Alright folks, buckle up. Today I’m sharing how I tackled that big South Dakota high school football ranking mess for 2024. Everyone’s asking “Who’s gonna be top?”, so I sat down to make some sense of it. Spoiler alert: it got messy.
Where I Even Started
First off, I knew I needed data. Like, good data. And lemme tell you, finding that is like finding a snowmobile in July around here. Started digging through local paper sites way too early, drinking cold coffee. Most stats ended with “COVID year,” which meant nothing. Zip. Zilch.
- Clicked through every team’s Facebook page I could find – half hadn’t posted since last season.
- Tried finding injury reports. Forget it. Might as well be state secrets.
- Found one old forum thread arguing about quarterback families. Seriously.
The Spreadsheet Nightmare
Okay, so I opened up Excel. Big mistake. Got real ambitious, made columns for last season’s wins, player stats, even strength of schedule. Immediately regretted it. That spreadsheet looked like my kid’s finger painting after ten minutes.
Highlighted some names – Jefferson, always tough, even after they lost their star linebacker. Stevens had that killer offense but defense leaked like my kitchen sink. Roosevelt? Dark horse. Had to think about how many seniors left. That gut feeling counts too, right?
Then my computer crashed. Lost like twenty minutes of work. Almost threw the darn thing out the window. Took the dog out instead. Big sigh.
Getting Some Weird Help
After calming down (and more coffee), I remembered talking to Mike at the hardware store last week. His nephew plays for West High. Got gossiping like old ladies. Mike says their offensive line is bigger this year. Threw that into the mental spreadsheet.
- Combined rumors with the patchy stats I actually found.
- Weighed senior returners heavily. Experience matters here.
- Guessed hard on injury recovery for a couple key players.
Then Janice called wanting help fixing her garage door spring. Yeah, right in the middle. Sometimes you just gotta roll with the chaos.
The Final Predictions – Best Guess
Sat back down after wrestling with garage parts. Looked at the scribbles, the half-dead spreadsheet, and Mike’s gossip. Here’s what my gut screamed:
- Top Spot: Gotta lean into Stevens. That offense sticks around.
- Close Second: Washington. Heard whispers about a transfer player.
- Watch Out For: Roosevelt. Seriously dark horse territory.
- Biggest Surprise: Maybe O’Gorman? If their defense gels.
Is it perfect? Absolutely not. It’s coffee stains, gossip, crashed computers, and garage breaks smushed together. But that’s how it plays out. Check back later when I inevitably look foolish.