Who would Manatee football teams play if the 2023 FHSAA playoffs started this week?
The Florida High School Athletic Association released its latest rankings for the 2023 football season this week, and Manatee remains in the top spot locally.
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 is the highest-rated team in the county heading into this week’s showdown with Venice. The Hurricanes are 6-0 and have a 13.132 power rating, which ranks them 26th overall in the state and fourth in Class 4S.
The final playoff seeding and matchups won’t be decided for another month. 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. Manatee (6-0. 13.132) vs. 8. Punta Gorda Charlotte (1-4, -3.157)
2. Venice (3-2, 8.667) vs. 7. Lakewood Ranch (2-3, -2.285)
3. Sarasota Riverview (3-2, 6.379) vs. 6. Immokalee (2-4, -0.710)
4. Naples Gulf Coast (3-2, 3.849) vs. 5. Palmetto (2-2, -0.024)
Class 3S-Region 4
1. Naples (5-1, 9.579) vs. 8. Cape Coral Mariner (6-0, 4.988)
2. Naples Golden Gate (4-2, 9.522) vs. 7. Fort Myers (4-2, 5.292)
3. Fort Myers Dunbar (5-1, 9.082) vs. 6. South Fort Myers (4-1, 5.300)
4. Port Charlotte (4-2, 6.301) vs. 5. Parrish Community (4-1, 5.791)
Locals out: Braden River (2-3, -0.504), Southeast (0-5, -8.531)
Class 2S-Region 4
1. Fort Meade (5-0, 14.645) vs. 8. Wauchula Hardee (4-2, 1.607)
2. Fort Myers Bishop Verot (6-0, 14.238) vs. 7. Bayshore (3-2, 2.281)
3. Englewood Lemon Bay (6-0, 8.207) vs. 6. Sarasota Booker (4-2, 3.434)
4. Estero (5-1, 5.162) vs. 5. Frostproof (4-1, 3.896)
