seed

A look at The Times’ top 25 boys’ basketball rankings for the Southland after Week 2.

Rk. School (Rec.); Comment; ranking last week

1. SIERRA CANYON (4-0): Brandon McCoy is a dunk machine this season; 1

2. SANTA MARGARITA (6-0): Six-foot-eight Drew Anderson has improved offensive firepower; 2

3. REDONDO UNION (3-0): Showdown with Crespi coming on Saturday; 3

4. ST. JOHN BOSCO (2-0): Christian Collins is the player to watch; 4

5. HARVARD-WESTLAKE (4-1): Texas commit Joe Sterling is delivering; 5

6. SHERMAN OAKS NOTRE DAME (3-1): Knights still not at full strength; 6

7. CRESPI (4-0): Games against Village Christian, JSerra, Redondo Union; 7

8. CORONA CENTENNIAL (5-1): Huskies lose 60-56 in Tennessee; 8

9. JSERRA (5-1): Big game for Jaden Bailes vs. Oak Hills; 11

10. FAIRMONT PREP (5-1): Carlsbad hands Huskies their first defeat; 9

11. CREAN LUTHERAN (4-1): Good win over St. Bernard; 13

12. DAMIEN (6-1): Lost to St. Bernard 53-51; 10

13. SAN GABRIEL ACADEMY (0-2): Tough schedule continues with Redondo Union on Wednesday; 12

14. ETIWANDA (4-0): Eagles are soaring early; 18

15. ROLLING HILLS PREP (5-0): Nick Welch Jr. is performing well; 14

16. LA MIRADA (1-2): Face Harvard-Westlake on Tuesday at Redondo Union; 15

17. EASTVALE ROOSEVELT (3-1): Lost in overtime to La Mirada; 16

18. CORONA DEL MAR (2-0): Impressive win over Orange Lutheran; NR

19. CHAMINADE (7-0): Brycen Butler wins tournament MVP honor; NR

20. ARCADIA (3-1): Fell to St. Francis; 20

21. PASADENA (3-1): League play begins with Arcadia on Dec. 10; 21

22. CROSSROADS (5-0): Showdown at Corona Centennial on Saturday; 22

23. LA HABRA (5-1): 71-47 win over Cerritos; 24

24. LONG BEACH POLY (1-1): Face Windward on Tuesday; 25

25. VILLAGE CHRISTIAN (3-0): Freshman Will Conroy is impressive; NR

A look at The Times’ top 25 boys’ basketball rankings for the Southland after Week 1.

Rk. School (Rec.); Comment; ranking last week

1. SIERRA CANYON (2-0): Brandon McCoy gets nine dunks in season debut; 1

2. SANTA MARGARITA (3-0): Brayden Kyman made five threes at Pauley Pavilion; 2

3. REDONDO UNION (2-0): Seahawks take down nationally ranked Arizona Sunnyslope; 6

4. ST. JOHN BOSCO (2-0): Christian Collins scores 37 points in win over Harvard-Westlake; 5

5. HARVARD-WESTLAKE (1-1): Wolverines suffer two-point loss to St. John Bosco; 3

6. SHERMAN OAKS NOTRE DAME (2-1): NaVorro Bowman scores 34 points at Pauley Pavilion; 4

7. CRESPI (2-0): New players making great progress early in the season; 7

8. CORONA CENTENNIAL: (3-0). High-scoring Huskies are back after scoring 100 points vs. Los Alamitos; 9

9. FAIRMONT PREP (4-0): Four straight wins to start season; 10

10. DAMIEN (4-0): Zaire Rasshan makes nine threes in Sunny Hills tournament title game; 15

11. JSERRA (4-1): Point guard Earl Bryson did well at Pauley Pavilion against No. 1 Sierra Canyon; 11

12. SAN GABRIEL ACADEMY 0-1): Gave Harvard-Westlake a scare in opener; 16

13. CREAN LUTHERAN (2-1): Took down Campbell Hall, came close to Redondo Union; NR

14. ROLLING HILLS PREP (1-0): Plays in Da Vinci tournament this week; 12

15 LA MIRADA (0-1): Plays at Roosevelt on Friday; 13

16. EASTVALE ROOSEVELT (3-0): Freshman Travis Walton Jr. is off to impressive start; NR

17. WINDWARD (0-0): Wildcats open season Monday vs. Knight; 14

18. ETIWANDA (3-0): Talented group of sophomores; 22

19. ORANGE LUTHERAN (4-1): New coach Nate Klitzing is already working his magic; NR

20. ARCADIA (2-0): Play at St. Francis on Wednesday; 19

21. PASADENA (0-0): Open season on Wednesday; 20

22. CROSSROADS (3-0): Evan Willis debuts with 20-point performance; 21

23. MATER DEI (0-1): Lots of work ahead for Monarchs; 8

24. LA HABRA (4-1): Plays at Cerritos on Tuesday; 18

25. LONG BEACH POLY (0-1): Put up good fight vs. Roosevelt; 24

Speaking of the Patriots, they’re one of three 8-2 teams in the NFL, all AFC sides, but are they the best?

You can pick holes in New England, Denver and Indianapolis really for feasting on the lesser sides, with only five of their combined 24 victories coming against teams with a winning record – and one of those was the Colts beating the Broncos.

Denver beat the champion Eagles in Philadelphia and are kings of the fourth-quarter while Indy can ride Jonathan Taylor, but the Patriots adding Sunday’s win in Tampa Bay to their primtime success in Buffalo seems like a statement.

Their two defeats came in new head coach Mike Vrabel’s first three games, with seven straight wins, just like Denver, since then – but taking down Baker Mayfield after the Bucs had a bye to prepare was huge.

Drake Maye’s MVP claims won’t go away, and he certainly deserves point for bravery after taking some savage hits in Tampa Bay but hanging in there to steer his side to victory.

The defence is solid and rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson exploded on Sunday with 147 yards and two exhilerating touchdowns of 55 and 69 yards – becoming just the fifth ball carrier to break 22mph this season on his first score.

While you can argue who ‘the best’ is technically, the Pats should be favourites to finish with the best record thanks to their schedule – which includes just one game against a winning team, albeit a huge one against Buffalo.

Visiting Baltimore is also tough, but Denver have it even tougher in the AFC West with the Chiefs to play twice, the Chargers (who could also challenge for top seed but face the same problem) and also the Packers on the schedule.

The Colts also face the Chiefs, and have the Seahawks, 49ers and two games with the 5-4 Jaguars to contend with. There’s a long way to go but the door is open for a shock top seed in the AFC.

A look at two of this week’s top high school football playoff games in the Southland:

FRIDAY

Leuzinger (8-1) at Crean Lutheran (10-0), 7 p.m.

Leuzinger, the Bay League champions, has a top offensive line and an aggressive, hard-hitting defense that will try to contain Crean Lutheran’s athletic quarterback, Caden Jones, who has 29 touchdown passes. This Division 2 opener is part of a division loaded with tough first-round matchups. The pick: Leuzinger.

Laguna Beach (9-1) at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame (5-5), 7 p.m.

Can Laguna Beach deal with Notre Dame’s huge offensive line? That’s the big question in this Division 3 playoff opener. Versatile quarterback Wyatt Brown has run for 19 touchdowns. If the Knights can throw around their weight, things will look good. Laguna Beach has talented junior quarterback Jack Hurst, who has 41 touchdown passes. The pick: Notre Dame.

Carson High, an 11-time City Section champion, has been seeded No. 1 for the City Section Open Division playoffs under first-year coach William Lowe.

Birmingham, which has a 54-game winning streak against City Section opponents, was seeded No. 2. San Pedro is No. 3 and unbeaten Palisades is No. 4.

Carson will host No. 8-seeded King/Drew on Nov. 14. Palisades is the home team against No. 5 Garfield, while San Pedro hosts No. 6 Crenshaw and Birmingham hosts No. 7 Kennedy.

There was no City Open Division champion last season after Narbonne had to vacate the title for rule violations.

Venice is seeded No. 1 in Division I. Cleveland is No. 1 in Division II and Santee is top seeded in Division III.

In girls’ flag football, San Pedro was given the No. 1 seed for the Open Division. Games begin on Friday, with San Pedro hosting No. 8 Verdugo Hills; No. 4 Marshall is at No. 5 Banning; No. 6 Wilson visits No. 3 Panorama; and No. 7 Narbonne travels to No. 2 Eagle Rock.