By Ed Piper
Not to burst the Vikings' bubble--they'll have to come down from the euphoria of winning the Hilltop Invitational title eventually--but in ranking La Jolla 12th in Division 1, behind Western League opponents Mission Bay (second) and Lincoln (fifth), MaxPreps faults the Vikings for the weakest schedule among the 19 teams ranked.
MaxPreps uses algorithms it won't reveal to position teams by their perceived strength. La Jolla, holding a 3-1 record (before the rankings are updated with the Vikings' win Dec. 8), is downgraded to a 3.6 rating, behind other Division 1 teams with similar records.
The coaching staff at La Jolla, and everyone else seasoned in the vagaries of rankings, knows that any numbers posted after five games don't mean much. Nor do coaches train their teams around what rankings or ratings they receive.
Cathedral Catholic, a private school with all the advantages offering free private-school tuition presents, sits two slots lower than LJHS at 14th with a 2-3 record. The Dons' strength of schedule is posted much higher than the Vikings', at 4.2, second only to the Buccaneers' difficulty rating at 6.8.
Patrick Henry, which moved to the Western League this year with La Jolla (both teams were in the Eastern League last season), sits at 11th in the MaxPreps division rankings with a 3-2 record.
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