Football: Behind the new rankings

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Here’s a sneak peek at the new rankings, with comments on team movement after the jump:

1. Long Beach Poly (1-0)

2. Corona Centennial (0-0)

3. Orange Lutheran (1-0)

4. Mater Dei (1-0)

5. Crespi (1-0)

6. Mission Viejo (1-0)

7. Sherman Oaks Notre Dame (0-0)

8. Servite (1-0)

9. St. Bonaventure (1-0)

10. Oaks Christian (1-0)

11. Redlands East Valley (0-0)

12. Edison (2-0)

13. Chaparral (0-0)

14. Los Osos (1-0)

15. Upland (1-0)

16. Esperanza (1-0)

17. Loyola (1-0)

18. Hart (0-0)

19. Los Alamitos (0-0)

20. Lakewood (1-0)

21. Rancho Verde (1-0)

22. Corona Santiago (0-1)

23. Riverside North (0-0)

24. Tesoro (1-0)

25. Carson (0-1)

Moving in: Losses are rarely reason to gain entry into rankings, but Carson’s 46-43 triple-overtime defeat against No. 4 Mater Dei was plenty impressive. The Colts can’t expect to stick around with another early-season loss Friday against Gardena Serra, however, no matter how good they look.

Moving out: Looks like Birmingham, which lost to Garfield, 29-28, won’t have to sweat out a decision on a state bowl invitation this year.

Moving up: Esperanza’s 12-9 victory over Corona Santiago justified a nice rankings bump, from No. 23 to No. 16. Most teams in the bottom half of the rankings moved up a spot or two in the wake of Birmingham’s upset loss to Garfield.

Moving down: Corona Santiago can’t be penalized too harshly for a loss to a good Esperanza team in a game it could have easily won, so the Sharks slipped nine spots. Thought about moving Mater Dei down a bit but decided not to punish the Monarchs for an early-season victory over a Carson team that might have been underrated.

On the doorstep: Just couldn’t quite bring myself to move Garfield into the rankings despite its upset victory over a Birmingham team that may have been too highly esteemed coming into the season. But we’ll keep close tabs on Garfield to see if it can back it up.

--Ben Bolch