Top 10 most improved Nebraska boys basketball teams

Video: Which is better - the dunk or crowd's reaction?
Anthony Ruffin's poster dunk was pretty special as the fans will attest.

As the Nebraska boys high school basketball season prepares to hit the stretch run, we crunched the numbers to determine which basketball programs made substantial climbs in our Nebraska Rankings over a year ago.

Having improved its record by a remarkable eight games heading into Tuesday's action, Ravenna came up the big winner, climbing 155 rungs to 50th in Tuesday's Nebraska boys basketball rankings. With the eight game improvement, the Bluejays tied No. 8 Johnson County Central as most improved teams in terms of improvement in their won-loss records.

Tri County and Clearwater/Orchard climbed 149 and 140 spots, respectively, to grab the Nos. 2 and 3 rungs. Exeter-Milligan is up 113 spots to 81st, while Kenesaw's 16-0 start puts them at 32nd, a 109 spot promotion.

Nearly every school in this week's Top 10 improved its ranking by 100 spots or more over a year ago. Every classification in Nebraska is represented in this week's Top 10, except for Classes A and B, the Cornhusker State's two largest classifications. Lincoln High earned the nod as Nebraska's most improved Class A school, having climbed 82 spots to 58th, while Blair improved 70 rungs to 35th to lead Class B.

Arcadia/Loup City is the highest ranked squad among those programs that made this week's top 10. Off to a 14-1 start in 2017-18, the Rebels have cracked the Top 25 at No. 19. Cozad (13-2), Kenesaw (16-0) and Freeman (13-4) are ranked 31st, 32nd and 33rd respectively.

Since Arapahoe and Palmyra tied for the final rung, 11 teams cracked this week's Top 10. Arapahoe gets the nod as the No. 10 team because the Warriors improved their won-loss record by seven games. Palmyra, on the other hand, improved by just five games.

As you browse through this week's Top 10, the 2017-18 record displayed with each school includes contests played through last weekend, since we used Tuesday's rankings.

Nebraska's most improved boys basketball teams

1. Ravenna +155
2016-17 MaxPreps Ratings (Record): 205th (7-15)
2017-18 MaxPreps Ratings (Record): 50th (11-3)

2. Tri County (DeWitt) +149
2016-17 MaxPreps Ratings (Record): 208th (9-14)
2017-18 MaxPreps Ratings (Record): 59th (12-4)

3. Clearwater/Orchard (Clearwater) +140
2016-17 MaxPreps Ratings (Record): 234th (6-16)
2017-18 MaxPreps Ratings (Record): 94th (10-5)

4. Exeter-Milligan (Exeter) +113
2016-17 MaxPreps Ratings (Record): 194th (12-11)
2017-18 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 81st (12-3)

5. Kenesaw +109
2016-17 MaxPreps Ratings (Record): 141st (18-6)
2017-18 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 32nd (16-0)

6. Arcadia/Loup City (Arcadia) +106
2016-17 MaxPreps Ratings (Record): 125th (16-8)
2017-18 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 19th (14-1)

7. Cozad +105
2016-17 MaxPreps Ratings (Record): 136th (14-13)
2017-18 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 31st (13-2)

8. Johnson County Central (Tecumseh) +102
2016-17 MaxPreps Ratings (Record): 243rd (2-19)
2017-18 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 141st (7-8)

9. Freeman (Adams) +98
2016-17 MaxPreps Ratings (Record): 131st (15-10)
2017-18 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 33rd (13-4)

10. (tie) Arapahoe +95
2016-17 MaxPreps Ratings (Record): 198th (9-14)
2017-18 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 103rd (13-4)

10. (tie) Palmyra +95
2016-17 MaxPreps Ratings (Record): 190th (7-13)
2017-18 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 95th (9-5)