Football: It’s shakeup Sunday for rankings

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There’s not much time to tinker with the rankings before the playoffs, so I figured it was time to straighten a few things out. Here are the penultimate rankings that will be published in Monday’s paper, with comments on team movement after the jump (last week’s ranking in parentheses):

1. Crenshaw 9-0 (1)

2. Edison 9-0 (3)

3. Oaks Christian 9-0 (2)

4. Servite 8-1 (5)

5. Lakewood 8-1 (4)

6. Mission Viejo 9-0 (7)

7. Gardena Serra 9-0 (6)

8. Moorpark 9-0 (8)

9. Redlands East Valley 9-0 (9)

10. St. Bonaventure 8-1 (11)

11. S.O. Notre Dame 8-1 (12)

12. Valencia 9-0 (14)

13. Norco 8-1 (16)

14. Bishop Amat 8-1 (10)

15. Rancho Cucamonga 8-1 (17)

16. Fountain Valley 8-1 (15)

17. Carson 7-2 (18)

18. Corona Centennial 7-2 (13)

19. Vista Murrieta 9-0 (19)

20. Los Alamitos 7-2 (20)

21. Dana Hills 8-1 (21)

22. Rancho Verde 9-0 (22)

23. Westlake 9-0 (23)

24. Charter Oak 8-1 (24)

25. Venice 8-1 (25)

Moving in: Nobody.

Moving out: Nobody.

Moving up: We had to do it. Edison has played the toughest schedule of anyone in Southern California and Oaks Christian’s schedule is looking shakier by the moment. So we flip-flopped the Chargers and Lions. And if Edison wins out, it will probably overtake Crenshaw for the top spot (provided the Cougars don’t receive an invitation to the open division bowl game and win that game). We also had to switch one-loss Servite and Lakewood using similar logic; the Friars have thrived while playing a difficult schedule and the Lancers have defeated nobody of note (sorry, Long Beach Poly doesn’t count in 2009). When it comes to Mission Viejo and Gardena Serra, you just have to wonder if the small-school Cavaliers are really better than the Pac-5 Diablos. Should Serra beat Oaks Christian, there might not be any doubt. Until then, there’s plenty. Norco got a three-spot bump for its big victory over Corona Centennial and St. Bonaventure, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and Valencia all moved up in the wake of Bishop Amat’s loss to Crespi.

Moving down: See above for Oaks Christian, Lakewood and Gardena Serra. We didn’t want to penalize Bishop Amat too harshly for a loss to a Crespi team that is very solid (despite not being ranked). Corona Centennial could have won both games it lost, so we’re not going to bump the Huskies out of the rankings. And just chalk up Fountain Valley’s 24-0 loss to Edison to running into a hot team at the wrong time (rivalry week).

On the doorstep: Crespi, St. Francis, Orange Lutheran, Mater Dei, Redlands.

Games of the week: Moorpark at Westlake Village, Dana Hills at Mission Viejo, Redlands East Valley at Redlands, L.A. Cathedral at Gardena Serra, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame at Bishop Amat, San Pedro at Carson.

--Ben Bolch