Updated AAA rankings

Sorry it's taken so long for the update, but here it is:


1. Hope Christian (23-3). No loss big or small to Sandia Prep in the District 5AAA Tournament will affect this spot.

Now that we've got the easy part out of the way ... What to do with the next six spots. It's quite a group of teams that have beaten up on each other, have good wins that are offset by bad ones, and they each have unique characteristics to stake a claim to No. 2. But when all is said and done ...

2. Las Vegas Robertson (19-6). Yes, the Cardinals have losses to St. Michael's (5AAA's runner-up) and Socorro (3AAA champion) and a now-bad loss to Santa Fe Indian School, but they have two wins over 2AAA runner-up Taos plus one over 4AAA champion Portales and are 8-4 against AAA competition. Robertson also beat Bosque School, a 3AA champion that is ranked No. 2 in the final coaches poll and has played tough AAA competition. The Bobcats even have wins over Ruidoso, Taos and West Las Vegas and close losses to Wingate and St. Michael's. And there's this: the Cardinals are on a 12-game winning streak.
3. Taos (17-8). If the Tigers had been able to beat Robertson, they'd be a solid No. 2 right now. Their resume is impressive, with wins over Socorro, St. Michael's, Portales, Capital (2AAAA runner-up) and Roswell Goddard (3AAAA runner-up). The good losses are to 2AAAA champ Española Valley (twice), Hope Christian, the Cardinals twice and Bosque School. The bad? A loss to Los Alamos and a 54-52 loss to Navajo Pine. That's 16-11 AA Navajo Pine.
4. St. Michael's (17-11). The loss to Pojoaque is a gift that finally gives here. Otherwise, I'd have the Horsemen a seed lower, but I can't put Pojoaque above an 11 or below a 13. That said, it seems the Horsemen reputation precedes itself. The arguments I hear from everybody is that the Horsemen are the runners-up in the toughest district in AAA and they beat Robertson handily. Those points are great, but ... St. Michael's is 3-5 in its last eight games. The losses are to Pojoaque, Española, Hope twice and Sandia Prep, which are good losses but considering the stretch they are in, it's not that good. The Horsemen do have two wins over the third-place Albuquerque Sundevils, over Robertson, over Wingate, over AAAAA Valley (District 5AAAAA runner-up) and over St. Pius X (5AAAA champion). Offset that with losses to Taos, Socorro, Pojoaque Valley, Capital, and Santa Fe High twice. I've emphasized how you finish as a strong point, and St. Michael's enters the AAA tournament with a limp, not a sprint.
5. Socorro (17-8). The Warriors are 13-5 and have the second-most wins over AAA competition. They own wins over Robertson, St. Michael's and two against 3AAA runner-up Silver. Close losses to Wingate (87-86) and Sandia Prep (65-57) and Pojoaque Valley (67-60) hurt some, but all the teams after Hope have bad losses. What hurts, though is the bottom half of the bracket, otherwise, the Warriors are a 4 in my mind.
6. Sandia Prep (20-9). The Sundevils aren't a six seed. They are victims of finishing behind a struggling Horsemen team. This team owns wins over Volcano Vista (1AAAAA runner-up), St. Pius X, Eldorado (2AAAAA), Robertson, Grants (6AAAA runner-up) and Santa Fe High. Losses to West Mesa (5AAAAA champion), Gallup (6AAAA), St. Pius and Las Cruces (3AAAAA) look good, but those two losses in the 5AAA regular season to St. Michael's come back to bite them.
7. Wingate (24-3). The Bears are 14-3 against AAA competition, they own a win over Socorro, another over Bosque School and AA's Rehoboth (1AA champion). But ... two losses to Shiprock flooded the good ship Wingate. They lost to St. Michael's. They own a win over a Class A team (Gallup Catholic), three over AA schools (Navajo Pine and two to Laguna-Acoma), beat 6-20 West Las Vegas twice and play in the second-worst district in AAA. And seventh is what what you get.
8. Portales (17-8). The Rams beat Lovington two of three times (including a playoff game for the 4AAA top seed), and own wins over Roswell and St. Pius X. Close losses to AAAA Artesia, Robertson and Taos help, but Portales' overall resume kind of pales against the other seven - except for maybe Wingate. Still, they'll get a first-round home game at least.
9. Shiprock (15-12). Amazingly, the Chieftains are 11-1 against AAA competition, but 11 of those games were in 1AAAA and then there was a win over Raton. Shiprock had nothing to hang its hats on until beating Wingate twice. They beat AA Mesilla Valley early in the season when it didn't have its transfers, but that was it.
10. Silver (15-12). All eight wins in AAA for the Colts came in district play. At least one of them came against Socorro. And thank God people forgot that loss to West Las Vegas ... Wait a minute, one person didn't.
11. Pojoaque Valley (13-13). The Elks played a tough schedule, and thanks to wins over Socorro and St. Michael's - plus the fact that the Horsies are my five-seed - the Elks get a bump up in seeding as well. Two wins over Santa Fe High and another over Artesia solidify this spot.
12. Lovington (13-12). This is where wins matter. One win over Portales and one over Roswell Goddard means an 11 seed. Welcome to state.
13. Zuni (15-14). The Thunderbirds' 7-8 mark was mostly in district play - all the wins were, at least - but they played some tough teams (Rehoboth twice, Taos, Hatch Valley, Socorro) that was enough to get Zuni this high.
14. Hot Springs (12-15). With a 6-6 AAA mark and a win over Ruidoso, the Tigers get in. Thanks for playing.
15. Santa Fe Indian School (9-16). The first half of the season saved the Braves. Wins over Los Lunas, Robertson and Aztec were enough to overlook a 1-11 finish.
16. Ruidoso (10-15). The Warriors might have gone winless in 4AAA play, but two wins over Hot Springs helped the cause. Tell Jim Murphy hello for me after that first-round game.