So today I was scratching my head trying to hunt down legit 2024 preseason football rankings for Indiana high schools. Figured I’d share my whole messy adventure step by step – ’cause honestly, it wasn’t as simple as I thought.
Started Simple, Got Nowhere Fast
First thing I did? Jumped straight into my favorite search engine. Typed “Indiana high school football 2024 preseason rankings” and hit enter. Easy enough, right? Wrong. Most results were either articles from LAST YEAR (totally useless), weird national ranking sites nobody’s heard of, or links to forums full of people just guessing. Felt like hitting a brick wall immediately.
Remembered the Old Standbys
Okay, time for Plan B. I remembered some names I’d used years back. Tried pulling up those old bookmark links. First one? Dead link. Great. Second one? Site looked like it hadn’t been updated since dial-up days – still showing 2023 stuff everywhere. Felt super annoyed. Thought, “Seriously? Where do the actual locals go for this?”
Zeroed in on Indiana Sources
Changed my search. Got specific: “reliable Indiana high school football preseason sources 2024”. This helped a tiny bit. Started seeing actual Indiana sports reporters and local media names popping up. Names I recognized vaguely from newspapers around Indianapolis and up north. Went digging:
- Looked up big Indiana newspaper sports sections: Dug through their websites. Found ONE that had a “Way Too Early” list posted… but it only had like 10 teams? Too shallow.
- Checked well-known Indiana high school sports sites: Found two major ones dedicated just to prep sports in the state. Scrolled past a ton of recruiting news and finally – buried in a sub-menu – spotted a “2024 Rankings” tab on both! Jackpot? Maybe.
- Peeked at trusted local TV stations’ sports blogs: One had a video segment discussing rankings, but they never actually listed them properly. Another had a written breakdown focusing only on their specific viewing region. Inconsistent!
Put Them Side by Side
So now I had three sources claiming to be reliable. Opened three browser tabs:
- Tab 1: Newspaper’s 10-team list
- Tab 2: Prep Site #1 Top 25
- Tab 3: Prep Site #2 Top 30 (they did 30? Okay then)
Started scrolling and comparing. How much did they overlap? Which teams were ranked super high on one list but low on another? Who appeared on ALL THREE? That overlap usually tells you who the real contenders are. My eyes started glazing over switching tabs. Some guys put powerhouse Carmel at #1 everywhere, good consensus there. But further down? Total chaos. One site loved a team the others had barely ranked. Felt like herding cats.
What Actually Worked
Took some notes. Ended up realizing this:
- Prep Site #1 was the most detailed, explaining why teams were ranked where. Felt like actual work went into it. Used it as my main anchor.
- Prep Site #2 had the most teams listed (Top 30). Good for seeing wider recognition, even if deeper rankings get shaky. Compared their top 10 to Site #1.
- The Newspaper list was way too short and felt like filler content. Skipped it after the quick compare.
The TV sites were hit or miss depending on where in Indiana they focused. Fine for local fans, useless for state-wide view.
Bottom line? No single “perfect” list exists. Finding reliable Indiana preseason rankings means cross-checking at least the two big dedicated Indiana prep sports sites. Expect some wild differences outside the top 5! Their Top 10s mostly lined up… beyond that? Good luck. It’s a hot mess, but comparing those two is the best you’ll get before games actually start. #HoosierProblems.