For the rest of the high school boys basketball programs in the state of Nebraska, it might appear that Omaha Central will never be unseated as the Cornhusker State's dominant boys basketball program. Each year it seems, the real battle is for No. 2.
The Eagles, who have competed in the state finals eight times since 2005-06, played their way into MaxPreps' final Nebraska Top 25 in each of the past 17 seasons. Omaha Central has captured seven Class A state titles during that same time span.
Altogether the Eagles have been to the state finals 20 times to tie Lincoln High for the top spot in the Cornhusker State. Omaha Central claimed the No. 1 spot in MaxPreps' final Nebraska Top 25 seven times over the 17 years scored and finished in the Top 10 12 times.
Bellevue West has gone toe-to-toe with the Eagles twice in the Class A title game over the past 17 years and claimed the No. 2 spot this week with 363 points, 85 points behind Omaha Central. Class A power Omaha Creighton Prep rounds out the top three after winning state titles in 2009, 2015 and 2018. Omaha Skutt Catholic and Omaha South, meanwhile, finished in the No. 4 and No. 5 spots respectively.
Classes A, B and C2 are all represented in this week's Top 10. Class C1 power Wahoo represents Nebraska's third largest classification after sliding into the No. 11 spot with 179 points. Ravenna, one of Nebraska's premier small school powers, leads Class D1 with a 21st place finish out of the 133 schools that scored points for this week's Top 10. The Bluejays scored 115 points after winning three state titles in four trips to the finals over the last 17 seasons.
Class D2 is led by Humphrey St. Francis who scored 110 points and finished 25th in the standings. Eighteen boys basketball programs missed out on this week's Top 10 despite scoring 100 points or better
Omaha Central (Class A), Bellevue West (Class A), Omaha Skutt Catholic (Class B), Hastings St. Cecilia (Class C2) and Humphrey St. Francis (Class D2) are the only schools in the state to compete in at least six state title contests since 2006.
MaxPreps has developed its own system in determining which boys basketball programs compete at the highest level over an extended period of time. Here is how the points for this week's Top 10 were accumulated:
1. Twenty points for a state title
2. Ten points for finishing as a state runner-up
3. Other points are based on a team's Top 25 standing in the final MaxPreps Nebraska Computer Rankings presented by the Army National Guard. For instance, if a school claimed the top spot, it received 25 points, while a No. 25 ranking is good for one point.
Omaha Central tops the list with seven state championships. (Photo: Samuel Mfinanga)
1. Omaha Central (Omaha) (372-87) – 448 PointsState titles: 7
Runner-ups: 1
Top 25 state rankings: 2005-06 (1st), 2006-07 (1st), 2007-08 (1st), 2008-09 (22nd), 2009-10 (1st), 2010-11 (1st), 2011-12 (1st), 2012-13 (1st), 2013-14 (4th), 2014-15 (8th), 2015-16 (23rd), 2016-17 (11th), 2017-18 (5th), 2018-19 (9th), 2019-20 (10th), 2020-21 (22nd), 2021-22 (23rd).
2. Bellevue West (Bellevue) (326-121) – 363 Points
State titles: 2
Runner-ups: 5
Top 25 state rankings: 2005-06 (4th), 2006-07 (9th), 2007-08 (3rd), 2008-09 (16th), 2009-10 (11th), 2010-11 (18th), 2011-12 (13th), 2012-13 (9th), 2013-14 (1st), 2014-15 (3rd), 2017-18 (17th), 2018-19 (3rd), 2019-20 (2nd), 2020-21 (3rd), 2021-22 (5th).
3. Creighton Prep (Omaha) (336-104) – 332 Points
State titles: 3
Runner-ups: 0
Top 25 state rankings: 2005-06 (16th), 2006-07 (18th), 2007-08 (7th), 2008-09 (1st), 2009-10 (2nd), 2010-11 (5th), 2011-12 (25th), 2012-13 (6th), 2013-14 (13th), 2014-15 (1st), 2015-16 (11th), 2016-17 (9th), 2017-18 (2nd), 2018-19 (7th), 2019-20 (17th), 2020-21 (8th), 2021-22 (22nd).
4. Skutt Catholic (Omaha) (317-117) – 314 Points
State titles: 4
Runner-ups: 3
Top 25 state rankings: 2005-06 (13th), 2006-07 (2nd), 2007-08 (16th), 2009-10 (10th), 2013-14 (8th), 2014-15 (24th), 2015-16 (7th), 2016-17 (23rd), 2017-18 (6th), 2018-19 (8th), 2019-20 (1st), 2020-21 (12th), 2021-22 (4th).
5. Omaha South (Omaha) (248-173) – 244 Points
State titles: 2
Runner-ups: 2
Top 25 state rankings: 2009-10 (17th), 2010-11 (10th), 2011-12 (6th), 2012-13 (2nd), 2013-14 (5th), 2014-15 (2nd), 2015-16 (3rd), 2016-17 (13th), 2018-19 (2nd), 2019-20 (16th).
6. St. Cecilia (Hastings) (316-113) – 238 Points
State titles: 5
Runner-ups: 1
Top 25 state rankings: 2007-08 (4th), 2008-09 (2nd), 2009-10 (6th), 2014-15 (12th), 2015-16 (4th), 2016-17 (14th), 2017-18 (12th).
7. Beatrice (295-102) – 236 Points
State titles: 2
Runner-ups: 3
Top 25 state rankings: 2006-07 (7th), 2007-08 (9th), 2008-09 (9th), 2009-10 (24th), 2010-11 (12th), 2011-12 (10th), 2013-14 (12th), 2014-15 (13th), 2015-16 (8th), 2016-17 (18th), 2020-21 (6th), 2021-22 (18th).
8. Millard North (Omaha) (244-165) – 200 Points
State titles: 2
Runner-ups: 1
Top 25 state rankings: 2006-07 (15th), 2008-09 (17th), 2009-10 (14th), 2010-11 (11th), 2011-12 (7th), 2012-13 (16th), 2014-15 (25th), 2018-19 (23rd), 2019-20 (5th), 2020-21 (1st), 2021-22 (2nd).
9. Norfolk (272-148) – 185 Points
State titles: 1
Runner-ups: 1
Top 25 state rankings: 2005-06 (11th), 2006-07 (12th), 2008-09 (23rd), 2009-10 (4th), 2010-11 (8th), 2011-12 (4th), 2013-14 (9th), 2014-15 (4th), 2016-17 (4th).
10. Gretna (295-118) – 181 Points
State titles: 2
Runner-ups: 1
Top 25 state rankings: 2005-06 (20th), 2009-10 (25th), 2010-11 (7th), 2012-13 (14th), 2014-15 (16th), 2015-16 (1st), 2016-17 (1st), 2017-18 (13th), 2018-19 (16th), 2021-22 (16th).
