Wyoming High School Boys Basketball Rankings: January 17, 2018

With most teams starting to settle into conference play, the latest coaches/media rankings could add some fuel to the fire.

The first conference game can be big in many ways. In 4A, the big game is in the west when #3 Green River visits #4 Evanston. The Red Devils also host unranked Rock Springs, and the Tigers are hoping to return to the top 5, if they can get a win. Meanwhile, #1 Cheyenne East has their own things to deal with vs. unranked Cheyenne Central and unranked Thunder Basin. The Thunderbirds can't look ahead to next week's game, vs. #2 Sheridan and #5 Campbell County, who have their own games at home vs. unranked Laramie and unranked Cheyenne South.

The new 3A rankings got shuffled some, when Rawlins lost to their first 3A opponent last week (Lander). Buffalo remains #1, and visit the #4 Outlaws on Saturday. Riverton moves up to #2 and they play at #3 Cody, also on Saturday.The Wolverines may be 7-4 on the season so far, but all of their losses are against 4A opponents. Newcastle continues to occupy the #5 ranking.

2A had a little bit of movement from last week. Wind River and Pine Bluffs retain their #1 and #2 positions. Wyoming Indian moves up to #3, after their win last week vs. Rocky Mountain, who drops to #5. That might upset #4 Lovell a bit, because the Bulldogs beat the Chiefs 2 weeks ago, yet they got jumped. Unranked Big Piney has a big opportunity to prove themselves this weekend. They have the Chiefs and the Cougars back-to-back at home. Elsewhere, if anyone is wondering why 8-2 Upton isn't ranked, the problem is in their schedule. Most of the teams they've played are either out of state, or from 1A. The Bobcats have only played 2 2A opponents so far (Shoshoni and Riverside), who have a combined total of zero wins between them.

We called out the 1A voters last week for the weak numbers...and this week they responded. Burlington is back on top. Farson-Eden makes the biggest move up, after their recent road trip. The Pronghorns are up to #2, and have a southwest 1st place battle at unranked Cokeville this weekend. #3, #4 and #5 were separated by 1 vote. Little Snake River gets the higher spot by 1 vote, ahead of St. Stephens and Encampment who are tied for #4.

Disclaimer: The rankings have no official say on post-season positioning, and are only to be used as a measuring stick on the regular season. Please don't read too much into the rankings.