It’s time for the next part of the season preview. We’re looking at teams 81 through 90 in the preseason rankings, excluding #87 Torrey Pines B and #83 Bellarmine B. Plus, this time: I remember to look at Wikipedia!

90. University A (CA) – Another California team that attended just one tournament last season under their “name” but performed very well at it, University finished fourth at the IHOP tournament. They graduated everyone from that event, though, so next season will be tough for them.

Wikipedia note: University apparently has a winterguard team, which is an off shoot of colorguard. Irvine, California averages zero inches of snow per year.

Expected performance next season: down

89. Olmsted Falls A (OH) – A team that dropped off in terms of activity last year, OF still put up a couple of good performance last season. Lead scorer Andy Nageotte graduates, but their other three scorers from their A team return. I expect they’ll drop off some, but they stand a good chance of appearing in the top 200 again next year.

Wikipedia note: Their school’s Wikipedia page contains about five lines. One of them mentions someone with the same last name as Andy.

Expected performance next season: Down

88. Thomas Jefferson A (VA)
197. Thomas Jefferson B (VA) – After a season where they surprisingly missed the HSNCT playoffs and had two teams finish outside of the top half of the PACE NSC. Their A team loses Sid Verma and Kunal Debroy and their B team only loses Hari Sridhar. I don’t expect their B team to enter the top 200 by the midpoint of the season, but their A team looks like they could be in the top 50 pre-season.

Wikipedia note: TJ’s page contains a list of “special visitors,” which seems to be somewhat unnecessary.

Expected performance next season: Up

86. Cave Spring A (VA) – The 41st place team at NSC (and the inaugural small school champion of that tournament) also tied for 34th at HSNCT. This was a team that was very much carried by James Cole, and his graduation puts CS in the unenviable position of trying to replace a 100 PPG player.

Wikipedia note: Cave Spring alumni includes Jen Lilley, who appeared on a MTV show called Disaster Date.

Expected performance next season: down

85. Bellaire A (TX) – After a 24th place finish at the PACE NSC, Bellaire loses all four of the players from their best regular season performance. So, they’ll be rebuilding in 2014-15.

Wikipedia note: Someone decided that Wikipedia needs to know every single club that exists at Bellaire. This is presented in a single blob of 13 uninterrupted lines.

Expected performance next season: Down

84. Alpharetta A (GA) – A team that returns all four of their scorers from last year’s best performance at ATTACK, this team that couldn’t attend a national last year is looking strong for 2014-15. They’ll definitely be a team to watch this season.

Wikipedia note: Super boring.

Expected performance next season: Up

82. Desert Vista A (AZ) – After making the HSNCT playoffs with a 6-4 prelim record, DV was dropped with a first round loss. Their best performance came on their local mirror of JAMES, where they had three players average over 60 PPG. The bad news is that each one of those players graduated, leaving DV to join the list of rebuilding teams. Long term, as a program that regularly brings four or five teams to tournaments, I think they’ll be just fine.

Wikipedia note: This is another page that consists of a disproportionate amount of information about the school’s band.

Expected performance next season: Down

81. Livingston A (NJ) – Another 6-4 HSNCT playoff team that lost in the first round, Livingston loses their four main scorers from their best regular season performance (which came on LIST). Since this is the third team in this update that graduated everyone, it shouldn’t be a shock where I expect them to stand next season.

Wikipedia note: I misread a line on the page as the following, which made it much more interesting: “… who filed a civil rights complaint with the Office for Civil Rights against Princeton University claiming the University discriminated against him on the basis of his face.”

Expected performance next season: Down