Inside the Super 25…

1. Simeon: Thursday night on ESPN everyone saw why the Wolverines remained #1 despite losses to Farragut and Rice (NY).

2. Loyola: I’m very confident the Ramblers are a top 5 team. They still have a lot to prove though.

3. Lincoln Park: Smoked a pretty good De La Salle team yesterday, look like they are finally becoming the team we expected them to be. With Marshall and Crane both faltering, the Lions have a good shot at Peoria.

4. Thornwood: Looked terrific against New Trier on Saturday. They haven’t lost since before the holidays. I’ll say it now: Expect to see the Thunderbirds in Peoria again.

5. TF North: I’m still not sold on the Meteors. They have a ton of talent, but just aren’t disciplined enough to win against elite teams. Friday against Bloom they had 12 field goals and 18 turnovers.

6. Warren: The opposite of TF North. Warren is precise, disciplined and talented. I haven’t seen anyone in the state stick Derrick Rose like Shannon Adams did in the title game at Pontiac. Don’t be surprised if Simeon-Warren is the Class AA state championship game.

7. Conant: They proved it on the court this weekend, beating Schaumburg and Joes. How did we all miss on Geoff McCammon? He’s a player.

8. Thornton: One of the few teams in the area that seems to get better every month. That Conant loss doesn’t look too bad now, does it?

9. St. Joseph: Besides for their performance at Proviso West, the Chargers have been pretty disappointing.

10. Proviso East: This is too low for the Pirates, but Joes has beaten them twice.

11. Richards: Why is Loyola #2 and Richards #11? Probably just due to preseason expectations. Both are undefeated. Richards beat Bloom, which is better than anyone Loyola has beaten.

12. Farragut: Dangerous, dangerous, dangerous. The Admirals are figuring it out quickly. The best is still to come for this team.

13. Marshall: What is going on? The Commandos almost beat Farragut with their bench in the third place game at Chicago State, then the starters lose to them last week? All the pieces are there for Marshall, but something just isn’t clicking.

14. Oak Park: Dominant win over Proviso West proves that the Huskies are for real.

15. Von Steuben: These Public League teams are tough to figure. Occasionally spectacular, then prone to letdowns.

16. Glenbard East: Who knows. The win over West Aurora doesn’t seem so impressive anymore.

17. Hillcrest: Crushed by Thornton. The game was over early in the third quarter.

18. Washington: See TF North.

19. Crane: They can beat anyone and lose to anyone. Having McGee back should help things.

20. Lake Park: Imagine if they still had DiNunno.

21. Curie: The win yesterday over Fenger was a bigger victory than you’d think. Fenger is a pretty solid team.

22. Proviso West: Need to prove something against Proviso East tomorrow night.

23. Batavia: Bulldogs are rolling, we will find out a lot Saturday against Marshall.

24. Jacobs: Dominating the Fox Valley, Moran is a stud.

25. New Trier: They are much better than I thought they were after Proviso. The whole team can shoot, and Peter Boehm is deadly down low.