Unofficial Rankings B

[Dohnnovan]

I'm a random so this probably isn't very significant but I guess it's worth a shot

1. Winston Churchill
2. Daniel Wright
3. Beckendorff
4. Solon
5. Meads Mill
6. Marie Murphy
7. Tower Heights
8. Piedmont
9. Springhouse
10. Longfellow
11. Gelinas
12. Eagle Hill
13. Shady Side
14. Ladue
15. WWP-Community
16. Baker
17. Dodgen
18. Oak Valley
19. Hamilton
20. Chippewa

[Tailsfan101]

Based on others predictions:

1) Daniel Wright 2) Beckendorff 3) Solon 4) Tower Heights 5) Winston Churchill 6) Meads Mill 7) Piedmont 8) Marie Murphy 9) Longfellow 10) Paul J. Gelinas 11) Springhouse 12) Ladue 13) Eagle Hill 14) Oak Valley 15) West Windsor-Plainsboro Community 16) Hamilton 17) Shady Side 18) Dodgen 19) Auburn 20) Archimedean 21) A. W. Coolidge 22) Baker 23) Chippewa 24) Fred J. Carnage 25) Bearden 26) H. B. Dupont 27) Wydown 28) Kealing 29) Thomas Jefferson 30) Fairfield (Click to Show Hidden Text)

31) Northshore
32) Ames
33) Orlando
34) Paragon
35) Preston
36) California Trail
37) Lyme-Old Lyme
[spoiler]38) Treasure Valley[/spoiler]
39) North Bethesda
40) Russell Independent
41) Albuquerque
42) Casady
43) Stoller
44) Highlands
45) Fulton
46) Clinton
47) Hyde Park
48) Germantown
49) St. John Berchmans
50) Wachter
51) Huntington
52) LISA Academy West
53) Mission
54) Walpole
55) Clancy
56) Yankton
57) Gallagher
58) Medomak
59) Riverton
60) Colony

NOTE: After I used other's opinions, I basically went with the biggest states, with some exceptions. (Yes, you are free to correct me as much as you like.)

[Unome]

Based on others predictions:

1) Daniel Wright 2) Beckendorff 3) Solon 4) Tower Heights 5) Winston Churchill 6) Meads Mill 7) Piedmont 8) Marie Murphy 9) Longfellow 10) Paul J. Gelinas 11) Springhouse 12) Ladue 13) Eagle Hill 14) Lakeshore 15) West Windsor-Plainsboro Community 16) Hamilton 17) Shady Side 18) Oak Valley 19) Dodgen 20) Chippewa 21) Auburn 22) Baker 23) Archimedean 24) Fred J. Carnage 25) Thomas Jefferson 26) A. W. Coolidge 27) Wydown 28) Kealing 29) Northshore 30) Oak Valley (Click to Show Hidden Text)

31) Lyme-Old Lyme
32) H. B. Dupont
33) Orlando
34) Paragon
35) Preston
36) California Trail
37) Ames
[spoiler]38) Treasure Valley[/spoiler]
39) North Bethesda
40) Russell Independent
41) Albuquerque
42) Casady
43) Stoller
44) Bearden
45) Huntington
46) Clinton
47) Hyde Park
48) Germantown
49) St. John Berchmans
50) Highlands
51) Fulton
52) LISA Academy West
53) Mission
54) Walpole
55) Wachter
56) Yankton
57) Gallagher
58) Medomak
59) Riverton
60) Colony

NOTE: After I used other's opinions, I basically went with the biggest states, with some exceptions. (Yes, you are free to correct me as much as you like.)

smh - Fulton Science Academy, Bearden, Oak Valley, Archimedean, Huntington, Northshore.

Nice job on trying to rank all 60 though, that's pretty tough.

[John Richardsim]

Based on others predictions:

1) Daniel Wright 2) Beckendorff 3) Solon 4) Tower Heights 5) Winston Churchill 6) Meads Mill 7) Piedmont 8) Marie Murphy 9) Longfellow 10) Paul J. Gelinas 11) Springhouse 12) Ladue 13) Eagle Hill 14) Lakeshore 15) West Windsor-Plainsboro Community 16) Hamilton 17) Shady Side 18) Oak Valley 19) Dodgen 20) Chippewa 21) Auburn 22) Baker 23) Archimedean 24) Fred J. Carnage 25) Thomas Jefferson 26) A. W. Coolidge 27) Wydown 28) Kealing 29) Northshore 30) Oak Valley (Click to Show Hidden Text)

31) Lyme-Old Lyme
32) H. B. Dupont
33) Orlando
34) Paragon
35) Preston
36) California Trail
37) Ames
[spoiler]38) Treasure Valley[/spoiler]
39) North Bethesda
40) Russell Independent
41) Albuquerque
42) Casady
43) Stoller
44) Bearden
45) Huntington
46) Clinton
47) Hyde Park
48) Germantown
49) St. John Berchmans
50) Highlands
51) Fulton
52) LISA Academy West
53) Mission
54) Walpole
55) Wachter
56) Yankton
57) Gallagher
58) Medomak
59) Riverton
60) Colony

NOTE: After I used other's opinions, I basically went with the biggest states, with some exceptions. (Yes, you are free to correct me as much as you like.)

You have 3 Michigan teams. You also have Oak Valley twice.

[Skink]

Pembroke Hill didn't make it to nats this year...

!!

That's amazing news.

[EastStroudsburg13]

Okay, time to explain my earlier predictions (with slight rearranging and addition):

1. Daniel Wright - Defending champion, looked strong at invites, and was much more dominant at states this year than last. In my opinion, the odds-on favorite to win the title.
2. Winston Churchill - Second in a series of dominant state scores (47 vs DW's 49) but it came in a smaller tournament. Came on really strong late yet again, beating probably the best Kennedy team ever surprisingly handily. Probably a lock for top 3.
3. Beckendorff - Third in a series of dominant state scores (43) but Texas state scores have not always translated (36 last year led to 4th). WSU win was big, but neither of the above teams were present; first showdown of these three teams is really intriguing.
4. Meads Mill - 116 in a tournament of 60 teams is very impressive. Probably could have had better invites, but it's been a long time since then; top 5 seems very likely.
5. Solon - Feels like an odd team out, but after placing 2nd at states, and with the above teams being so dominant, it's tough to see how high their potential placing really is. Not that 5th is bad (it's not). Proximity to nationals could give them a bigger boost.
6. Tower Heights - Typically wouldn't rank a new team so high, but Tower Heights has been so good all year, was convincingly strong at a tough state finals, and has a home-field advantage factor that'll help them adapt.
7. Marie Murphy - Overshadowed by Daniel Wright, but they actually may not be that much worse than last year; Daniel Wright is just better. I'd expect at least top 10.
8. Piedmont - Sometimes tough to tell how NC schools will do because of the odd rules there, but Piedmont was consistently strong at invites. I expect a top 10 return.
9. Longfellow - lowered their state score, and had strong invites. While top 5 seems out of reach, top 10 is well within reason.
10. Springhouse - Had lowest state score of any PA B team in quite some time. Seems like the best chance of any team yet to break the Sewickley curse; the quick turnaround and the strength of the teams ahead could work against them.
11. Ladue - Very strong team, with a real chance of cracking the top 10. Lack of 2017 experience against elite teams could hurt them slightly.
12. Gelinas - Will have to do quite a bit to maintain their spot in the top 10, based on states, but may have an edge psychologically.
13. Eagle Hill - Despite beating Gelinas at states, the gap could be covered; should still hover around the 15th range.
14. Baker - Another new team with invitational experience that is relatively closely located to nationals. This seems somewhat high, but the below teams are all very beatable for a team that's competed against the likes of Meads Mill, Solon, and Tower Heights regularly.
15. Hamilton - Jumped back into the top 20 last year in their home state. They'll have to cope with travel this time around, but their state score blew last year's away. Top 15 very possible.
16. Dodgen - Decent throughout invites. Still a ways behind the old Booth teams, but should have a solid finish to the year.
17. Oak Valley - The beneficiary of the No-Muscatel-Sweepstakes, and a real wild card. Beating both Kraemer and Jeffrey Trail was impressive, but they're traveling a long way. Their upside will be capped, and they're unlikely to get anywhere close to top 10, but top 20 is very realistic.
18. Shady Side - Invite season was a struggle, but really turned it on when it mattered. I don't know that they'll place higher than 15th, but top 20 is more than reasonable.
19. Community - A bit of a wild card. They bounced out and back into the top 20, and while my first inclination is that they should comfortably stay in, there are several other teams here with some serious skill. Bombs could be the difference.
20. Chippewa - Hovered around this point the past couple years. Was strong at states and should still be around the same range.
21. Thomas Jefferson - Another model of consistency. Honestly don't know too much, but I feel like being in the same range is safe.
22. Auburn - Has been sinking very slowly, and state result didn't blow me away. A sinking of a couple more places is not unlikely.
23. Fred J. Carnage - As with Piedmont, tough to say where they'll end up. Unlikely to break top 20 because of those difficulties.
24. Preston - No real reason to think they'll move a lot from last year's place. If anything, they may drop a bit more.
25. Fulton Science Academy - Not convinced by their state score, despite some solid invitationals. I doubt they'll fall out of the top 30, but it's not entirely impossible.
26. Highlands - As with Iolani, it's hard to tell how teams from such a small state will do. They may be slightly better than years past.
27. A.W. Coolidge - Massachusetts B uses an old-school approach, meaning that more points are given for getting first, and scores are hard to find. Press releases indicate that they scored around 65 points, so they should be approximately where they were last year.
28. Wydown - Managed to barely overcome Pembroke Hill in Missouri. It's reasonable to expect them to do worse than Pembroke would have, but this year's Pembroke team may have returned to the top 25, so Wydown cracking top 30 is well within reason.
29. Bearden - Was not all that convinced by their state score, but their strong finish at WSU still lingers. Potential alone could keep them above 30th at the very least.
30. H.B. DuPont - Kealing will look to maintain the 2nd-place-Texas-team streak of top 30s alive, but DuPont seems clearly improved from last year, and Kealing seems slightly worse than Austin was last year.

Honorable mentions: Kealing, Russell Independent, Lyme-Old Lyme, Archimedean, Ames, Clinton

[Unome]

25. Fulton Science Academy - Not convinced by their state score, despite some solid invitationals. I doubt they'll fall out of the top 30, but it's not entirely impossible.

Quick note: the Div B state tournament this year was 29 teams as opposed to the traditional 24. In addition, Georgia B removed their points cap entirely (which was 13th from 2015-2016, and 16th from 2013-2014). That could have been a contributor to their scores, in addition to bombing Crime Busters, which placed 10th at Wright State (reminds me of my 9th grade year; bottom half in CB at state but 9th at nationals).

I don't disagree with your ranking though, that's about where I have them too; just wanted to explain the generally worse state scores this year (for Dodgen and FSA, though Vickery Creek improved somewhat).

[EastStroudsburg13]

25. Fulton Science Academy - Not convinced by their state score, despite some solid invitationals. I doubt they'll fall out of the top 30, but it's not entirely impossible.

Quick note: the Div B state tournament this year was 29 teams as opposed to the traditional 24. In addition, Georgia B removed their points cap entirely (which was 13th from 2015-2016, and 16th from 2013-2014). That could have been a contributor to their scores, in addition to bombing Crime Busters, which placed 10th at Wright State (reminds me of my 9th grade year; bottom half in CB at state but 9th at nationals).

I don't disagree with your ranking though, that's about where I have them too; just wanted to explain the generally worse state scores this year (for Dodgen and FSA, though Vickery Creek improved somewhat).

This is a key factor, thanks for bringing that to light. Probably would move them up to 24th in that case. (Not that a one-place difference actually matters in the grand scheme of everything. )

[Tailsfan101]

Any chance we could open a contest as last year had, including Event Predictions and Team Predictions?

[Unome]

Any chance we could open a contest as last year had, including Event Predictions and Team Predictions?

Bernard is probably working on it.