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Some Nebraska high school boys basketball teams have taken to heart the cliché, "You've got to beat the best to be the best." And while some programs have met that theory with plenty of success, most have not.
As we dove into our Nebraska high school boys basketball computer rankings Tuesday, and sifted through the strength of schedule data, we discovered that some of the Cornhusker State's premier boys basketball programs play schedules that match their own level of play.
Class B No. 21 Waverly has played the top boys basketball schedule in the state at this point in the season, according to MaxPreps' strength of schedule average, followed by Class A eighth-ranked Millard West and Class B No. 26 Omaha Gross Catholic.
Besides Millard West, three other schools residing inside Nebraska's boundaries are ranked in the Top 10 of their respective classifications despite banging the boards with the best. Class A No. 2 Papillion-LaVista sits ninth in this week's Top 10, while Class B's No. 4 Omaha Skutt Catholic and top-ranked Gretna are in the Nos. 6 and 7 spots, respectively.
Lincoln Northeast and Papillion-LaVista actually tied for the eighth spot this week, however, the Rockets get the nod for that spot simply because Northeast's opposition put together a better winning percentage collectively than did Papillion-LaVista's foes. Omaha Benson earned the No. 10 spot over Millard North and Norris because of that same tiebreaker.
Because the larger schools do play stiffer competition on a regular basis throughout the season, schools competing in classes C1, C2, D1 and D2 did not make this week's cut. But we're going to go ahead and look at the top schedules in those classifications as well.
Class C1's top-ranked Bishop Neumann has put together a solid campaign despite playing the most difficult schedule of the Cornhusker State's smaller classifications, with Class C1 seventh-ranked Boys Town and Norfolk Catholic following close behind.
In Class C2, top-ranked Hastings St. Cecilia gets credit for competing against the stiffest slate, while Archbishop Bergan is right on their tail. Eighth-ranked Hartington Cedar Catholic and No. 19 Crofton are tied for the third spot in C2 to this point in the season.
Thirteenth-ranked Guardian Angels Central Catholic gets the nod for banging with Class D1's most brutal slate. Johnson-Brock, the No. 3 team in D1 edged out top-ranked Lutheran-Northeast for the No. 2 rung. Second-ranked Parkview Christian edged out No. 4 Mead for the toughest schedule in Class D2.
Check out Nebraska's Top 10 toughest boys basketball schedules below. We have listed the school, (school's record through last weekend), opponent's combined record and MaxPrep's strength of schedule rating as of Tuesday.
Nebraska's Top 10 toughest boys basketball schedules
1. Waverly (5-11), 169-113, 12.9
2. Millard West (Omaha) (11-9), 221-139, 12.6
3. Gross Catholic (Omaha) (4-14), 188-131, 12.3
4. Bennington (10-8), 192-128, 12.0
5. South Sioux City (South Sioux City) (1-15), 156-95, 11.8
6. Skutt Catholic (Omaha) (15-4), 183-141, 11.6
7. Gretna (17-2), 198-137, 11.3
8. Lincoln Northeast (Lincoln) (10-9), 205-144, 11.1
9. Papillion-LaVista (Papillion) (16-3), 183-151, 11.1
10. Benson (Omaha) (4-14), 191-133, 11.0
Trace Tupper, Lincoln Northeast
Photo by Rod Adams
