After the MLK holiday weekend, this was a short week and also a time when the teams in the FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by Ballislife.com returned to league and conference play. That means a vast majority of the ranked teams won and there is little changes to this week’s edition. The playoff storm is around the corner and that’s when fans can expect some volatile change in the (rankings) weather. There are three newcomers this week led by No. 47 Plainfield (Plainfield, N.J.)
By Ronnie Flores
It was a calm week in high school basketball across the country as teams got back in the swing of conference, district or league play after the long MLK weekend. What many fans, and even some scouts, don’t realize is just how hard it is to crack the FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by Ballislife.com. The teams don’t lose much and even team No. 50, which is newcomer Muskegon (Muskegon, Mich.) this week, would beat the vast majority of all the teams around the country.
EYBL Scholastic Team Loses Big
Sometimes as fans and analysts we forget just how talented the top teams in the country are.
It’s easy to see that this week as a vast majority of the FAB 50 ranked club won locally. The only highly-ranked teams that take a big drop this week are previous No. 8 CIA Bella Vista (Phoenix, Ariz.) and previous No. 24 Salesian (Richmond, Calif.). CIA Bella Vista is part of the EYBL Scholastic League, which this week has 11 of its 20 teams in the nation’s longest-running weekly rankings, including the top four.
With that in mind, the teams in that league get the benefit of the doubt when taking a loss, as they tend to drop slower or softer in the rankings because of the quality of the teams they play on a nightly basis. For CIA Bella Vista, however, it had to drop nine spots because of the margin of defeat at the hands of previous No. 19 Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah) at the Quincy Shootout in Illinois. Wasatch Academy rolled to a 75-48 victory behind the play of UConn commit Junior County, who finished with 24 points.
With the win, Wasatch Academy moves up five spots, while the Bears can’t drop any further because of the resume of EYBL Scholastic member and No. 18 Oak Cliff Faith Family (Dallas, Texas). That teams has a loss to CIA Bella Vista’s Grind Session Power Conference club, so the Bears can’t drop any further.
There are some other conferences that get the benefit of the doubt after a loss, such as the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) and the Mission and Trinity Leagues in the massive CIF Southern Section as part of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF). The two best CIF clubs that are not part of the Southern Section faced off over the weekend in the marquee game of the Crush in the Valley at Napa Valley College in Northern California. Then No. 46 St. Joseph (Santa Maria, Calif.) of the CIF Central Section took on No. 24 Salesian (Richmond, Calif.) of the CIF North Coast Section and St. Joe’s held on for a 67-63 victory after Stanford-bound Elias Obenyah (14 points) saw his 3-point attempt that would have tied the game rim out in the closing seconds.
St. Joseph has proved there is life after Tounde Yessoufou (likely 2026 NBA 1st Round Draft choice out of Baylor) as the Knights still have a program that can seriously contend for the CIF Open State title that will be crowned on March 14 in Sacramento. Stanford-bound point guard Julius Price led St Joe’s with 22 points, while his young brother Malcom Price, a junior, added 16.
Point guard Isiah Davis led Salesian with 20 points. The Pride fall 14 spots to No. 38, while St. Joseph moves up nine spots to No. 37 right in front of the team it just defeated. St. Joe’s has still not lost to a CIF team, falling to Oak Cliff Faith Family and to St. Xavier (Louisville, Ky.), one of the three teams to drop out of the rankings this week.
Salesian deserves to remain in the rankings as it owns a win over No. 24 St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) and has only lost to one team not in the rankings, with its third loss to No. 27 Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.).
Rewarding Unbeaten Teams
Not every team can play in a power conference, but it’s that time of the season to begin rewarding teams that remain unbeaten. Examples this week include No. 26 East Lansing (East Lansing, Mich.), and No. 31 Gainesville (Gainesville, Ga.). Any team that plays in a power state or strong playoff classification can finish high in the FAB 50 with an unbeaten season. On the flip side, some teams that are unbeaten that haven’t played a national schedule could tumble down, or even out of the rankings, if they take an untimely loss.
Inclement Weather Affects The FAB 50
The massive winter snow storm that has engulfed a large portion of the country, particularly the Eastern Seaboard in the FAB 50’s East Region, plus the Midwest and Southeast Region, has affected teams’ ability to play. It might also cause cancellations this week in hard-hit areas and last weekend did affect some events such as the Carl Albert Titan Classic in Oklahoma.
Keep in mind default wins and losses (where there is no game played and no final score) have no bearing on the FAB 50 rankings on a weekly basis. We understand there are all kinds of extenuating circumstances that cause defaults or forfeits (where the losing team on the scoreboard is later declared the winner). After all, it’s high school basketball. We rank teams based on what happens on-the-court, where it matters, and adjust and note with an asterisk when we find out the circumstance of the forfeit win-loss.
Updated FAB 50 National Team Rankings
Powered by Ballislife.com
(6th poll of 2025-26 regular season; Through games played on Sunday, Jan. 25; *Indicates forfeit wins, forfeit losses not included; **Indicates forfeits and defaults not included)
| No. | Prev. | High School (City) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Spire Academy (Geneva, Ohio) | 18-1 |
| 2 | 2 | AZ Compass Prep (Chandler, Ariz.) | 14-1 |
| 3 | 3 | Brewster Academy (Wolfeboro, N.H.) | 19-2 |
| 4 | 4 | Link Academy (Branson, Mo.) | 15-2 |
| 5 | 5 | Calvary Christian Academy (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) | 16-1 |
| 6 | 6 | Prolific Prep (Southwest Ranches, Fla.) | 19-3 |
| 7 | 7 | Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.) | 19-2 |
| 8 | 9 | Principia (St. Louis, Mo.) | 15-2 |
| 9 | 10 | Seven Lakes (Katy, Texas) | 27-0 |
| 10 | 11 | Fishers (Fishers, Ind.) | 16-0 |
| 11 | 12 | Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) | 20-1 |
| 12 | 13 | Sunnyslope (Phoenix, Ariz.) | 19-1 |
| 13 | 14 | Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.) | 23-3 |
| 14 | 19 | Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah) | 13-4 |
| 15 | 15 | Wisconsin Lutheran (Milwaukee, Wis.) | 15-0 |
| 16 | 16 | Timpview (Provo, Utah) | 16-1 |
| 17 | 8 | CIA Bella Vista (Phoenix, Ariz.) | 13-3 |
| 18 | 17 | Oak Cliff Faith Family (Dallas, Texas) | 21-6 |
| 19 | 18 | Greensboro Day (Greensboro, N.C.) | 28-2 |
| 20 | 20 | Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) | 11-5 |
| 21 | 21 | Archbishop Stepinac (White Plains, N.Y.) | 13-4 |
| 22 | 22 | Benet Academy (Lisle, Ill.) | 23-1 |
| 23 | 23 | Bartlett (Bartlett, Tenn.) | 19-4 |
| 24 | 26 | St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) | 18-5 |
| 25 | 25 | Webb (Knoxville, Tenn.) | 22-2 |
| 26 | 31 | East Lansing (East Lansing, Mich.) | 14-0 |
| 27 | 27 | Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.) | 16-5 |
| 28 | 28 | Millennium (Goodyear, Ariz.) | 17-3 |
| 29 | 29 | Concord Academy (Concord, N.C.) | 22-2 |
| 30 | 34 | North Crowley (Ft. Worth, Texas) | 23-3 |
| 31 | 38 | Gainesville (Gainesville, Ga.) | 21-0 |
| 32 | 32 | Columbus (Miami, Fla.) | 17-6 |
| 33 | 33 | Santa Margarita (Rancho SM, Calif.) | 22-3 |
| 34 | 35 | Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.) | 6-8 |
| 35 | 36 | IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) | 15-7 |
| 36 | 37 | Southeastern Prep Academy (Orlando, Fla.) | 30-8 |
| 37 | 46 | St. Joseph (Santa Maria, Calif.) | 23-2 |
| 38 | 24 | Salesian (Richmond, Calif.) | 18-3 |
| 39 | 48 | Rainier Beach (Seattle, Wash.) | 17-1 |
| 40 | 39 | La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.) | 14-2 |
| 41 | 41 | Lakota West (West Chester, Ohio) | 15-1 |
| 42 | 40 | Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.) | 10-7 |
| 43 | 42 | St. John’s (Washington, D.C.) | 17-4 |
| 44 | 43 | Bishop O’Connell (Arlington, Va.) | 16-4 |
| 45 | 44 | DePaul College Prep (Chicago, Ill.) | 20-3 |
| 46 | 49 | North Broward Prep (Coconut Creek, Fla.) | 23-1 |
| 47 | NR | Plainfield (Plainfield, N.J.) | 15-1 |
| 48 | 50 | Crown Point (Crown Point, Ind.) | 12-0 |
| 49 | NR | Kankakee (Kankakee, Ill.) | 16-1 |
| 50 | NR | Muskegon (Muskegon, Mich.) | 10-0 |
Dropped Out: No. 30 Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.), No. 45 St. Xavier (Louisville, Ky.), No. 47 Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (Baltimore, Md.).
Bubble Teams: Appleton North (Appleton, Wis.) 13-2; Archbishop Wood (Warminster, Pa.) 11-6; Atascocita (Humble, Texas) 19-6; Bearden (Knoxville, Tenn.) 24-1; Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.) 15-2; Booker T. Washington (Tulsa, Okla.) 14-1; Brennan (San Antonio, Texas) 22-3; Bryant (Bryant, Ark.) 19-3; Cathedral Prep (Erie, Pa.) 18-1; Cedar Falls (Cedar Fallas, Iowa) 13-0; Chaparral (Parker, Col.) 13-2; Curie (Chicago, Ill.) 19-1; DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.) 16-5; DME Academy (Daytona Beach, Fla.) 17-5; Dream City Christian (Glendale, Ariz.) 15-6; East Kentwood (Kentwood, Mich.) 10-1; East St. Louis (East St. Louis, Ill.) 20-3; Forsyth Country Day (Lewisville, N.C.) 23-2; Grayson (Loganville, Ga.) 17-1; Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.) 21-4; Heritage (Frisco, Texas) 21-2; Houston (Germantown, Tenn.) 14-5; La Mirada (La Mirada, Calif.) 20-6; Lawrence North (Indianapolis, Ind.) 15-2; Layton Christian (Layton, Utah) 16-3; Little Elm (Little Elm, Texas) 24-2; Lutheran East (Cleveland Heights, Ohio) 12-0; Millwood (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.) 15-2; Mt. Vernon (Fortville, Ind.) 14-2; Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia, Pa.) 13-2; Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) 17-6; Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (Baltimore, Md.) 20-7; Pembroke Pines (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) 14-4; Petersburg (Petersburg, Va.) 11-4; Pike (Indianapolis, Ind.) 14-3; Plainfield (Plainfield, Ind.) 16-1; Providence (Jacksonville, Fla.) 20-3; Ralston Valley (Arvada, Col.) 15-0; Rangeview (Aurora, Col.) 11-3; Richland (Richland, Wash.) 17-0; Riviera Prep (Miami, Fla.) 11-8; Rockford (Rockford, Mich.) 10-2; Sidwell Friends (Washington, D.C.) 14-4; South (Shawnee Mission, Kan.) 11-0; Starkville (Starkville, Miss.) 21-1; St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, Md.) 25-5; St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) 18-4; Tartan (Oakdale, Minn.) 13-0; The Rock (Gainesville, Fla.) 18-6; Veritas Prep (Chino Hills, Calif.) 12-4; Warren Township (Gurnee, Ill.) 17-2; Waukee Northwest (Waukee, Iowa) 12-1; West Allis Central (West Allis, Wis.) 14-1.
Note: The FAB 50 powered by Ballislife.com is a continuation of the National Sports News Service ratings that began in 1952. These were the first national high school rankings and the late Art Johlfs of Minnesota compiled them. They were compiled for many years by the late Barry Sollenberger of Phoenix, who merged them into the FAB 50 26 years ago.
Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of Ballislife.com. He can be reached at ronnie@ballislife.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonMFlores
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