2009 Tennessee High School Football Ratings



2009 Preseason Ratings


New teams playing in the football playoff series this year are: Hancock County, Pickett County, Chattanooga Christian, East Hamilton, Signal Mountain, Cane Ridge, Memphis Academy of Health Sciences, Douglass, Scotts Hill, East Literature, West Creek, Hardin Valley, Southwind, and Riverside Christian.

I am publishing the pre-season ratings early so that fans can begin to get a feel of what teams are in the new football classes for the new classification period of 2009-2012.

I am not a fan of pre-season computer ratings for football teams. The obvious reason is that the computer model can only make decisions based on historical data. It cannot look ahead and make predictions. To do so would add subjectivity to the statistical model, which in turn defeats the whole premise of what computer ratings are – the processing of facts. I feel there is no way that someone should put into a computer system the fact that a school graduated all its starters from last year or that the school got a new coach – because one could only “guess” as to what affect these changes may have on the team.

If one was to take a computer model and add that subjectivity to it, the results would be no different than someone’s opinion and that is not in the spirit of computer ratings.

However, there are three facts that I use related to my statistical model for ranking football teams:

1) If the program has good logic and algorithms in it, the system will get better each week. This is the 17th year I have done the Prep Performance Ratings and historically they start the season at about 70% accurate and by the end of the 10th week the worst they have ever done is pick 92% of the games. Only 3 times has a team made it to one of the 80+ state championship game since the ratings began that wasn’t ranked in the top 10 in the final week 10 ratings.

2) The most important factor in a computer modeling system is the ability to have enough data for the computer to investigate the consistency of a team over time. If programmed correctly, the rating program can identity this consistency and parlay that into a pretty accurate preseason rating. Most teams are consistent over time. You find very few that are 8-2 one season and 2-8 the next.

3) The single most important factor in ratings teams is also the most obvious - the margin of victory. The reason is simple. Do you know of a case where a team wins a game 35-7 but looses the statistical battle by the same margin? It may happen but it is a very rare anomaly. However, the computer model must also put a law of diminishing returns on large margin of victories. In my system a team gets the same ratings points whether it wins a game 33-0 or 97-0. Enjoy the pre-season ratings. If you have questions you can contact me at earlnall@comcast.net


It is not necessarily correct to compare power ratings between classes, ratings are designed to give best results within a class.

Class 1A

Logo ratings@comcast.net
Rank Team District Rating Last First Game
1 South Pittsburg 6 55.4 Grundy County (Week 1)
2 Union City 14 52.1 Trigg County, KY (Week 0)
3 Jo Byrns 10 52.0 Cascade (Week 1)
4 Wayne County 12 51.9 McEwen (Week 1)
5 Huntingdon 13 48.6 Westview (Week 0)
6 Greenback 3 48.1 Meigs County (Week 0)
7 McEwen 10 46.9 Stewart County (Week 0)
8 Midway 3 44.8 Wartburg Central (Week 1)
9 Collinwood 12 44.8 Lewis County (Week 1)
10 Lake County 14 42.0 Fulton City, KY (Week 0)
11 Knoxville Grace 3 39.7 CAK (Week 0)
12 Columbia Academy 11 38.1 Huntland (Week 1)
13 Clay County 7 37.8 Taft Youth Center, TN (Week 0)
14 Harriman 3 37.2 Kingston (Week 1)
15 Lookout Valley 6 37.2 Chattanooga Christian (Week 1)
16 Clarksville Academy 10 36.1 Forrest (Week 0)
17 Eagleville 9 35.2 Ezell-Harding (Week 0)
18 Halls 14 35.2 Scotts Hill (Week 0)
19 Gleason 13 34.7 Fulton City, KY (Week 1)
20 Moore County 9 34.7 Richland (Week 0)
21 Middle TN Chr. 9 34.4 Friendship Christian (Week 0)
22 Coalfield 4 33.1 Bledsoe County (Week 0)
23 Cloudland 1 32.7 Tri Cities Christian, TN (Week 0)
24 Gordonsville 8 30.4 Smith County (Week 1)
25 Monterey 7 28.7 Wartburg Central (Week 0)
26 Greenfield 14 27.0 Dresden (Week 0)
27 Perry County 12 25.3 East Hickman (Week 0)
28 Sunbright 4 22.8 North Greene (Week 0)
29 Huntland 9 22.6 Riverside Christian (Week 0)
30 Nashville Christian 10 21.1 Hillwood (Week 0)
31 West Carroll 13 20.2 South Fulton (Week 1)
32 Hancock County 2 20.0 West Greene (Week 0)
33 Pickett County 7 20.0 Upperman (Week 0)
34 Hollow Rock-Bruceton 13 20.0 Camden (Week 1)
35 Cornersville 11 19.9 Moore County (Week 1)
36 South Fulton 14 17.9 West Carroll (Week 1)
37 Copper Basin 5 15.1 Whitwell (Week 0)
38 Whitwell 6 15.0 Copper Basin (Week 0)
39 Oakdale 4 10.9 Red Boiling Springs (Week 0)
40 MAHS 16 10.0 Memphic Catholic (Week 0)
41 Red Boiling Springs 8 0.8 Oakdale (Week 0)

Class 2A

Rank Team District Rating Last First Game
1 Trousdale County 8 59.0 Macon County (Week 0)
2 Boyd Buchanan 5 58.2 Chattanooga Christian (Week 0)
3 Friendship Christian 8 58.0 Middle TN Chr. (Week 0)
4 McKenzie 13 56.6 Camden (Week 0)
5 Humboldt 14 55.0 Gibson County (Week 0)
6 Oneida 4 54.5 Gatlinburg-Pittman (Week 0)
7 Marion County 6 53.3 Cumberland County (Week 0)
8 Cascade 9 51.5 Davidson Academy (Week 0)
9 Mt. Pleasant 11 51.0 Lewis County (Week 0)
10 Rockwood 3 47.1 Sweetwater (Week 1)
11 Watertown 8 45.5 White House Heritage (Week 0)
12 Trinity Christian 15 43.3 USJ (Week 1)
13 Peabody 14 43.1 Dresden (Week 1)
14 Adamsville 15 42.1 Chester County (Week 0)
15 Chattanooga Grace 5 41.9 Notre Dame (Week 0)
16 Hampton 1 41.4 Johnson County (Week 1)
17 Forrest 9 38.5 Clarksville Academy (Week 0)
18 Cosby 2 36.1 Claiborne County (Week 0)
19 Oliver Springs 4 35.9 Hancock County (Week 1)
20 Silverdale 5 33.7 East Ridge (Week 1)
21 Riverside 15 32.5 Lexington (Week 1)
22 East Robertson 10 31.5 Fairview (Week 0)
23 Richland 11 31.1 Moore County (Week 0)
24 White House Heritage 10 30.2 Watertown (Week 0)
25 Tellico Plains 3 30.0 Sweetwater (Week 0)
26 Signal Mountain 6 30.0 Hixson (Week 0)
27 Dresden 13 29.1 Greenfield (Week 0)
28 Community 9 23.3 Jackson County (Week 1)
29 Wartburg Central 4 22.5 Monterey (Week 0)
30 Westwood 16 21.5 Fairley (Week 0)
31 Houston County 10 20.6 Jackson County (Week 0)
32 Douglass 16 20.0 FACS (Week 0)
33 Scotts Hill 15 20.0 Halls (Week 0)
34 Loretto 12 19.8 East Hickman (Week 1)
35 Jackson County 7 18.1 Houston County (Week 0)
36 Middleton 15 17.0 Biggersville, MS (Week 1)
37 Unaka 1 11.3 Chuckey-Doak (Week 0)
38 Jellico 4 6.8 Williamsburg, KY (Week 0)
39 North Greene 1 1.8 Sunbright (Week 0)

Class 3A

Rank Team District Rating Last First Game
1 Alcoa 4 72.0 Bell County, KY (Week 0)
2 Milan 13 70.4 Jackson Christian (Week 0)
3 Camden 11 69.3 McKenzie (Week 0)
4 Lewis County 12 66.9 Mt. Pleasant (Week 0)
5 Austin-East 3 65.7 Morristown East (Week 0)
6 Goodpasture 9 64.1 Whites Creek (Week 0)
7 CPA 10 61.9 Fort Campbell, KY (Week 0)
8 Tyner 6 61.8 Ooltewah (Week 0)
9 McMinn Central 5 59.1 McMinn County (Week 0)
10 CAK 4 58.8 Knoxville Grace (Week 0)
11 Howard 6 58.7 Open (Week 1)
12 Smith County 8 58.4 Cheatham County (Week 0)
13 Kingston 4 57.1 Harriman (Week 1)
14 Loudon 4 56.9 Campbell County (Week 0)
15 Polk County 5 56.4 Bradley Central (Week 0)
16 Westmoreland 9 54.9 East Literature (Week 1)
17 Sullivan North 1 54.4 Sullivan Central (Week 0)
18 Hickman County 12 54.2 Waverly (Week 0)
19 Fairview 12 53.9 East Robertson (Week 0)
20 Westview 13 53.4 Huntingdon (Week 0)
21 Elizabethton 1 50.8 Volunteer (Week 0)
22 Gatlinburg-Pittman 3 49.1 Oneida (Week 0)
23 Johnson County 1 48.5 Cherokee (Week 0)
24 Waverly 11 47.3 Hickman County (Week 0)
25 Manassas 15 46.6 St. George's (Week 0)
26 Sweetwater 5 45.7 Tellico Plains (Week 0)
27 Stewart County 11 45.2 McEwen (Week 0)
28 York Institute 8 45.2 Scott County (Week 1)
29 Cheatham County 11 44.7 Smith County (Week 0)
30 Upperman 8 44.7 Pickett County (Week 0)
31 Gibson County 13 41.8 Humboldt (Week 0)
32 Happy Valley 1 41.3 Unaka (Week 1)
33 Carver 16 39.4 Briarcrest (Week 1)
34 Cannon County 8 38.3 Spring Hill (Week 0)
35 Harpeth 11 37.3 Hickman County (Week 1)
36 Meigs County 5 36.7 Greenback (Week 0)
37 Jackson Central-Merry 14 35.8 Haywood County (Week 0)
38 Pearl Cohn 10 35.8 MBA (Week 0)
39 Chattanooga Christian 7 35.0 Boyd Buchanan (Week 0)
40 East Literature 10 35.0 Westmoreland (Week 1)
41 Cumberland Gap 2 34.8 Union County (Week 1)
42 Oakhaven 16 34.0 Douglass (Week 1)
43 South Greene 2 33.8 Unicoi County (Week 0)
44 Booker T. Washington 16 33.2 Byhalia, MS (Week 0)
45 Sequatchie County 7 30.3 Chattanooga Central (Week 1)
46 West Greene 2 29.1 Hancock County (Week 0)
47 Pigeon Forge 3 28.0 Greenback (Week 1)
48 Unicoi County 1 26.5 South Greene (Week 0)
49 Bledsoe County 7 24.6 Coalfield (Week 0)
50 Grundy County 7 22.7 South Pittsburg (Week 1)
51 East Hickman 12 21.6 Perry County (Week 0)
52 Memphis Northside 15 19.0 Sheffield (Week 0)
53 Chuckey-Doak 2 18.9 Unaka (Week 0)

Class 4A

Rank Team District Rating Last First Game
1 David Lipscomb 10 73.2 Page (Week 0)
2 Maplewood 10 70.1 Hillsboro (Week 0)
3 Fairley 16 68.5 Westwood (Week 0)
4 White House 9 66.2 Portland (Week 1)
5 Knoxville Fulton 3 66.2 Morristown West (Week 0)
6 Crockett County 13 64.2 Bolivar Central (Week 1)
7 Red Bank 6 64.0 Boyd Buchanan (Week 1)
8 Jackson South Side 14 63.1 Dyer County (Week 1)
9 Giles County 12 61.5 Cookeville (Week 0)
10 Haywood County 13 59.8 Jackson Central-Merry (Week 0)
11 Dyersburg 13 59.7 Dyer County (Week 0)
12 Greeneville 2 58.9 Jefferson County (Week 0)
13 Knoxville Carter 3 57.0 Hardin Valley (Week 0)
14 Kingsbury 15 56.8 North Panola, MS (Week 0)
15 Grainger 2 56.0 Gibbs (Week 0)
16 Page 12 55.2 David Lipscomb (Week 0)
17 Liberty Magnet 14 55.0 Henry County (Week 0)
18 Covington 13 54.5 Frayser (Week 0)
19 DeKalb County 8 53.6 Warren County (Week 0)
20 Sheffield 16 53.5 Memphis Northside (Week 0)
21 Marshall County 12 52.0 BGA (Week 1)
22 East Ridge 6 51.6 Silverdale (Week 1)
23 Sequoyah 5 49.5 Scott County (Week 0)
24 Stratford 10 49.1 Hunters Lane (Week 0)
25 Trezevant 15 48.8 Houston (Week 0)
26 Bolivar Central 14 48.6 Crockett County (Week 1)
27 Lexington 14 48.6 Riverside (Week 1)
28 Whites Creek 10 48.3 Goodpasture (Week 0)
29 Scott County 4 47.5 Sequoyah (Week 0)
30 Hixson 6 47.4 Signal Mountain (Week 0)
31 Ripley 13 46.9 Jackson Northside (Week 0)
32 McNairy Central 14 46.4 Ripley (Week 1)
33 Sycamore 9 46.4 Clarksville Northeast (Week 0)
34 Chester County 14 45.6 Adamsville (Week 0)
35 Greenbrier 9 45.3 Springfield (Week 0)
36 Brainerd 6 40.8 Walker Valley (Week 1)
37 Livingston Academy 8 40.3 Stone Memorial (Week 1)
38 Spring Hill 12 39.7 Cannon County (Week 0)
39 Sullivan East 1 38.9 David Crockett (Week 0)
40 Notre Dame 7 38.7 Chattanooga Grace (Week 0)
41 Creek Wood 11 38.1 Dickson County (Week 0)
42 Obion County 13 36.0 Fulton County, KY (Week 0)
43 Hillcrest 16 33.3 Mitchell (Week 0)
44 Fayette Ware 14 33.3 Munford (Week 0)
45 Macon County 9 32.6 Trousdale County (Week 0)
46 Frayser 15 32.3 Covington (Week 0)
47 Gibbs 3 31.7 Grainger (Week 0)
48 Chattanooga Central 6 30.2 Sequatchie County (Week 1)
49 East Hamilton 6 30.0 Signal Mountain (Week 1)
50 Union County 3 27.9 Cumberland Gap (Week 1)
51 Claiborne County 2 27.7 Cosby (Week 0)
52 Stone Memorial 4 25.3 Livingston Academy (Week 1)
53 Montgomery Central 11 20.6 Clarksville Academy (Week 1)

Class 5A

Rank Team District Rating Last First Game
1 Henry County 10 75.0 Liberty Magnet (Week 0)
2 Hillsboro 11 74.7 Maplewood (Week 0)
3 Knoxville Catholic 4 74.3 Rhea County (Week 0)
4 Sullivan South 1 74.1 Knoxville West (Week 0)
5 Mitchell 16 69.0 Hillcrest (Week 0)
6 Gallatin 9 68.1 Pope John Paul (Week 1)
7 Melrose 16 67.9 CBHS (Week 0)
8 Cleveland 5 67.4 McMinn Central (Week 1)
9 Hendersonville 9 65.6 Riverdale (Week 1)
10 Station Camp 9 62.2 Siegel (Week 1)
11 Beech 9 62.0 Smyrna (Week 0)
12 Memphis East 16 61.7 Olive Branch, MS (Week 0)
13 Ridgeway 15 61.4 White Station (Week 1)
14 Clinton 3 61.2 Knoxville Halls (Week 0)
15 Tullahoma 7 61.0 Blackman (Week 0)
16 Tennessee High 1 59.0 Sullivan East (Week 1)
17 Walker Valley 5 59.0 Bearden (Week 0)
18 Powell 3 58.3 South Doyle (Week 0)
19 Hardin County 13 58.2 Chester County (Week 1)
20 Centennial 11 57.0 Antioch (Week 1)
21 Knoxville Halls 3 56.8 Clinton (Week 0)
22 Morristown East 2 56.8 Austin-East (Week 0)
23 Morristown West 2 56.3 Knoxville Fulton (Week 0)
24 Knoxville Central 3 56.0 Knoxville Webb (Week 0)
25 Knoxville West 4 55.8 Sullivan South (Week 0)
26 Campbell County 3 55.4 Loudon (Week 0)
27 Anderson County 3 55.3 Morristown East (Week 1)
28 Seymour 2 54.6 Daniel Boone (Week 0)
29 Craigmont 14 54.3 Kirby (Week 0)
30 Columbia 7 50.8 Lawrence County (Week 0)
31 Dyer County 13 50.2 Dyersburg (Week 0)
32 Cane Ridge 12 50.0 LaVergne (Week 1)
33 West Creek 10 50.0 Cannon County (Week 1)
34 Cherokee 2 49.8 Johnson County (Week 0)
35 Clarksville Northeast 10 49.0 Sycamore (Week 0)
36 Clarksville 10 48.8 Pope John Paul (Week 0)
37 Bartlett 14 44.9 Brighton (Week 1)
38 Lawrence County 7 44.7 Columbia (Week 0)
39 Daniel Boone 1 44.4 Seymour (Week 0)
40 Jackson Northside 13 43.1 Ripley (Week 0)
41 Shelbyville 7 42.4 Coffee County (Week 0)
42 Munford 13 42.2 Fayette Ware (Week 0)
43 South Doyle 2 41.7 Powell (Week 0)
44 Kenwood 10 38.7 Fort Campbell, KY (Week 1)
45 White County 6 38.5 Franklin County (Week 0)
46 Memphis Overton 15 38.5 Arlington (Week 0)
47 Portland 9 37.8 Greenwood High School, Bowling Green, KY (Week 0)
48 Volunteer 1 37.1 Elizabethton (Week 0)
49 Sullivan Central 1 36.9 Sullivan North (Week 0)
50 Glencliff 12 36.6 Sycamore (Week 1)
51 Hamilton 16 34.8 Whitehaven (Week 0)
52 David Crockett 1 34.6 Sullivan East (Week 0)
53 Raleigh Egypt 14 34.5 Brighton (Week 0)
54 Lenoir City 4 34.5 Loudon (Week 1)
55 Clarksville Northwest 10 32.7 Beech (Week 1)
56 Springfield 10 30.5 Greenbrier (Week 0)
57 Hillwood 12 29.3 Nashville Christian (Week 0)
58 Cumberland County 6 29.2 Marion County (Week 0)
59 Cocke County 2 22.2 South Greene (Week 1)

Class 6A

Rank Team District Rating Last First Game
1 Oakland 8 78.3 Ensworth (Week 0)
2 Ooltewah 5 77.3 Tyner (Week 0)
3 Franklin 11 76.9 BGA (Week 0)
4 Maryville 4 75.4 Alcoa (Week 1)
5 Millington 14 74.1 MUS (Week 0)
6 Farragut 4 73.4 Dobyns Bennett (Week 0)
7 Brentwood 11 73.1 LaVergne (Week 0)
8 Whitehaven 16 72.0 Hamilton (Week 0)
9 Dobyns Bennett 1 71.4 Farragut (Week 0)
10 White Station 16 70.0 Briarcrest (Week 0)
11 Smyrna 8 67.5 Beech (Week 0)
12 Riverdale 8 65.7 Antioch (Week 0)
13 Lincoln County 7 63.6 Blackman (Week 1)
14 Collierville 15 62.8 Memphis Central (Week 1)
15 Bearden 4 62.4 Walker Valley (Week 0)
16 Germantown 15 62.4 CBHS (Week 1)
17 Houston 15 62.2 Trezevant (Week 0)
18 Ravenwood 11 62.1 Goodpasture (Week 1)
19 Science Hill 1 62.0 Soddy-Daisy (Week 0)
20 Oak Ridge 3 62.0 Farragut (Week 1)
21 Brighton 13 61.2 Raleigh Egypt (Week 0)
22 Hunters Lane 12 60.9 Stratford (Week 0)
23 Wilson Central 9 60.4 Lebanon (Week 0)
24 Rhea County 5 59.7 Knoxville Catholic (Week 0)
25 Soddy-Daisy 5 58.9 Science Hill (Week 0)
26 Cookeville 10 58.5 Giles County (Week 0)
27 Sevier County 2 58.3 William Blount (Week 0)
28 Cordova 14 58.3 ECS (Week 1)
29 Siegel 8 57.1 Independence (Week 0)
30 Lebanon 9 56.7 Wilson Central (Week 0)
31 McMinn County 5 56.6 McMinn Central (Week 0)
32 Independence 11 55.0 Siegel (Week 0)
33 Blackman 8 54.9 Tullahoma (Week 0)
34 McGavock 12 54.3 Mt. Juliet (Week 1)
35 Antioch 12 53.4 Riverdale (Week 0)
36 Mt. Juliet 9 52.0 McGavock (Week 1)
37 Bradley Central 5 51.7 Polk County (Week 0)
38 Kirby 15 51.4 Craigmont (Week 0)
39 Bolton 14 50.9 Houston (Week 1)
40 Nashville Overton 12 50.3 Father Ryan (Week 0)
41 Southwind 15 50.0 Lake Cormorant, MS (Week 0)
42 Rossview 10 49.2 Lebanon (Week 1)
43 William Blount 4 48.3 Sevier County (Week 0)
44 Dickson County 10 47.0 Creek Wood (Week 0)
45 Jefferson County 2 46.8 Greeneville (Week 0)
46 Karns 3 45.8 Heritage (Week 0)
47 Hardin Valley 3 45.0 Knoxville Carter (Week 0)
48 Warren County 6 44.6 DeKalb County (Week 0)
49 Franklin County 7 43.9 White County (Week 0)
50 LaVergne 8 43.5 Brentwood (Week 0)
51 Wooddale 15 43.2 Memphis Central (Week 0)
52 Coffee County 6 41.8 Shelbyville (Week 0)
53 Heritage 4 38.3 Karns (Week 0)
54 Memphis Central 16 34.1 Wooddale (Week 0)
55 Arlington 14 33.9 Memphis Overton (Week 0)

Div II A

Rank Team District Rating Last First Game
1 Knoxville Webb 65.3 Knoxville Central (Week 0)
2 ECS 65.0 Cordova (Week 1)
3 USJ 63.7 Trinity Christian (Week 1)
4 Jackson Christian 62.2 Milan (Week 0)
5 Davidson Academy 60.2 Cascade (Week 0)
6 Harding Academy 54.8 St. Benedict (Week 0)
7 DCA 52.3 Mt. Juliet Christian (Week 0)
8 St. George's 49.7 Manassas (Week 0)
9 SBEC 48.1 Rosemark (Week 0)
10 Fayette Academy 46.1 St. Benedict (Week 1)
11 FACS 44.2 Douglass (Week 0)
12 FRA 38.3 Baylor (Week 0)
13 Ezell-Harding 35.3 Eagleville (Week 0)
14 Bishop Byrne 32.8 Memphis Catholic (Week 1)
15 Rosemark 26.2 SBEC (Week 0)
16 Zion Christian 25.4 David Brainerd (Week 0)
17 Riverside Chr. 20.0 Marshall Academy, MS (Week 0)
18 Rossville 18.7 Marshall Academy, MS (Week 0)
19 Kings Academy 15.3 Lancaster Christian (Week 0)
20 Memphis Catholic 15.0 Bishop Byrne (Week 1)
21 Mt. Juliet Christian 12.1 DCA (Week 0)
22 St. Andrews 5.0 Franklin Classical, TN (Week 1)

Div II AA

Rank Team District Rating Last First Game
1 MUS 80.3 Millington (Week 0)
2 MBA 79.7 Pearl Cohn (Week 0)
3 Brentwood Academy 79.0 Southwind (Week 1)
4 Ensworth 76.3 Oakland (Week 0)
5 McCallie 75.3 Providence Day, NC (Week 0)
6 Baylor 67.2 FRA (Week 0)
7 BGA 66.9 Franklin (Week 0)
8 CBHS 66.3 Melrose (Week 0)
9 Father Ryan 66.1 Nashville Overton (Week 0)
10 Briarcrest 58.7 White Station (Week 0)
11 Pope John Paul 51.6 Clarksville (Week 0)
12 St. Benedict 37.8 Harding Academy (Week 0)
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