Coupeville’s Dominic Coffman gets crunchy with a South Whidbey runner. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
The disrespect.
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association released its first RPI numbers for high school football Thursday, and it’s not so much what they did to Coupeville, as what they did to other teams.
The Wolves are 0-2 on the young season after a 42-39 loss to Klahowya and a 33-7 defeat to South Whidbey in a game which was 7-7 until three minutes before halftime.
Coupeville, a 2B school, was playing up in those non-conference games, with both opponents hailing from the 1A classification.
Heading into Friday’s home game against La Conner, the Wolves are ranked #37 out of 43 schools in 2B, with the Braves headed to Whidbey ranked #41.
Friday Harbor, which beat La Conner 63-0 last week, sits at #31, putting all three 2B schools in the Northwest 2B/1B League down near the bottom quarter of the rankings.
With two games against each of their league rivals on the schedule, none of the three are likely to make a major move upward in RPI, even if they run their conference schedule.
Which is fine and dandy, as RPI — Ratings Percentage Index — doesn’t mean a whole lot.
It’s one of the factors the state’s seeding committees will take into consideration when they set the brackets for the state playoffs.
And, if you’re one of the final 16 teams in your classification, you really won’t care what your RPI was. You just care you’re still playing.
But, with the first football rankings out, and volleyball and soccer coming next week, it is kind of funny to look at a couple of things.
My alma mater, defending 2A state champ Tumwater, is currently ranked #13, and, if you believe there are 12 better teams than the T-Birds, you might want to have your head examined.
THS is being punished, somewhat, because its most recent game was an OT thriller against Oregon’s defending 6A champs, and the WIAA’s RPI doesn’t give full credit for out-of-state foes.
On a note which hits closer to home, I’m sure Klahowya will be thrilled to note it is listed in the RPI as Central Kitsap Middle School.
I mean, back when Coupeville and Klahowya played together in the 1A Olympic League, I was sorta, kinda disrespectful of the Eagles sometimes. Or so their fans were quick to tell me.
But come on man, I never once referred to them as a middle school.
Such disrespect…
To see the complete first edition of the WIAA’s RPI rankings, pop over to:
Coupeville Sports 