September 22, 2024
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Friday Night Drive’s preseason Top 25 rankings

By Steve Soucie
Lincoln-Way East’s Cade O’Rouke locks in on Loyola’s Ryan Fitgerald in the Class 8A championship on Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023 at Hancock Stadium in Normal.

Lincoln-Way East’s Caden O’Rourke locks in on Loyola’s Ryan Fitzgerald in the Class 8A championship last season. Both players return for each of their teams as It looks like these two programs might be on another collision course in Class 8A this season and the two squads occupy the top two spots in the preseason Friday Night Drive Power Rankings. (Gary Middendorf/Gary Middendorf)

Preseason rankings are always a complicated exercise.

Who was effectively able to replace the losses to graduation? Who wasn’t?

Can a team that was building momentum at the end of last season carry that over into the following season? Especially considering that few teams are blessed without having to make at the very least several personnel changes from year to year.

But what doesn’t make the process a completely preposterous exercise is the fact that there are several teams you can rank with confidence knowing that the odds are easily in one’s favor that they’ll probably be at or near the top of the heap when the dusts clears.

That’s the logic that went into the No. 1 selection.

Here’s Friday Night Drive’s preseason Top 25: