Mo. state rankings (preseason)

Once again this season I'm on the panel voting for the state-wide football rankings. Each week I'll post the poll with some of my thoughts and a few notes from around the state at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday night.

Feel free to discuss but know that midnight is past my bedtime and I may not answer a question right away because Wednesday is usually a busy day in the office. I also hope to post news and notes (maybe a poll) on the SEMO Conference each week during the regular season.

Also, parts of the poll were posted in the forms section earlier Tuesday night. Future occurrences of the poll's release before made public could get me removed from the panel, even if I didn't release the information. The reason it has a midnight hold is for everybody on the panel to review it and make any changes (for example, this week there was a typo). It also allows both newspapers, websites, TV and radio to release it at the same time after the list has had time to be distributed to everyone.

MISSOURI FOOTBALL RANKINGS

Here's the preseason football rankings for Missouri teams, as compiled by a 13-member panel of sportswriters and broadcasters:

Class 6

Rank, Team Points 2011

1. CBC (9) 122 13-1

2. Blue Springs (3) 114 7-3

3. DeSmet 101 9-3

4. Rockhurst 96 10-2

5. Lafayette 62 8-3

6. Rock Bridge 59 7-4

7. Blue Springs South (1) 54 12-2

8. Jefferson City 49 8-2

9. Francis Howell 38 9-4

10. Ritenour 9 8-2

Others receiving votes: Fort Zumwalt West 7. Hazelwood Central 4.

My picks: Nearly identical to finished poll, I went with CBC first but it was a toss-up with Blue Springs, which returns 17 starters from a team that beat the state champs (Blue Springs South) during the regular season. South returns just three starters (on line) but that's two more than they had returning last year before beating CBC for the title 40-37.

Class 5

Rank, Team Points 2011

1. Kirkwood (8) 124 12-1

2. Staley (5) 120 14-0

3. Lee's Summit West 103 12-2

4. Fort Osage 91 10-2

5. Rockwood Summit 79 7-4

6. Webster Groves 61 9-2

7t. Hazelwood East 41 8-4

7t. McCluer North 41 10-2

9. Camdenton 34 7-6

10. Park Hills South 15 4-6

Others receiving votes: St. Joseph Central 4. Fort Zumwalt South 2.

My picks: I went Staley 1, Kirkwood 2 mostly because Staley went unbeaten last year and returns eight starters. Kirkwood returns 12 starters after losing to Staley in the state final, which is probably why they got more total votes. Summit is in the same district at Jackson and Poplar Bluff.

Class 4

Rank, Team Points 2011

1. Webb City (13) 130 15-0

2. Helias 90 7-5

3. Harrisonville 86 11-2

4. Liberty North 85 6-5

5. Raytown South 81 7-5

6t. Bolivar 61 9-2

6t. Vashon 61 6-4

8. Borgia 39 12-1

9. Sikeston 29 8-3

10. MICDS 23 14-1

Others receiving votes: St. Charles West 10. Hannibal 9. Savannah 5. St. Clair 4. Carthage 2.

My picks: Webb City is state champ until somebody beats them, which nobody has during the regular season since 2002. ... I had Sikeston at No. 9 as well, not because I'm a Sikeston hater as some people think, but because I couldn't put them in front of those other schools (I flipped Harrisonville-Helias but rest of poll is same).

Class 3

Rank, Team Points 2011

1. John Burroughs (13) 130 13-2

2. Maryville 112 10-2

3. Cassville 96 12-1

4. Logan-Rogersville 78 14-1

5. Oak Grove 67 7-3

6. Centralia 52 10-1

7. Richmond 49 12-2

8. McCluer South-Berkeley 36 5-6

9. Soldan 28 7-4

10. Duchesne 17 4-7

Others receiving votes: Clinton 15. Ste. Genevieve 13. School of Osage 11. Springfield Catholic 3.

My picks: John Burroughs lost in the state final to Logan-Rogersville but the Bombers, who open against Cape Central, have back 14 starters including RB Ezekiel Elliott, who has committed to Ohio State. ... I gave Ste. Gen some votes because those last seven schools are pretty close on paper.

Class 2

Rank, Team Points 2011

1. Lamar (11) 127 14-1

2. Maplewood-RH (1) 114 11-3

3. MV-Liberty 105 12-1

4. Lafayette County 80 13-2

5. Caruthersville 78 11-2

6. Blair Oaks 60 11-3

7. Lawson 37 9-3

8. North Callaway 36 8-5

9. Holden 35 5-5

10. Clark County 21 7-4

Others receiving votes: Brookfield 9. South Callaway 2.

My picks: I went with Lamar at 1 with MV-Liberty 2 and M-RH 3. M-RH has a new coach in Rich Nixon, who was an assistant at Poplar Bluff before winning three straight state titles at Hazelwood Central. ... Top 3 teams all bring back a ton of starters after making deep playoff runs. ... I had Caruthersivlle No. 4 but Lafayette County reached the state final and brings back 11 starters while Blair Oaks was a semifinalist that returns 2,600-yard passer.

Class 1

Rank, Team Points 2011

1. Hamilton (6) 123 12-1

2. Wellington-Napoleon (4) 116 12-1

3. Valle Catholic (3) 109 14-1

4. Salisbury 62 11-1

5. Tipton 50 11-1

6t. Miller 47 10-2

6t. South Harrison 47 9-3

8. South Shelby 46 10-5

9. Hayti 29 7-3

10. Skyline 25 9-4

Others receiving votes: Westran 24. Archie 14. Polo 8. Milan 6. Thayer 1.

My picks: I started with Valle third only because they lost so much and the other two teams bring back more. Wellington-Napoleon was my top pick with 16 returning starters. ... Hamilton won titles in 2009 and 2010 in different classes. ... I had Hayti, which plays Thayer in Week 1, a little higher.

The voting panel includes:

Donn Adamson, Park Hills Daily Journal

Rus Baer, Columbia Daily Tribune

Todd Bonacki, KZIM/KGIR Radio, Cape Girardeau

Dion Clisso, PrepsKC

Phil Ervin, St. Joseph News-Presss

Nate Latsch, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Jay Murry, MSSA East Central District

Jim Powers, 590 KFNS, Fox Sports Midwest

Tom Rackers, Jefferson City News Tribune

Thad Requet, Shelbina Weekly

Dave Roberts, Rolla Daily News

Brian Rosener, Poplar Bluff Daily American Republic

Matt Schoch, Springfield News-Leader

Karl Zinke/Shawn Garrison, The Examiner (Independence)

Cameron Hollway (non-voting poll organizer), STLhighschoolsports.com