EPGRIDIRON FANS as most of you are well aware, on May 28, 2008 , our highly popular Pre-Season Rankings along with our Power Ratings were released. We would like to remind you all that our Pre-Season Rankings are not an indication of how last seasons teams ended, that is what our Final Rankings are for come December. Our pre-season rankings are also not an indication of who are the best teams right now, and honestly who truly cares about who is the best team in the off-season or early to mid-September when the season has just begun. Besides any team can go winless in Pre-District but go undefeated in District and make some serious gridiron noise in the playoffs. EPGridiron fans our Pre-Season Rankings is a projection of how we believe the teams will end up at the conclusion of the Regular Season and Texas State Playoffs.

Now with that said; it’s no secret that there are several fans, coaches and sports media pundits who criticize our Pre-Season Rankings every year, with most of them mainly interested in knowing how we compile and formulate our pre-season rankings. These critics have every right to observe our projections and question them. We clearly understand the reason for their questioning and we appreciate their criticism towards our projections; after all it’s only in this way that we may gain credibility from these critics and soon to be EPGridiron fans!

To accommodate our beloved critics, below we have provided some insight as to how we have been compiling and formulating our Pre-Season Rankings since 2004. Hopefully the information below fills their appetite for the need to know and allows them to see as well as to respect the hard work we put forth in the projection analysis process of our highly popular Pre-Season Rankings.

* We work hard towards staying informed as to how teams are doing in the Freshmen and JV levels. We work hard at attempting to attend many of these non-varsity games as possible. We take notes at these levels which in turn helps us keep pace with the happenings of our local athletes who are on their quest to the varsity level.

* We capture key varsity match-ups on video that we believe to be of great importance in our decision making for the following season not simply for use in highlights for the current season. “We are always constantly looking ahead, with a focus on next season, while maintaining focus on the current season.”

* Returning Players are important, but what’s critical to our decision making is the amount of Key Starters returning. Key Starters who saw a significant amount of gridiron action the previous season or seasons. We also put much emphasis on returning “playmakers”. Playmakers that impacted the team in positive ways, on a consistent basis, throughout the course of the previous season. Back-ups with some experience, at key positions, are also critical to our decision making.

* Coaching changes throughout the Districts factor in our decision making as well. Coaching changes not only impact a team but will have a great impact on the entire District!”

* Schedules factor into the equation, but not much.

* New incoming out of town varsity players play a small significant role, as data is difficult to obtain from their freshmen and junior seasons of their former team.

* Out of Town sports media sources have little to no influence whatsoever to our decision making. Unlike out of town sources we are based in El Paso, which is fortunate for us since we have El Paso high school football stadiums in our very own backyard so to speak. So if we "feel" the need to obtain additional information on particular teams or specific players, we can simply drive a few miles in any direction and ‘bam’ just like that we are at a Team’s Practice, Spring Game, 7-on-7 Tournament or Regular Season game.

There are several other factors that go into our compilation of our projections but we hope this information has helped in someway, to bring some understanding, as to how our projections are compiled and formulated. (NOTE: During the season our Top 10 Rankings and Power Ratings are updated at the end of each week. Injuries and academics "no pass, no play" factor in this process as do several other things.)

Good luck to all El Paso, Texas High School Football Teams. We'll see you on the Gridiron!