The rankings are in...

...for Week Two. And Lincoln-Way East, led by quarterback Tom Fuessel (above), may be the most underrated team in the Chicago papers. (All schools are undefeated unless otherwise noted.)

MaxPreps:

1. Bolingbrook
2. Prairie Ridge
3. Lincoln-Way East
4. Glenbard West
5. Rockford Boylan
6. Wheaton North
7. Waubonsie Valley
8. Aurora Christian
9. Maine South
10. Montini (1-1)

Chicago Sun-Times:

1. Maine South
2. Bolingbrook
3. Glenbard West
4. Mount Carmel
5. Marist
6. Loyola (1-1)
7. Lincoln-Way East
8. Wheaton North
9. Montini (1-1)
10. Neuqua Valley


Chicago Tribune:

1. Bolingbrook
2. Maine South
3. Mount Carmel
4. Glenbard West
5. Loyola (1-1)
6. Marist
7. Lincoln-Way East
8. Wheaton North
9. St. Rita (1-1)
10. Montini (1-1)

As you can see from my handy-dandy coloring scheme, the three major polls (that I know of) have six teams in common: Bolingbrook, Lincoln-Way East, Glenbard West, Wheaton North, Maine South and Montini.

I guess my first observation is that MaxPreps has Waubonsie Valley and Aurora Christian in the Top Ten in place of Loyola and Marist. Really?

Waubonsie Valley beat Naperville Central (0-2) and Oswego (1-1). Granted, those are two quality wins. (Naperville Central and Wheaton Warrenville South are probably the two best 0-2 teams in the nation.) But Aurora Christian beat two arguably weak teams, DuSable (0-2) and St. Edward (1-1). Why are the Eagles in the Top Ten?

Loyola, on the other hand, beat Simeon (1-1) and lost by a point to Dallas Jesuit (1-0). And Marist beat St. Rita (1-1) and Brother Rice (1-1). I'd have the Ramblers and the Red Hawks in there somewhere.

As for the Chicago papers, what is this fascination they have for Mount Carmel? (MaxPreps has them at No. 19.) The Caravan have a "favorable" schedule this year, playing only four teams that had winning records in 2011. So far, they beat two 1-1 teams, St. Patrick (3-6 last year) and Morgan Park (4-6). And they play a deceptively weak 2-0 team this weekend, De La Salle (4-5 last year).

I saw Mount Carmel play four times last year, against Morgan Park, Loyola, St. Rita and Bolingbrook. (They seemed to get worse as the season went on.) And -- I'm telling you -- this is not your father's (or even your older brother's) Caravan. Prove me wrong, Coach Lenti.

As for the rest of it, Lincoln-Way East beat two good teams, Carmel and Montini. (I think the moral of the story from the Montini game isn't that the Broncos are overrated -- they are certainly not -- but that the Griffins are really that good.)

And Glenbard West and Maine South deserve to be in the Top Ten if only for beating Wheaton Warrenville South. You know the Tigers will go deep in the playoffs.

Finally, keep your eye on Wheaton North. As my dad used to say, they're a sleeper.