Division 1 Rankings heading into Week 7

Another week, another set of rankings! I had quite a bit of fun ranking Division 1 last week, so I've decided to make it a weekly affair until the State Championships are played. You see the rankings above. Now, here are my thoughts on each of my 32 ranked programs.   *I am not done with the D2 rankings. When D2 teams are referenced, I'll refer to their Midseason Ranking.   1. Belleville (6-0)   W6: 42-15 W vs. #31 Westland Glenn   An expected win for Belleville. I don't have much else to say. The best team in the state earns a league win against a bubble playoff team.   2. DET Catholic Central (6-0)   W6: 37-14 W vs. Brother Rice   An expected win. Brother Rice was actually able to score some points on CC, but this rivalry is currently nothing like that of years past. I don't see this team losing a single regular-season game.   3. Davison (5-1)   W6: 35-10 W vs. #7 (D2) East Lansing   I hear that East Lansing had some critical injuries, but still, I don't know if they stood much of a chance against Davison. This is one of the only complete rosters in the state. As long as [player_tooltip player_id='119260' first='Jaxson' last='Dosh'], [player_tooltip player_id='212356' first='Ben' last='Nichols'], and their defensive stars are healthy, Davison has a chance to make it to Ford Field.   4. Dakota (6-0)   W6: 42-7 W vs. #18 Romeo   Dakota moves up two spots after a dominant win against #18 Romeo. Honestly, if Davison didn't win so convincingly, Dakota would be #2. Spoiler alert: I'll be heading to Dakota @ IKE next week. Can't wait to see guys like [player_tooltip player_id='1157440' first='Elijah' last='Goins'] compete!   5. Saline (3-3)   W6: 48-3 W vs. Bedford   I really don't know what to make of Saline's<a href="https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2024/10/02/saline-high-school-forfeiting-first-three-varsity-football-games-due-to-mhsaa-infractions/"> recent headlines</a>. I don't know how much it's going to affect the team, and I don't know who the player involved is. Saline will still easily make the playoffs, and they're still a great program. They end up moving down just a couple of spots and will likely remain near this spot until playoff time.   6. Clarkston (4-2)   W6: 38-7 W vs. Troy Athens   An incredibly expected win for the Wolves. Athens is not a strong program.   7. Hudsonville (5-1)   W6: 59-14 W vs. Grand Haven   I got a great look at Hudsonville last week and scouted Oxford and Adams this week. After looking at all three teams, I can confidently say that Hudsonville is a more complete team than Oxford and Adams (now without their starting quarterback). The Week 1 loss to Howell is looming, but I'll honestly chalk that up to early-season jitters. [player_tooltip player_id='247638' first='Ethan' last='Carter'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1291326' first='Connor' last='Brintnall'] make up an elite LB group, while QB [player_tooltip player_id='1290565' first='Griffin' last='Baker'] is an incredibly underrated player.   8. West Bloomfield (3-3)   W6: 49-41 W vs. #10 Lake Orion   This offense finally gets going! Better yet, they do it against a great OAA Red defense. There's no reason why a team with this amount of talent can't make it to Ford Field. With other changes in the D1 landscape, West Bloomfield earns a big +5 rankings boost. [player_tooltip player_id='247643' first='Beau' last='Jackson'] and co. have a BIG game against #9 Oxford next week!   9. Oxford (4-2)   W6: 18-17 W vs. #14 Rochester Adams   I didn't think I'd see it, but Oxford outdid Adams at their own game. Usually, I'd trust Adams to execute late in the 4th quarter. Nope- Oxford gets a critical 4th-down stop and converts an electric game-winning drive. QB [player_tooltip player_id='1148730' first='Jack' last='Hendrix'] was incredible down the stretch, while K/P/WR [player_tooltip player_id='899642' first='Drew' last='Cady'] hit a few big kicks.   10. Lake Orion (4-2)   W6: 41-49 L vs. #8 West Bloomfield   The good news: Lake Orion has a great chance to bounce back next week against #6 Clarkston. Listen, the Dragons offense was on point. Though if there's one team you don't want to get in a track meet with, it's West Bloomfield. The defense needs to rebound next week!   11. Cass Tech (4-2)   W6: 56-0 W vs. Renaissance   Not much to take away. The Detroit Public School League is extremely weak outside of Cass and King. Show improvement against King in a few weeks, and Cass Tech will rank up.   12. Utica Eisenhower (IKE) (5-1)   W6: 31-34 2OT L vs. Chippewa Valley   The surprise of the week. I didn't even rank Chippewa Valley this week, and that's because their resume is still extremely weak. What happened here? Widespread injury? Party before the game? Playing backups? Whatever it is, they need to bounce back next week against #4 Dakota. If they can beat Dakota, IKE could shoot back up the rankings. Right now, I can't be confident.   13. Rockford (4-2)   W6: 34-14 W vs. #13 (D2) Caledonia   Hopefully, this is a sign of smoother waters ahead for Rockford. Caledonia looks weaker than they have in years past, but they're no pushover either. The Rams will probably hover around this spot until playoff time, as they face 1-5 West Ottawa and 2-4 Grand Haven in the coming weeks.   14. Rochester Adams (4-2)   W6: 17-18 L vs. #9 Oxford   This significant fall is mostly due to the loss of [player_tooltip player_id='566987' first='Ryland' last='Watters']. Without him, Adams' offense wasn't nearly as efficient as it could have been against #9 Oxford. I still like the makeup of this roster, but It's hard to argue that they'd be favored against any of the above teams right now.   15. Grandville (3-3)   W6: 33-25 W vs. #25 East Kentwood   Grandville is beginning to stack wins now. Another amazing performance by [player_tooltip player_id='206418' first='Jayden' last='Terry']. This team just needs to learn how to keep the foot on the gas. Way too many times, I've seen them let a team hang around, and this is no exception.   16. Grand Blanc (5-1)   W6: 35-21 W vs. #19 Lapeer   Ooooh man- There's a chance that Grand Blanc is way better than their #16 ranking. A lot of teams look a lot different during Week 1, and that 2-point loss to Mona Shores looks excellent right about now. They just had a decisive win against a good league opponent, and they play #3 Davison in two weeks. I'm excited to see just how good this Grand Blanc team is.   17. Howell (6-0)   W6: 44-30 W vs. Hartland   Yes, I'm having a hard time ranking Howell super high. Their Week 1 victory over #7 Hudsonville looks amazing, but their strength of schedule isn't near most of these teams. I know that Howell is a rival, but you've got to beat the 2-4 teams by more in order to convince me. The next two weeks against #22 Novi and #23 Brighton will say a lot about this team.   18. Romeo (2-4)   W6: 7-42 L vs. #4 Dakota   Well, Romeo didn't look great against Dakota. On the bright side, they still have a decent resume with a brutal schedule. That 22-21 loss against #14 Adams, alongside the win against #20 Anchor Bay allow them to fall only one spot to #18.   19. Lapeer (4-2)   W6: 21-35 L vs. #16 Grand Blanc   A bit of a disappointing outing for this Lapeer program, but it could have been much worse. There's a chance that Grand Blanc is far better than their current ranking, and I'm still very confident that Lapeer is a good playoff team. I'm quite interested to see them take on Oak Park, then a 3-3 Dow team.   20. Anchor Bay (3-3)   W6: 29-22 W vs. #21 SH Stevenson   I was afraid that Anchor Bay was in the middle of a mid-season slide, but nope! They earn the upset win. As long as they can get the job done next week against Chippewa Valley, Anchor Bay should make the postseason.   21. Sterling Heights Stevenson (3-3)   W6: 22-29 L vs. #20 Anchor Bay   A pretty decent slide for SH Stevenson this week. This is three straight losses for Stevenson and the third straight loss to a ranked team. They're battle-tested, but they've proven that they're not a top-15 team quite yet.   22. Novi (5-1)   W6: 21-20 W vs. Plymouth   This was close to being a disaster. Novi needs to do better against a then 1-4 team. Regardless, they'll need a short memory as they take on #17 Howell next week. I'm excited to see what WR Christian Gillians continues to accomplish during his sophomore season!   23. Brighton (5-1)   W6: 38-0 W vs. Canton   A good win for Brighton. As long as [player_tooltip player_id='1298663' first='Lawrence' last='Wells'] and [player_tooltip player_id='900399' first='Jaden' last='Rogers'] stay healthy, this team is a dark horse. Week 8 against #17 Howell will be ELECTRIC! For now, they stay put at #23.   24. Fordson (4-2)   W6: 52-14 W vs. Livonia Churchill   A much-needed win for Fordson, and they move up three spots. This is four straight for the Tractors, and they'll stay at home next week against #31 Westland Glenn. DL [player_tooltip player_id='1613947' first='Hadi' last='Dabaja'], in particular, is having a nice season, and he's someone I need to watch!   25. East Kentwood (3-3)   W6: 25-33 L vs. #15 Grandville   On par with expectations for East Kentwood. This team has very good talent with QB [player_tooltip player_id='570285' first='Kayd' last='Coffman'], ATH Donovan Jones, and others. Though, they still have several holes to patch before competing for a State Championship.   26. Grand Ledge (4-2)   W6: 12-35 L vs. #17 (D2) Lansing Everett   Grand Ledge slides a few spots after this big loss to Lansing Everett. Honestly, both teams surprised me this week. I didn't expect Everett to beat Grand Ledge by three scores. I know first-hand that Everett is a top-heavy team with some major holes, so I'd expect Grand Ledge to be about the same.   27. Northville (3-3)   W6: 27-21 W vs. Salem   Northville is hanging onto a playoff spot and a ranking. Too close to call against Salem, so they slide down a spot. Lucky for them, a lot of the lower-ranked D1 teams lost this week.   28. Livonia Stevenson (3-3)   W6: 27-28 L vs. #21 (D2) Livonia Franklin   A heartbreaking loss for Stevenson, who needed this win just as much as Franklin did. I'm still not too worried about this team- although they're ranked #28, I'm confident they'll remain ranked throughout the end of the season.   29. Jenison (2-4)   W6: 21-24 L vs. West Ottawa   It's never been more difficult to gauge this Jenison squad. They beat #13 Rockford and took #15 Grandville to the wire, but just lost to a bad West Ottawa team. Next week against Caledonia will say a LOT about Jenison.   30. Stoney Creek (3-3)   W6: 22-21 W vs. Rochester   Stoney hangs onto their ranking and even moves up a spot. It's apparent to me that this team is underperforming when compared to the past couple of seasons, but they're still a solid middle-of-the-pack team.   31. Westland Glenn (3-3)   W6: 15-42 L vs. #1 Belleville   Because Holt and Troy lost so badly, Westland Glenn sneaks into my #31 spot after a loss to #1 Belleville. Listen, score two touchdowns against Belleville, and you have my attention. This team has a solid resume and I really hope they make the postseason!   32. Kalamazoo Central (4-2)   W6: 14-21 L vs. Portage Central   Another team that lost but still found themselves in the rankings. Kalamazoo Central narrowly fell to a solid ranked D2 squad. Their strength of schedule is still pretty bad, and they may need some help to sneak into the playoffs.

Another week, another set of rankings! I had quite a bit of fun ranking Division 1 last week, so I've decided to make it a weekly affair until the State Championships are played. You see the rankings above. Now, here are my thoughts on each of my 32 ranked programs.