Waubonsie Valley's upset loss against Naperville Central last week hurt the Warriors tremendously in the eyes of the nation's girls soccer coaches.
The Warriors, who entered the season ranked No. 1 by the coaches' association, fell out of the top 20 after suffering their first loss in 59 games.
Meanwhile, Neuqua Valley, which opened its season with a 1-0 victory over Naperville North, jumped to No. 8 in the poll released Tuesday. The Wildcats improved from No. 19 in the preseason poll.
The question is, does this poll -- or any national high school ranking -- matter? The teams often downplay any significance. And, really, who knows for sure if current No. 1 St. Pius of Atlanta, Ga., is better than Waubonsie or Neuqua. It's not like the teams ever play each other.
So what do you think of the rankings?
The poll means nothing. The ultimate goal of any high school soccer team is to win the state championship, and if you win the hearts of the national voters like WV has the past 2 years, it's an added incentive.
But the fact is that you cannot possibly tell whether or not either WV or NV could beat a team from Georgia or California because of a variety of factors. First, the teams have never matched up head to head, making it hard to justify one being superior to the other. Second, the teams play in different states, meaning totally different fields of competition and quality of play. It is impossible to take all of this into account and still provide an accurate assessment of national power in any sport.
Waubonsie dropping out of the top 20 is ridiculous because despite losing to an unranked opponent, they are still one of the best teams in the nation, especially if the voters thought so highly of them as to put them at #1 in the first place.
The bottom line is that the national rankings are operated on impossible knowledge on the part of the voters and should not be referred to religiously.
Back to back state AND national champions has a nice ring to it, but the ultimate goal is to win state. If you don't, you have no chance of getting nationally recognized anyway...