Let the Debates begin - Top 15 Boys Basketball large school teams in the St. Louis Metro Area

 I know a lot of people think Ladue is the best team in the St. Louis Area.  

I know my friend, John Hough, over at Gateway Sports Venue, is a strong believer in the Rams, as he is a graduate and faithful follower of their program.  I have told John several times, that we must "agree to disagree". Ladue's schedule was not all that tough.  I felt it was more like a small school schedule, playing great small schools like John Burroughs and MICDS but avoiding the big dogs like Vianney, De Smet, Chaminade, Vashon, Cardinal Ritter, and the Metro teams on the east side like Collinsville, East St. Louis, and Belleville East.  They have recently played Francis Howell and Lindbergh.

I think any team that is 20-1 is awfully darn good, no matter what their schedule, unless they are playing home school teams and Christian Academies that don't qualify for MSHSAA accreditation.   

Ladue is very, very good and just knocked off their second top-ten large school opponent last night, Lindbergh, with a furious comeback in the last four minutes of the game.  I thought the Flyers maybe had Kroop, as they coughed up the ball more than half a dozen times in the last few minutes.  Ladue used a devastating three-quarter court trap and gave the Flyers fits most of the night.

But who is Gramps St. Louis Metro boys basketball number one team right now?  I did a deep dive on 17 teams, looking at their raw and weighted ratings and their Strength of Schedule (SOS).

And what did I find out?  I found that Ladue, Lindbergh and Francis Howell had the weakest SOS of the top 17 teams and the opponent's weakness has helped their records.  Now, part of the schedule includes the league schedule and neither Ladue nor Francis Howell can help that they have some low-rated teams in their league.  I guess they could schedule more BIG DOGS in the non-conference schedule.  But the fact is, playing weak teams helps the record and hurts the ratings.  Playing a tough schedule can really harden a team's performance going into districts.  You learn to play at a higher tempo and fight through some tough minutes.  I hope Ladue's schedule doesn't hurt their chances in Class Five District three, but it might.

Here are my top 15 Large School Boys Basketball teams with their rating, SOS, and record.  I have listed each team's game schedule, game ratings, and SOS below this table.

Collinsville tops the list with Webster Groves second and Chaminade and De Smet tied for third.  Chaminade might be a surprise to some, given their five-game losing streak but they have played the toughest schedule of all the large school teams.  The only other teams that have played a 140 SOS are Vashon and Cardinal Ritter.    

What do you think Ladue's record would be if they played a 140 SOS with a 140 rating?  Their upcoming game on February 13th with Webster Groves might be a good indicator of whether Gramps is taking too many medications or whether GSV and the Post-Dispatch polls are over-rating the Rams.

Time will tell.  Let the debates continue.