There was no change atop the Big Central Conference power rankings for Week Nine, as Phillipsburg, Elizabeth and Hillside remain the top three teams in the league by SI value for the second week in a row.
The Stateliners, Minutemen and Comets are followed by New Providence, who jumped up from seven to four, with Piscataway rounding out the top give after a 13-point home win over Bayonne Saturday afternoon.
St. Thomas Aquinas rose two spots to six, Old Bridge and Sayreville fell three places each to seventh and eighth, respectively. Somerville rose two places to nine, and A.L. Johnson – which lost in the opening round of the playoffs – rose two spots to tenth.
The power rankings are simply based on the state’s Strength Index formula, which helps determine a team’s OSI, and is 60% of the UPR playoff formula. SI values and will change each week as games are played. See the methodology at the bottom of this page.
And, yet again, we have yet change at the top of the statewide rankings, with Washington Twp. making its first appearance at No. 1, moving up two spots. The Minutemen are the seventh different team in eleven weeks (including preseason) to hold the top spot, along with Winslow Twp. (preseason through Week 3), Don Bosco Prep (Weeks 4, 5, and 8), Donovan Catholic (Week 6), St. Augustine (Week 7), and Rancocas Valley (Week 9).
Then, it’s West Deptford up two spots to No. 2, Don Bosco Prep – which got the top-seed in Non-Public North A on Saturday – up three spots to third. Rancocas Valley dropped from one to four – even though they won their first round playoff game, and will host Sayreville Friday night – while Glassboro fell from two to five.
As for the Big Central, Phillipsburg and Elizabeth – which just snuck in the Top 25 last week – are back out, despite both winning their opening round playoff games. The Stateliners fell from 24 to 28, while the Minutemen dropped from 25 to 33.
Among other league teams in the Top 50, this week or last:
- Hillside – which was knocked out of the playoffs – fell from 32 to 43.
- New Providence climbed from 56 to 47.
- Piscataway climbed from 55 to 48.
Strength Index Methodology: Team A and Team B are compared to find the difference between their rankings, which provides the Expected Result. The margin of the final score is figured in positive or negative terms compared to the Expected Result. The difference is divided by five, and the teams increase or decrease by the resulting number.
Example #1: Team A has an SI value of 80, while Team B has an SI value of 60. The Expected Result is +20 for Team A. When the game is played, Team A wins by 30. That is 10 points higher than the expected result. Than number is divided by 5, meaning Team A increases by 2 (Team A now has an SI of 82) while Team B decreases by 2 (Team B now has an SI of 58).
Example #2: In the same scenario, Team A defeats Team B by 20. That is the same as the Expected Result, no there is no change. Team A remains with an SI value of 80, while Team B retains its 60 SI value.
Example #3: Team A defeats Team B by 10. That is 10 points fewer than the expected result. Divide by 5 to get 2, but in this case, Team A drops by 2 points to 78 (because Team A “underperformed”) while Team B increases by 2 points to 62.
Out-of-State Opponent SI: Strength Index ratings for non-New Jersey teams are calculated by finding their MaxPreps ranking, then averaging the SI ratings of the next New Jersey team above and below them in the MaxPreps rankings.
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