Florida and Louisiana Best Prep Football States

May 7, 2026 geomtimba

31 states are represented in the latest rankings of America’s 100 best prep grid teams, but more than half of the teams come from six states. Here’s how the states rank.

The Trinity Trojans from Euless, Texas head the latest Rivals.com high school football rankings, but Florida teams dominate the list of the top 100 teams in the nation. When state size is taken into consideration, Louisiana leads the nation on a per capita basis.

The 2008 rankings represent a major shakeup from the Top 25 consensus rankings of 2025.

Eleven Florida teams scored a total of 666 points in the 2026 rankings when the schools are given 100 points for first, 99 for second, etc. No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas, No. 4 Armwood, No. 12 Lakeland and No. 21 Madison led the Florida group.

Trinity 13-0

Texas had 12 teams in the 2026 Top 100 scoring 591 points for second place among the states. Besides 13-0 Trinity, Texas had No. 9 Allen, 12-1.

California also had 12 teams, led by No. 5 Centennial, No. 8 Poly and No. 25. St. Bonaventure. The 12 scored 537 points for third place.

Next were:

Georgia with six teams and 363 points. The Georgians were led by No. 14 Camden Count High and No. 28 Newnan.
Louisiana with five teams and 307 points. No 23 West Monroe led Louisiana, followed by No. 30 John Curtis and No. 31 Destrehan.
Ohio with five teams and 300 points. No. 3 St. Ignatius paced Ohio.

Louisiana Leads On Per Capita Basis

When comparing the states by size, Louisiana leads on a per capita basis with one point per 13,681 people. That compares with Florida’s one point per 27,402 people, Georgia’s 31,800, Ohio’s 38,200, Texas’ 40.439 and California’s 68,603. Those comparisons are based on official 2025 populations, ranging from Louisiana’s 4.2 million to California’s 36.6 million.

The 2008 Rivals list includes 55 unbeaten teams among the Top 100, an indication of how difficult it is to compare high school teams across the nation. The unbeatens include twelve teams at 14-0, twenty-one with 13-0 records, seventeen at 12-0 and five at 11-0.

Rivals.com rankings

Other states scoring 100 or more points in the Rivals Top 100:

Pennsylvania 259 by four teams
Virginia 227 by three teams
Arizona 223 by four teams
Mississippi 216 by four teams
South Carolina 189 by three teams
Oklahoma 129 by two teams
Alabama 126 by two teams
Washington 124 by two teams
Kentucky 116 by two teams
New Jersey 104 by three teams

The above numbers are based on the December 1, 2008 Rivals.com rankings compiled by Dallas Jackson, managing producer of RivalsHigh.com. The publication says the list is ranked with the help of its “network of high school site publishers, recruiting analysts and AMP team.”

Florida Dominated in 2007

Florida also dominated the consensus Top 25 rankings in 2007, thanks to No. 1 Northwestern of Miami, No. 5 Booker T. Washington of Miami and No. 8 Pahokee. In 2008 Northwestern dropped to No. 36, Pahokee fell to No. 55 and Washington did not make the Top 100 list.

California was second in 2025 with four teams in the Top 25. Ohio was third and Texas fourth.

Trinity was 20th in the 2025 consensus rankings and St. Thomas Aquinas was 23rd. St. Ignatius did not make the Top 25 consensus rankings in 2025.