Who would Manatee County football teams play if the 2023 FHSAA playoffs were this week?
The high school football season is in the stretch run.
District titles will get decided this week and the regular season concludes Nov. 3.
That means the latest Florida High School Athletic Association power rankings, which were released Tuesday, are getting closer to becoming a clear picture for the playoffs.
Among county schools, Manatee is the highest-ranked school despite losing a second straight game.
The Hurricanes are ranked No. 84 in the state and No. 2 in Class 4S-Region 4.
The rankings determine who gets into the playoffs as an at-large wild card and playoff seeding. There are 32 playoff teams per classification, with eight teams qualifying in each region. Those eight teams comprise four district champions and four at-large berths awarded to the non-district champion teams with the highest power rating.
Teams are seeded 1-8 in each region based on the final FHSAA power rankings.
Manatee’s loss to Sarasota Riverview dropped the Canes to No. 2 in 4S-4 behind Venice.
The Hurricanes (6-2) have a 9.140 power rating.
Palmetto (4-3) lost to Venice, but did not drop in the rankings. The Tigers are the fifth seed. Lakewood Ranch’s win over St. Petersburg Gibbs kept the Mustangs slotted as the eighth seed.
Manatee and Palmetto play this week for the 4S-District 13 championship, while Lakewood Ranch’s playoff chances rest with grabbing one of the region’s four wild card berths.
In Class 3S-Region 4, Parrish Community’s second loss of the season dropped the Bulls to the six seed if the playoffs started this week. Braden River and Southeast are currently outside the top eight.
In 2S-4, Bayshore slipped further back despite a 62-0 victory over Marco Island Academy. The Bruins are in 10th place.
The final playoff seeding and match-ups won’t be decided until after the Nov. 3 games. However, here’s a look at what the first-round playoff games would look like if the postseason started this week.
Seeding is numbered, with record and FHSAA power rating in parenthesis. County schools are in bold.
Class 4S-Region 4
1. Venice (6-2, 12.251) vs. 8. Lakewood Ranch (3-5, -2.734)
2. Manatee (6-2, 9.140) vs. 7. Punta Gorda Charlotte (3-5, -2.346)
3. Sarasota Riverview (4-4, 6.445) vs. 6. Immokalee (4-4, 1.184)
4. Naples Gulf Coast (5-2, 6.253) vs. 5. Palmetto (4-3, 2.111)
Class 3S-Region 4
1. Naples Golden Gate (6-2, 10.643) vs. 8. Cape Coral Mariner (7-1, 4.148)
2. Naples (7-2, 10.554) vs. 7. Port Charlotte (6-2, 5.795)
3. Fort Myers (6-2, 7.900) vs. 6. Parrish Community (6-2, 6.356)
4. Fort Myers Dunbar (6-2, 7.591) vs. 5. Naples Barron Collier (6-2, 6.804)
Locals out: Braden River (3-4, -0.387), Southeast (0-8, -10.128)
Class 2S-Region 4
1. Fort Myers Bishop Verot (8-1, 12.739) vs. 8. Mulberry (6-2, 2.122)
2. Fort Meade (7-0, 11.458) vs. 7. Frostproof (5-2, 2.549)
3. Estero (7-1, 8.318) vs. 6. Sarasota Booker (5-3, 2.704)
4. Englewood Lemon Bay (7-1, 7.025) vs. 5. Wauchula Hardee (6-2, 3.058)
Locals out: Bayshore (4-4, -0.765)
