before Georgia eliminated that classification heading into this season. East Coweta is off to another strong start, outscoring its opponents 121-12 and winning by an average margin of 9.9 runs over their first 11 games. Both schools now are part of Class 6A, which also contains No. 6 North Cobb (9-0).
Reigning Oklahoma Class A champion Caddo (5-0) starts in the No. 2 spot it occupied to end 2023, while Missouri Class 4 titlist Washington heads into its Aug. 29 season opener in the same third position that it finished last season.
Iowa state 2A champion Van Meter (43-1) rounds out the first five, after suffering just a 2-1 loss to 4A school Winterset early in its recently-completed summer season.
In matchup of ranked teams, reigning Colorado state 4A titlist Lutheran (2-0) plays 5A champion Chatfield (0-0) later today in their second game of a tournament on the campus of Metropolitan State University of Denver that features some of the state’s top teams. Earlier in the day, the No. 7 Lions play Fossil Ridge, while eighth-ranked Chatfield’s second game on Friday at the event (and just third game of the season) is against 2023 state 4A runner-up Riverdale Ridge.
Missouri and Nebraska teams are slated to open their 2024 campaigns either this week or next.
State rankings submitted by the 2024 NFCA High School Steering Committee are used to compile the NFCA Summer/Fall High School Top 25 Coaches Poll. Teams are chosen based on performance, roster quality and strength of schedule.
NFCA Summer/Fall High School Top 25 Coaches Poll – Aug. 22, 2024
|
Rank |
Team |
2024 Record |
|
1 |
Buford (Ga.) |
4-0 |
|
2 |
Caddo (Okla.) |
5-0 |
|
3 |
Washington (Mo.) |
0-0 |
|
4 |
East Coweta (Ga.) |
11-0 |
|
5 |
Van Meter (Iowa) |
43-1 |
|
6 |
North Cobb (Ga.) |
9-0 |
|
7 |
Lutheran (Colo.) |
2-0 |
|
8 |
Chatfield (Colo.) |
0-0 |
|
9 |
Papillion-LaVista (Neb.) |
0-0 |
|
10 |
Silver Creek (Colo.) |
4-0 |
|
11 |
Owasso (Okla.) |
4-1 |
|
12 |
Piedmont (Okla.) |
3-1 |
|
13 |
Pope (Ga.) |
7-2 |
|
14 |
Eaton (Colo.) |
1-0 |
|
15 |
Francis Howell (Mo.) |
0-0 |
|
16 |
Blue Springs South (Mo.) |
0-0 |
|
17 |
Millard North (Neb.) |
0-0 |
|
18 |
Pleasant Valley (Iowa) |
40-3 |
|
19 |
Raymore-Peculiar (Mo.) |
0-0 |
|
20 |
Helias Catholic (Mo.) |
0-0 |
|
21 |
Gretna (Neb.) |
0-0 |
|
22 |
Lincoln Southwest (Neb.) |
0-0 |
|
23 |
Carlisle (Iowa) |
37-8 |
|
24 |
Williamsburg (Iowa) |
33-12 |
|
25 |
Sigourney (Iowa) |
26-7 |
2024 NFCA High School Steering Committee
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