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 on Wednesday.
The FHSAA posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, that “unforeseen circumstances” delayed the rankings release one day from its usual weekly Tuesday drop.
Despite having last week off, Manatee rose one spot in the rankings.
The Hurricanes are No. 1 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 lost to Venice two weeks ago, which slipped the Canes to No. 2 in the rankings for the region. Venice played last week and clinched the District 14 title with a win over Sarasota, but the victory over the winless Sailors dropped Venice’s strength of schedule component within the rankings and moved Manatee past the Indians this week.
The Hurricanes have a 11.104 power rating, which ranks them 54th overall in the state and 10th in Class 4S.
Palmetto remained as the fifth seed after beating Lakewood Ranch, while the Mustangs stayed in eighth place.
In Class 3S-Region 4, Parrish Community’s win over Braden River last week propelled the Bulls up one spot to third place.
In 2S-4, Bayshore’s latest loss left the Bruins on 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. Manatee (6-1, 11.104) vs. 8. Lakewood Ranch (2-5, -3.216)
2. Venice (5-2, 10.966) vs. 7. Punta Gorda Charlotte (3-4, -0.524)
4. Naples Gulf Coast (5-2, 6.449) vs. 6. Immokalee (4-4, 1.226)
3. Sarasota Riverview (3-4, 3.646) vs. 5. Palmetto (4-2, 2.545)
Class 3S-Region 4
1. Naples Golden Gate (5-2, 11.875) vs. 8. Cape Coral Mariner (7-0, 5.716)
2. Naples (7-1, 10.710) vs. vs. 7. Naples Barron Collier (5-2, 5.726)
3. Parrish Community (6-1, 8.547) vs. 6. Port Charlotte (6-2, 6.066)
4. Fort Myers (5-2, 7.165) vs. 5. Fort Myers Dunbar (5-2, 6.925)
Locals out: Braden River (2-4, -1.764), Southeast (0-7, -8.725)
Class 2S-Region 4
1. Fort Meade (6-0, 13.996) vs. 8. Wauchula Hardee (5-2, 1.149)
2. Fort Myers Bishop Verot (7-1, 11.294) vs. 7. Frostproof (5-2, 2.707)
3. Englewood Lemon Bay (7-0, 9.061) vs. 6. Mulberry (5-2, 2.780)
4. Estero (6-1, 6.931) vs. 5. Sarasota Booker (5-2, 3.445)
Locals out: Bayshore (3-4, -0.398)
