Football Top 20

The Boston Globe preseason Top 20 is out and, while any preseason poll is merely a slightly educated crapshoot, here's some thoughts on how we put together the first batch of rankings:

1. Everett -- Well, duh.

2. Dartmouth -- You could make a case for the Indians as a preseason No. 1 (there's certainly talent here), but the fact remains they lost to Everett in the Division 1 Super Bowl and both teams endured tough graduation losses, so the Indians remain one spot behind the Tide.

3. BC High -- Seemingly the only turnover the Eagles experienced was at head coach. The team could endure some transition pains under first-year coach Jon Bartlett, but we'd be surprised if they didn't win the Catholic Conference again.

4. St. John's Prep -- And despite the fact that we just gushed about BC High, the rest of the Catholic Conference seems to have closed the gap from last season (a down year for both the Prep and Xaverian). The other Eagles have the potential to challenge for that league title.

5. Walpole -- With all due respect to the Bay State Conference, we've got the Rebels penciled in at 9-0 before closing the season with matchups against Natick and Weymouth.

6. Brockton -- From what we saw in the preseason, the alleged "rebuilding process" in Brockton didn't take long. The matchup with Brockton tonight should be phenomenal.

7. Natick -- The only thing not to like about this team is the new nickname.

8. Dracut -- The Middies have a fun offense that will put a lot of points on the board, but we want to see what the defense can do in a rigid Merrimack Valley Conference. Dracut could very well start the season 0-2, but there's no shame in that.

9. Marshfield -- Some tough matchups in the first three weeks (Beverly Hills, Mansfield), but we think the Rams brought back enough to get back to the Division 1A Super Bowl.

10. Mansfield -- The Hornets struggled to move the ball in a preseason scrimmage against BC High, but the Eagles have a way of making any team's offense look bad.

11. Acton-Boxboro -- No silly tie-breakers to hold the Colonials back this fall.

12. Foxboro -- We like what the Warriors brought back this fall and think it'll be another three-way race atop the Hockomock with Mansfield and North Attleboro.

13. Chelmsford -- Don't sleep on the Lions because of graduation losses. Let's remember they are defending Division 1A Super Bowl champs.

14. Lincoln-Sudbury -- If you see one DCL game this year, make it the Nov. 7 matchup between L-S and Acton-Boxboro.

15. Tewksbury -- The Redmen (hey, someone in this state still goes by Redmen!) didn't bring back a lot of returners, but there's talent here -- particularly on the lines -- and they'll be in the mix.

16. Xaverian -- We've got friends who are really high on the Hawks, but we're taking a wait-and-see approach.

17. Duxbury -- The biggest bummer about the Dracut-Brockton game being moved to Friday is that we won't be able to check out the Xaverian-Duxbury game. These Dragons have talent.

18. Weymouth -- Much like Tewksbury, the Wildcats might be short on the number of returning starters, but we like the talent they do bring back.

19. Gloucester -- The Fishermen will be hard-pressed to ever duplicate the success of the 2007 season, but there's plenty left in the tank for 2008.

20. Masconomet -- When you fearlessly schedule St. John's Prep, you've got big plans for the season.

The Boston.com Top 100 will be coming later.