There is not much change at the top of this week's edition of the FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by Ballislife.com, but you can bet change is coming. The playoffs are here and with that means tougher competition is in store in the coming weeks. There are five newcomers led by No. 37 Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia, Pa.).
By Ronnie Flores
Super Sunday has passed and as football season officially closes that can only mean one thing: high school basketball is about to heat up! Top ranked teams usually win in league or conference play and that is reflected at the top of the latest FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by Ballislife.com. Only one team dropped in the Top 15 after a loss last week.
That team is new No. 26 Roman Catholic (Philadelphia, Pa.), one of the favorites in the upcoming Philadelphia Catholic League playoffs, which tip this Wednesday. The PCL championship game is set for Feb. 26 at The Palestra. The other team expected to have a great shot at the title aside from Roman Catholic (the defending champion) is No. 37 Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia, Pa.), one of five newcomers to the FAB 50 this week.
The playoffs have already commenced in other areas of the country, and even though there hasn't been monumental upsets, the competition will get thicker in the coming weeks That's when a few FAB 50 ranked teams will inevitably go down. Sometimes it's not if you lose, but when you lose that can be gut-wrenching.
The final of the five newcomers at No. 50 is Curie (Chicago, Ill.), which captured in third Chicago Public League title on Saturday night with a 65-59 victory over Kenwood (Chicago, Ill.). Curie, which has losses to No. 47 Sidwell Friends (Washington, D.C.) and unranked Lindblom (Chicago, Ill.), was led to victory by University of Illinois-Chicago commit Carlos Harris with 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Curie's opportunity to move up in the FAB 50 will come on the road to the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Class 4A state tournament, as the Condors could face No. 49 Homewood Flossmor (Flossmor, Ill.) in the SuperSectionals. Homewood-Flossmor has been in the FAB 50 for a month, but it is a slow climb for it because of its margin of defeat to No. 20 Fishers (Fishers, Ind.), which beat the Vikings, 78-57. Fishers beat No. 41 Westfield (Westfield, Ind.) by two points, 51-49.
Curie also won CPL crowns in 2019 when it finished third in the IHSA Class 4A tourney and No. 44 in the FAB 50 and in 2014 when it was led by Mr. Basketball USA Cliff Alexander and rose to No. 1 in the FAB 50 for a period of that season.
Neumann-Goretti is one of two teams that dropped out of last week's FAB 50 that returns. The other is new No. 48 Huntsville (Huntsville, Ala.), which has a loss to top-ranked Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) with the other loss coming on a Monday to No. 42 Bartlett (Bartlett, Tenn.), 58-55. Bartlett jumps into the rankings because it has to be in front of Huntsville in our rankings formula. Bartlett also took a loss to Montverde Academy in its Winter Classic, 80-55, on February 10.
Montverde Academy will take on No. 4 Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.) on February 16 at the inaugural Bob McKillop Invitational. The key EYBL Scholastic league game is part of the event held at Hofstra University and hosted by LuHi. The two teams met in the title game of the City of Palms Classic in Ft. Myers, Fla. in December, with MVA posting a 73-59 victory.
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Updated FAB 50 National Team Rankings
Powered by Ballislife.com
(8th poll of 2023-24 regular season; Through games played on Sunday, February 11; *Indicates forfeit wins, forfeit losses not included; **Indicates forfeits and defaults not included)
| No. | Prev. | High School (City) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) | 26-0 |
| 2 | 2 | Columbus (Miami, Fla.) | 22-4 |
| 3 | 3 | Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.) | 25-2 |
| 4 | 4 | Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.) | 16-3 |
| 5 | 5 | Plano East (Plano, Texas) | 32-0 |
| 6 | 6 | Stony Point (Round Rock, Texas) | 31-1 |
| 7 | 7 | Myers Park (Charlotte, N.C.) | 20-2 |
| 8 | 8 | Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.) | 26-5 |
| 9 | 9 | Link Academy (Branson, Mo.) | 17-6 |
| 10 | 10 | Central Cabarrus (Concord, N.C.) | 22-0 |
| 11 | 11 | AZ Compass Prep (Chandler, Ariz.) | 20-5 |
| 12 | 12 | Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.) | 27-3 |
| 13 | 13 | IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) | 15-8 |
| 14 | 20 | Wisconsin Lutheran (Milwaukee, Wis.) | 21-0 |
| 15 | 15 | Patrick School (Elizabeth, N.J.) | 21-2 |
| 16 | 16 | St. Rose (Belmar, N.J.) | 23-2 |
| 17 | 17 | Archbishop Stepinac (White Plains, N.Y.) | 20-3 |
| 18 | 18 | Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.) | 21-3 |
| 19 | 19 | Combine Academy (Lincolnton, N.C.) | 20-2 |
| 20 | 23 | Fishers (Fishers, Ind.) | 19-1 |
| 21 | 22 | McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.) | 20-5 |
| 22 | 24 | Roosevelt (Eastvale, Calif.) | 28-2 |
| 23 | 25 | Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) | 23-4 |
| 24 | 26 | De Pere (De Pere, Wis.) | 19-1 |
| 25 | 28 | Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) | 25-2 |
| 26 | 14 | Roman Catholic (Philadelphia, Pa.) | 20-2 |
| 27 | 29 | La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.) | 17-4 |
| 28 | 33 | Brewster Academy (Wolfeboro, N.H.) | 21-6 |
| 29 | 48 | Cordova (Cordova, Tenn.) | 26-1 |
| 30 | 31 | Great Crossing (Georgetown, Ky.) | 26-1 |
| 31 | 32 | Oak Ridge (Orlando, Fla.) | 23-3 |
| 32 | 50 | St. Mary Prep (Orchard Lake, Mich.) | 17-1 |
| 33 | 34 | St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) | 23-6 |
| 34 | 35 | Salesian (Richmond, Calif.) | 27-1 |
| 35 | 37 | North Mecklenburg (Huntersville, N.C.) | 19-3 |
| 36 | 38 | Millennium (Goodyear, Ariz.) | 21-4 |
| 37 | NR | Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia, Pa.) | 20-2 |
| 38 | 27 | Ridge View (Columbia, S.C.) | 22-2 |
| 39 | 39 | Grayson (Loganville, Ga.) | 23-2 |
| 40 | NR | John Marshall (Richmond, Va.) | 18-3 |
| 41 | 44 | Westfield (Westfield, Ind.) | 16-2 |
| 42 | NR | Bartlett (Bartlett, Tenn.) | 25-4 |
| 43 | 40 | Kell (Marietta, Ga.) | 21-3 |
| 44 | 41 | Jackson-Reed (Washington, D.C.) | 29-2 |
| 45 | 42 | Bullis (Potomac, Md.) | 21-2 |
| 46 | 43 | Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah) | 12-3 |
| 47 | 45 | Sidwell Friends (Washington, D.C.) | 21-4 |
| 48 | NR | Huntsville (Huntsville, Ala.) | 30-2 |
| 49 | 49 | Homewood Flossmor (Flossmor, Ill.) | 26-3 |
| 50 | NR | Curie (Chicago, Ill.) | 27-2 |
Dropped Out: Previous No. 21 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), No. 30 Lawrence North (Indianapolis, Ind.), No. 36 Edmond North (Edmond, Okla.), No. 46 Garfield Heights (Garfield Heights, Ohio), No. 47 Alta (Sandy, Utah).
Bubble Teams: Alexander (Douglasville, Ga.) 23-2; Alta (Sandy, Utah) 21-2; Atascocita (Humble, Texas) 32-2**; Bellevue West (Bellevue, Neb.) 19-1; Bishop O’Connell (Arlington, Va.) 20-6; Brennan (San Antonio, Texas) 27-4; Christian (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 15-2; Christ the King (Middle Village, N.Y.) 19-4; Dale (Dale, Okla.) 22-2; De Paul Prep (Chicago, Ill.) 26-2; East Lansing (East Lansing, Mich.) 16-2; Fort Bend Clements (Sugar Land, Texas) 29-0; Garfield Heights (Garfield Heights, Ohio) 19-1; Imhotep Charter (Philadelphia, Pa.) 19-3; Kennedy (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) 20-0; Kokomo (Kokomo, Ind.) 19-3; Ladue (St. Louis, Mo.) 21-1; Lake Taylor (Norfolk, Va.) 20-1; Lawrence North (Indianapolis, Ind.) 19-2; Lexington (Lexington, S.C.) 23-2; Lexington Catholic (Lexington, Ky.) 24-2; Liberty Magnet (Baton Rouge, La.) 27-4; Lincoln (Warren, Mich.) 16-3; Madison Prep (Baton Rouge, La.) 25-3; Millard North (Omaha, Neb.) 17-2; New Madrid County Central (New Madrid, Mo.) 22-1; Newport (Newport, Ky.) 24-3; Noblesville (Noblesville, Ind.) 18-2; Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) 26-3; North Crowley (Ft. Worth, Texas) 29-3; Northwest (Shawnee Mission, Kan.) 16-0; Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) 18-4; Park Center (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) 19-2; Pascagoula (Pascagoula, Miss.) 27-1; Pewaukee (Pewaukee, Wis.) 17-3; Reidsville (Reidsville, N.C.) 20-0; Southern Guilford (Greensboro, N.C.) 21-1; St. Ignatius (Cleveland, Ohio) 17-3; St. John’s (Washington, D.C.) 21-5; St. Joseph (Santa Maria, Calif.) 27-2; St. Peter’s Prep (Jersey City, N.J.) 21-2; St. Pius X-St. Matthias (Downey, Calif.) 23-5; Thornton (Harvey, Ill.) 24-4; Totino-Grace (Fridley, Minn.) 18-3; Union (Tulsa, Okla.) 20-2; Veterans Memorial (San Antonio, Texas) 34-1; Volcano Vista (Albuquerque, N.M.) 22-1; Wayzata (Plymouth, Minn.) 20-1; Winter Haven (Winter Haven, Fla.) 24-1.
Note: The FAB 50 powered by Ballislife.com is a continuation of the National Sports News Service ratings that began in 1952. These were the first national high school rankings and the late Art Johlfs of Minnesota compiled them. They were compiled for many years by the late Barry Sollenberger of Phoenix, who merged them into the FAB 50 24 years ago.
Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of Ballislife.com. He can be reached at [email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonMFlores