Who would Manatee County football teams play if the 2023 FHSAA playoffs were this week?
The Florida High School Athletic Association released its latest rankings for the 2023 football season this week.
Manatee dropped one spot after its loss to Venice last week.
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.
Despite its first loss of the season, Manatee remained the highest-rated team in the county.
The Hurricanes have a 11.018 power rating, which ranks them 56th overall in the state and 10th in Class 4S. They are ranked second in Region 4 behind Venice’s 11.168 rating.
Palmetto remained as the fifth seed after beating Southeast, while Lakewood Ranch slipped to eight place.
In Class 3S-Region 4, Parrish Community’s overtime victory over Mulberry last week propelled the Bulls up one spot to fourth place. That would give them a first-round playoff game.
In 2S-4, Bayshore’s latest loss dropped the Bruins to the playoff bubble. They’re in ninth place.
The final playoff seeding and matchups won’t be decided until early November. 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 (4-2, 11.168) vs. 8. Lakewood Ranch (2-4, -2.237)
2. Manatee (6-1, 11.018) vs. 7. Punta Gorda Charlotte (2-4, -1.938)
3. Sarasota Riverview (3-3, 4.938) vs. 6. Immokalee (3-4, 0.765)
4. Naples Gulf Coast (4-2, 4.422) vs. 5. Palmetto (3-2, 1.068)
Class 3S-Region 4
1. Naples Golden Gate (4-2, 9.795) vs. 8. Cape Coral Mariner (6-0, 4.394)
2. Naples (6-1, 9.370) vs. 7. Fort Myers (4-2, 5.188)
3. Fort Myers Dunbar (5-1, 8.499) vs. 6. Port Charlotte (5-2, 5.727)
4. Parrish Community (5-1, 7.223) vs. 5. Naples Barron Collier (5-1, 6.490)
Locals out: Braden River (2-3, -0.800), Southeast (0-6, -9.143)
Class 2S-Region 4
1. Fort Meade (6-0, 12.964) vs. 8. Mulberry (4-2, 0.165)
2. Fort Myers Bishop Verot (6-1, 12.075) vs. 7. Wauchula Hardee (4-2, 1.949)
3. Englewood Lemon Bay (6-0, 7.990) vs. 6. Sarasota Booker (4-2, 3.445)
4. Frostproof (5-1, 6.221) vs. 5. Estero (5-1, 5.629)
Locals out: Bayshore (3-3, -0.108)
This story was originally published October 10, 2023 at 12:30 PM.
