Bearcats ranked No. 1 in Associated Press preseason poll

With 218 total points, the Aledo Bearcats are ranked No. 1 in the 2016 Associated Press Class 5A preseason poll, it was announced today.

The Bearcats' 218 points was nine more than No. 2 Cedar Park, which actually received nine first-place votes to Aledo's seven.

No. 3 Denton Ryan (197 points) also received seven first-place votes.

Aledo and Ryan are the only Region I schools to be ranked in the Top 10.

However, Aledo and Ryan will not face each other in the 5A playoffs.

Aledo is the smallest school in District 6-5A and is bound for the Division II playoffs, while Ryan is the largest school in 5-5A and would play in the Division I playoffs.

The Bearcats' season-opening opponent, Colleyville Heritage, which dropped this year from Class 6A, received two votes in the "others receiving votes" category.

The AP Top 10

Class 5A

1 - Aledo

2 - Cedar Park

3 - Denton Ryan

4 - Manvel

5 - Temple

6 - Frisco Lone Star

7 - Highland Park

8 - Corpus Christie Calallen

9 - Richmond Foster

10 - Lancaster

Others receiving votes: Crosby 27, Mansfield Lake Ridge (1) 27, Angleton 16, Ennis 6, Lake Dallas 6, Texarkana Texas 6, College Station 5, Boerne Champion 4, Marshall 3, Bryan 3, Colleyville Heritage 2, Mesquite Poteet 2, Frisco Liberty 2, EP Chapin 2, Mansfield Summit 1, Abilene Cooper 1.