09/28/2026
Here's our Kansas Pregame football rankings after Week 4 action. There is still a game between Lakeside and St. John's Catholic (Beloit/Tipton) to be played, but the result will not impact our current 8-Man II rankings.
A few quick notes on the toughest ranking decisions:
6A: Remain confident in the top three, including a 2-2 Manhattan team. From there, it gets very difficult to pick.
5A: Extremely confident in the top three and pretty confident in four, but from there on out it gets difficult. Spring Hill had probably the most impressive victory of the week over Basehor-Linwood.
4A: Extremely confident in the top three. Very difficult from there on out.
3A: Likely Andale and then everyone else but we should get some clarity on that this week. Can Cheney give the Indians a battle this week? Is Hesston as legit as it looks?
2A: Really deep classification. If the past is any indication, the margin separating No. 1 and at least No. 8 is likely very slim.
1A: Sterling continues to impress. Smith Center should not be penalized much for the loss to Beloit. Rossville's dominant win over Reno County Homeschool appears solid given the Sabres' results against a mix of 8-Man powers and a win over a solid Hugoton squad in 11-Man. Olpe shuts out Colgan to send the Panthers to 0-4 for the first time in school history, according to Kpreps. TMP is picking up steam, Centralia is recovering from a tough early-season schedule and McLouth is looking like it may be the real deal.
8-Man I: Extremely confident in the top three. From there, we have quite a few questions. Lincoln is very talented and getting incredible play from new faces, while South Central and Wichita County are established with quality experience in key spots.
8-Man II: This could be the deepest classification, but it could also be tiered, with Hanover and Axtell quite a bit better than everyone else, followed by a group of quality teams that might be competitive with each other from roughly No. 3 all the way down to No. 10. Even others like Quinter, Thunder Ridge and Frankfort are in the mix, with Frankfort's loss to Troy showing the Wildcats remain a tough out in the brutal TVL, but if we had to bet, Hanover or Axtell will hold the trophy at the end of November.
6-Man: Weskan holds onto the top spot despite squeaking by Wheatland-Grinnell, which strengthens the Thunderhawks' claim to a spot in the top four. Pretty confident about the top four; it gets a little murky from there on out into the Others section.
