WyoPreps Debuts the First Football Rankings of the 2020 Season

Three defending champions will begin the new high school football season atop the WyoPreps Coaches and Media Preseason Football Poll.

Sheridan in 4A, Star Valley in 3A, and, Mountain View in 2A was chosen No.1 in the preseason rankings. The other two, Big Horn and Little Snake River were voted second. The Rams are moving up to Class 2A to continue playing 11-man football.

The only class without a defending state champ on top is the new 9-Man division.

Class 4A was the only one where just six teams received votes. Nine teams garnered votes in Class 3A and 11 in Class 2A. In the smaller divisions, 10 teams earned a vote in 9-Man and 9 teams got one in 6-Man.

The Broncs, who have won four of the last five big-school titles, received 12 first-place votes. Sheridan is on top of Class 4A with 231 points in the balloting. Cheyenne East is second in the preseason poll. The Thunderbirds earned four first-place tallies. Natrona County received the only other first-place votes with two. The Mustangs are third but just three points ahead of Cheyenne Central, who is fourth. Last year’s runner-up, Thunder Basin, rounds out the top five. The Bolts are only six points back of Central and nine behind NC. Rock Springs was the only other 4A program that received votes.

The two-time defending champions in Class 3A are the Star Valley Braves. They have also won four out of the last five 3A crowns. The Braves start on top with 22 of the 24 first-place votes. Three more teams from the powerful West Conference in Class 3A follow Star Valley. Jackson was the only other team to pick up first-place votes. The Broncs got two and they rank second. Cody follows in third, while last year’s runner-up, Powell is fourth. The lone team from the East Conference in the 3A top five is Lander at No. 5. The Tigers hosted a first-round playoff game last year.

Two champions are one-two in the Class 2A rankings. Defending champ Mountain View pulled in 13 of the 20 first-place votes. They beat out defending 1A 11-man champ Big Horn, who is second. The Rams are back in Class 2A for the first time since 2016. Big Horn received six first-place votes. Thermopolis is third in the preseason poll. The Bobcats picked up a first-place tally after a semifinal appearance in 2019. Lovell garnered votes in the two through five spots, and the Bulldogs check in at No. 4. There is a tie for fifth between two more teams that opted up to Class 2A so they can continue playing 11-man football. It’s Upton-Sundance and Cokeville. The Patriots were in the semis last year, while the Panthers were the 1A runner-up. Five more teams received votes in this classification.

With a new division of 9-man football, there’s some uncertainty and the voting reflected that. This class had five teams receive a first-place vote. The Southeast Cyclones are the preseason favorite. They received 10 first-place tallies and 204 total points in the balloting. Rocky Mountain is next in line at No. 2. They received votes in all five positions of the rankings. Lusk follows in third. Both the Grizzlies and Tigers earned two first-place votes. The teams in fourth and fifth also picked up a first-place vote. They are Shoshoni and Wright. Five more teams earned at least one vote in the polling.

Finally, in Class 1A 6-man, Farson-Eden starts on top. The Pronghorns are two years removed from a title. They received five first-place votes and 120 points in voting by the coaches and media. Defending champion Little Snake River is second. The Rattlers went wire-to-wire last year and weren’t scored upon until the title game. LSR got three first-place votes. Now eligible for the postseason, the Encampment Tigers are third in the preseason rankings. Then, it’s a tie for fourth place. Last year’s runner-up, H.E.M., and Burlington, both got 51 points in the voting. Four more teams received votes, including Kaycee and Hulett picking up first-place tallies.

Click the button below to look at how the voting breaks-down from the coaches and media around the state.

Disclaimer: The WyoPreps Coaches and Media Poll is done for fun. It does not have any bearing on the playoffs or playoff positioning.

Enter your number to get our free mobile app