The Bright House Sports Network Preseason Top 20 poll is out. As is the standard in any poll that gets published before the season there’s probably a few debatable topics concerning some teams that are on the poll, some teams that are not in the poll, and some teams that are fighting well above their weight classes–but are stocked with enough talent to simply ask, “who else, but them?”

Plant leads the way at the #1-ranking followed by Armwood at #2, Lakeland at #3, Lake Wales at #4 and Manatee rounding out the top five teams. Lake Gibson, Tampa Catholic, Jefferson, Palmetto and Tampa Bay Tech round out the numbers 6-10 on this list. The Winter Haven Blue Devils begin the second half of the rankings at #11, followed by Jesuit, Pasco, Countryside and Braden River completing numbers 12-15. The final five teams in the 16-20 spots were–East Bay, Berkeley Prep, Indian Rocks Christian, Sickles and East Lake. The “others” receiving votes in this poll were Auburndale, Bloomingdale, CCC and Hillsborough.

So, what say you? Is it possible that Lake Wales at #4 and Lake Gibson at #6 should be swapped? Is it possible that teams like Hillsborough, CCC and Auburndale (and even Bloomingdale) don’t have what it takes to beat any of those teams ahead of them like Berkeley Prep and Indian Rocks Christian? Well, that’s half the fun with preseason rankings; or rankings in general for that matter. The noticeable absences of teams like Lennard, Clearwater, Sunlake, and even Largo (just to name a few) jump off the pages given the fact they’ve all got pieces that would warrant MUCH closer looks over some of the squads ahead of them, but as “they” say all the time, “THAT’s why they play the games on the field and not the papers.”

This season appears to be shaping up as a banner one for Polk County however, and with the presence of half the top six teams being from the county (Lakeland, Lake Wales and Lake Gibson) things could heat up overnight if they all meat their expectations. One team that could end up making a push for the top spot before it’s all said-and-done is Lake Gibson. The Braves are primed for a dream season if the injury bug stays away and the schematic execution stays “on fleek” as the cool-kids would say. We’ve seen some of their success in the 7-on-7 season, but we know their main staple in the kitchen is a big ole crockpot of hawgs-in-the trenches like Baveon Johnson, Michael Wiggs and Keyshon Camp. Wiggs is a recent USF-committ and is perhaps one of the crown jewels of the 2016 recruiting class for the Bulls. For highlights of his performance at Xecutives recently, click the link BELOW—>