Abilene's Final National Ranking
By: Austin Kellerman
Updated: December 21, 2009
Abilene High may have defeated defending 2-time state champions Katy Tigers in a dominating fashion, but it wasnt enough to earn the Eagles the top spot in national rankings.ESPN.com and MaxPreps listed Abilene in the number 2 spots. RivalsHigh ranked AHS as number 5 in the country.
Heres what ESPN.com said about its reasoning behind Abilenes ranking:
Prior to Saturday night, the last time Abilene (Abilene, Texas) won a state title was in 1956 and the same year, the Eagles were considered the mythical national champion by the National Sports News Service.
Abilene upended Katy (Katy, Texas) in the Class 5A, Division II state championship over the weekend to finish the year 15-0. However, the Eagles wont be crowned national champs this time around.
While there was some discussion among the ESPN RISE FAB 50 voting members about moving up the Eagles to No. 1 for this weeks final rankings, all of the No. 1 votes went to Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.), which made a bit of history of its own.
AHS finished its championship season with a No. 5 national ranking on Rivals High, moving up from the No. 6 spot after Saturday's state championship.
"The Eagles won their first state title in 53 years. Going through Cedar
Hill, Arlington Bowie, and powerhouse Katy earns this Abilene team a
top five finish," Rivals.com wrote.
Only two Texas teams are in the top 10. The other is Lake Travis, the 4A state champs which ranked No. 2.
The 5A Division I state champs, Euless Trinity, were ranked No. 15.
Check out Rivals.com for the RivalsHigh 100.
