Michael O’Brien’s Chicago-area Super 25 football rankings for Week 4

There’s a major shakeup in the top ten and three new teams join the rankings.

SHARE Michael O’Brien’s Chicago-area Super 25 football rankings for Week 4
Mount Carmel’s Tony Livermore (27) runs with the ball during the game against Montini.

Mount Carmel’s Tony Livermore (27) runs with the ball during the game against Montini.

Kirsten Stickney/For the Sun-Times

Doing rankings is a strange job. Some weeks you stare at the page for hours, weighing records and results and trying to make sense of it all. But then there are weeks it all just easily falls into place. This was one of those weeks. The season has hit a bit of a sweet spot after Week 3, there are enough notable results to move teams around based on what they have actually done, instead of what everyone might just think.

Neuqua Valley lost to East St. Louis 50-48 on Friday but leaped 12 places in the Super 25. That’s probably going to annoy some people, but it was one of the easiest decisions I made today. After seeing East St. Louis with my own eyes I can fully appreciate how good a team has to be to hang with them for 48 minutes.

Mount Carmel and Providence also get significant jumps after big wins. Batavia, which wasn’t able to keep pace with East St. Louis as well as Neuqua Valley did, is the unfortunate victim of all this rearranging of the top ten. The Bulldogs fall three spots despite beating Lake Park on Friday.

Dropping out

Marist (2-1): The Redhawks were always a bit of a question mark down at the bottom of the rankings. Did they just graduate too much talent? They lost at home to Notre Dame on Friday and face another huge test and another rivalry game on Friday against Brother Rice.

Prairie Ridge (2-1): This was a tough cut for me. I’ve been really impressed with this program over the past several years. The Fox Valley appears to be a little more balanced this season. The Wolves lost to Huntley on Friday and Jacobs is also making some noise early.

Waubonsie Valley (2-1): A short one-week stay in the Super 25 for the Warriors, who were waxed 60-6 on the road in Louisville. If Simeon has to drop out after getting destroyed out of state then Waubonsie Valley probably does too.

New additions

Barrington (2-1): I’m pretty certain this is a good team. The Broncos fell out after a narrow loss to Warren in Week 1, which was a bit harsh. They haven’t allowed a point in their last two games.

Hillcrest (2-1): Is junior Mar’Keise Irving the best running back in the area? He just might be. The Hawks took down Richards on Friday and their loss was a close one at Brother Rice so this was an easy call.

Notre Dame (3-0): It appears the Dons will be just fine without Ty Gavin. He did so much for them the last few seasons that I needed some proof before I was sure. Friday’s win at Marist is a great sign.

Week 4’s Super 25
With record and last week’s ranking

1. Lincoln-Way East (3-0) 1
Friday at No. 13 Bolingbrook

2. Loyola (2-1) 2
Friday at No. 5 Mount Carmel

3. Nazareth (2-1) 3
Friday at St. Laurence

4. Glenbard West (3-0) 4
Friday at Addison Trail

5. Mount Carmel (3-0) 11
Friday vs. No. 2 Loyola

6. Providence (3-0) 16
Friday vs. No. 25 Notre Dame

7. Neuqua Valley (2-1) 19
Friday vs. DeKalb

8. Batavia (2-1) 5
Friday vs. Glenbard North

9. Phillips (3-0) 9
Friday vs. Raby

10. Homewood-Flossmoor (3-0) 10
Friday at Lockport

11. Warren (3-0) 12
Friday at Libertyville

12. Montini (2-1) 7
Friday vs. St. Rita

13. Bolingbrook (3-0) 13
Friday vs. No. 1 Lincoln-Way East

14. Hinsdale Central (3-0) 15
Friday at Oak Park

15. Brother Rice (2-1) 8
Friday vs. Marist

16. Hillcrest (2-1) NR
Friday at Bremen

17. Minooka (3-0) 17
Friday at Joliet Central

18. Cary-Grove (3-0) 18
Friday at Huntley

19. Richards (2-1) 6
Friday at Argo

20. Hersey (3-0) 20
Friday at Glenbrook North

21. Barrington (2-1) NR
Friday at Glenbrook South

22. St. Charles North (2-1) 22
Friday at Geneva

23. Crete-Monee (3-0) 24
Friday vs. Thornton

24. IC Catholic (3-0) 25
Friday at McNamara

25. Notre Dame (3-0) NR
Friday at No. 6 Providence

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