Where's the Cayuga love?

So, as I do every Tuesday when I get in from my weekend, I pulled up the Associated Press Top-10 High School poll today. And, as has been the case for the past nine weeks, there are still no local teams ranked. The closest thing to it is Cayuga, who's currently listed at No. 12 in 1A under the 'Others receiving votes' headings.

Which leads me to this question: What do the 'Cats have to do to crack the top-10?

Undefeated? Check.
Defending state champions? Check
Comparable schedule to other ranked teams? Check.

For instance, to keep it relatively local, let's compare Cayuga's schedule to Garrison, the No. 10 team in the poll, also at 8-0.



The combined record of the team's on Garrison's schedule is 22-42, 20 games below .500. Of those eight games, only two (Teneha and Alto) are above .500, both at 5-3. Both Teneha and Alto are good wins, as both have made appearances in polls this season. But, beyond that, there's not much there.

Also, Garrison has played three one-point games, with one coming against Alto, but with the other two coming against Lovelady (3-5) and Timpson (3-5).

Now, let's break down Cayuga's schedule. On the year, Cayuga's eight victories have come against teams with a combined record of 24-41, actually a tick or two better than the Garrison schedule. Three of Cayuga's victories came against teams with winning records, while a fourth came against a 4-4 Dawson team. The Dawson victory was also the lone victory for Cayuga that didn't come by double-digits.

So, in all actuality, there isn't much difference between Garrison and Cayuga on paper. Except the parts were Cayuga scores more points (278 to Garrison's 206) and give up less (78 to 144).

The Wildcats next two games should be a wake-up call to voters in the poll (Sports writers from the biggest 25 papers in Texas vote on the poll) when Cayuga takes on Kerens and No. 6 Mart to finish the season.

But, as the defending state champions, you'd think the boys off Hwy 287 would get a little more love than they're getting. Then again, maybe they don't want it. After all, it's worked this way so far.