High school football Hype 25 update: The RPI Standings are here. Discuss
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- KHSAA's initial RPI diverges from media polls, causing early-season debate.
- RPI data influences postseason seeding but often changes by final week.
- Key games this week may shift RPI standings and playoff seed outlooks.
There’s a tendency to overreact when the Kentucky High School Athletic Association releases its initial RPI Standings midway through the football season, as it did Monday.
Beechwood coming in at No. 5 in the Class 2A RPI is one reason why. The defending 2A champion has remained ranked No. 1 in the Kentucky High School Football Media Poll all season and is No. 15 overall in the state, according to our latest Herald-Leader Hype Rankings.
Then there’s Hopkinsville, one of the biggest outliers of all, as the RPI’s No. 8 team in Class 6A with a 3-3 record. The Hoptown Tigers are actually a 4A program playing up because of their pending-for-years merger with Christian County. They’ve lost two straight and haven’t registered in the media poll in either class for some time.
Arguments over the RPI Standings can get heated because the math-based system is used by the KHSAA to seed the third and fourth rounds of each of its six classes’ postseasons, also known as the region championships and state semifinals.
But it’s important to remember the RPI Standings released Monday are only half-baked.
Historically, by the final week of the regular season, most of the oddities and injustices filter out.
And the teams the RPI Standings treat badly have a way of making it to Kroger Field regardless, as Class 5A champion Bowling Green did last season with a 13-2 record and No. 5 RPI rating, one below Graves County, which didn’t escape the second round.
The RPI matches the media poll consensus in Class A with No. 1 Kentucky Country Day and Class 3A with No. 1 Christian Academy-Louisville but breaks from it everywhere else.
The Class 2A RPI has No. 1 Owensboro Catholic and No. 2 Danville. The Aces are ranked second and the Admirals are unranked by the media.
Johnson Central tops Class 4A in the RPI but is No. 5 in the media poll, well behind No. 1 Boyle County.
In Class 5A, Madisonville-North Hopkins tops the RPI list but is ranked third by the media behind Scott County and Woodford County.
The RPI has South Warren at No. 1 in Class 6A and two-time defending state champion and media No. 1 Trinity at No. 3. The Spartans are No. 3 behind St. Xavier in the media poll.
This week, there are a few standout games that will have implications for how the final RPI Standings turn out.
H-L No. 10 Highlands hosts heated rival No. 13 Covington Catholic in a game that will likely determine their district championship and have other Class 4A playoff seeding implications.
H-L No. 11 Frederick Douglass travels to No. 12 Male in the final test before each team begins its district schedule. The Broncos and Bulldogs rank Nos. 9 and 13 in the RPI and Nos. 5 and 6 in the latest media poll, respectively.
H-L No. 3 St. X will face No. 7 Boyle County in a game that could send the Rebels to No. 1 in the Class 4A RPI with a win thanks to the formula bonus it will get by playing a larger school.
Below are this week’s Herald-Leader Hype 25 Rankings, followed by the RPI Standings top 10s in each class and our list of this week’s top games.
Herald-Leader Hype 25
Kentucky high school football top 25 rankings by sports writer Jared Peck after Week 6 with season record followed by last week’s Hype 25 ranking (Prv) and each team’s class with its latest Kentucky High School Football Media Poll ranking (KMP) and KHSAA RPI.
Rank. Team (Record)… Prv…Class-KMP/RPI
1. Trinity (5-1)…1…6A-1/3
2. South Warren (6-0)…3…6A-3/1
3. St. Xavier (3-2)…2…6A-2/5
4. Christian Academy-Louisville (6-0)…4…3A-1/1
5. Franklin County (6-0)…5…4A-3/2
6. Paducah Tilghman (5-1)…6…4A-2/7
7. Boyle County (4-1)…7…4A-1/3
8. Manual (5-1)…8…6A-4/2
9. Johnson Central (6-0)…9…4A-5/1
10. Highlands (5-1)…10…4A-4/8
11. Frederick Douglass (2-3)…11…6A-5/9
12. Male (3-2)…12…6A-6/13
13. Covington Catholic (4-2)…13…4A-6/11
14. Woodford County (4-1)…14…5A-2/9
15. Beechwood (4-1)…15…2A-1/5
16. Ryle (3-3)…17…6A-7/10
17. Madisonville-North Hopkins (6-0)…16…5A-3/1
18. Cooper (3-3)…19…5A-4/13
19. Owensboro Catholic (5-1)…20…2A-2/1
20. Mayfield (5-1)…21…2A-3/4
21. Atherton (5-1)…22…5A-7/10
22. Pulaski County (4-2)…18…5A-6/2
23. Madison Central (4-2)…24…6A-8/6
24. Scott County (5-1)…23…5A-1/3
25. Owensboro (4-2)…NR…5A-5/5
Watch list (in alphabetical order): Belfry, Bell County, Bryan Station, Lexington Christian, Logan County, Murray.
Dropping out: Collins.
RPI Standings Top 10s after Week 6
Class 6A: 1. South Warren; 2. DuPont Manual; 3. Trinity (Louisville); 4. Oldham County; 5. St. Xavier; 6. Madison Central; 7. George Rogers Clark; 8. Hopkinsville; 9. Frederick Douglass; 10. Ryle.
Class 5A: 1. Madisonville-North Hopkins; 2. Pulaski County; 3. Scott County; 4. South Laurel; 5. Owensboro; 6. Collins; 7. North Laurel; 8. South Oldham; 9. Woodford County; 10. Atherton.
Class 4A: 1. Johnson Central; 2. Franklin County; 3. Boyle County; 4. Taylor County; 5. Logan County; 6. Lincoln County; 7. Paducah Tilghman; 8. Highlands; 9. Elizabethtown; 10. Corbin.
Class 3A: 1. Christian Academy-Louisville; 2. Murray; 3. Bardstown; 4. Bell County; 5. Lawrence County; 6. Glasgow; 7. Lloyd Memorial; 8. Bourbon County; 9. Rockcastle County; 10. Russell.
Class 2A: 1. Owensboro Catholic; 2. Danville; 3. Belfry; 4. Mayfield; 5. Beechwood; 6. Lexington Christian; 7. Monroe County; 8. Breathitt County; 9. Somerset; 10. Prestonsburg.
Class A: 1. Kentucky Country Day; 2. Raceland; 3. Middlesboro; 4. Sayre; 5. Campbellsville; 6. Holy Cross (Louisville); 7. Holy Cross (Covington); 8. Nicholas County; 9. Pikeville; 10. Hazard.
H-L Hype games of the week
Friday’s top games, according to our H-L rankings.
- Covington Catholic at Highlands, 7 p.m.
- Frederick Douglass at Male, 7 p.m.
- St. Xavier at Boyle County, 7:30 p.m.
Media Poll games of the week
Friday’s top games between teams ranked in their respective class top 10s in the latest Kentucky High School Football Media Poll.
- Sayre at Holy Cross (Louisville), 7:30 p.m.
- South Oldham at Woodford County, 7:30 p.m.
- Hancock County at Owensboro Catholic, 7 p.m.
- Logan County at Paducah Tilghman, 7 p.m.
- Johnson Central at Corbin, 7:30 p.m.
- Raceland at Hazard, 8 p.m.
- Rockcastle County at Bell County, 7:30 p.m.
Friday’s other Lexington games
- Lexington Catholic at Garrard County, 7:30 p.m.
- Lexington Christian vs. WEB DuBois (at Waggener), 7 p.m.
- Byes: Bryan Station, Henry Clay, Lafayette, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Tates Creek.
Friday’s other Central Kentucky games
- Anderson County at Scott County, 7:30 p.m.
- Bourbon County at Lloyd Memorial, 7:30 p.m.
- Collins at North Laurel, 8 p.m.
- Frankfort at Holy Cross (Covington), 7:30 p.m.
- Grant County at Western Hills, 7:30 p.m.
- Henderson County at George Rogers Clark, 8 p.m.
- Jackson County at Berea, 7:30 p.m.
- Madison Southern at East Jessamine, 7:30 p.m.
- Southern at Danville, 7:30 p.m.
- Spencer County at Franklin County, 7:30 p.m.
- West Jessamine at Montgomery County, 7:30 p.m.
Where the Herald-Leader will be this week
- Sports writer Jared Peck follows Class A No. 5 Sayre to No. 6 Holy Cross in Louisville for the first meeting between the programs and what could be a postseason preview. Follow on X @HLpreps.
- Freelance writer Josh Moore follows Class 6A No. 5 Frederick Douglass to No. 6 Male in Louisville for the second-ever regular season meeting between these big-school overdogs. Male won in Lexington last season 31-28. Follow on X @JoshMooreHL.
Check out our streaming and updates guide: Each Friday, Kentucky.com posts our “Friday Night Lights” streaming guide, which includes a ScoreStream updates feed providing scores from across the state.
