What is the ‘second’ Sweet 16 high school football poll? And who’s in it?
The Charlotte Observer began the Sweet 16 high school football poll nearly 40 years. It remains one of the most popular features of the newspaper’s coverage of prep sports.
Today, for the first time, we’re going to add to the Sweet 16. We’ll be ranking, in preseason only, the “second Sweet 16.” This is a list of the second-best 16 teams in the newspaper’s coverage zone, which covers more than 140 schools in 16 counties.
The official Sweet 16 will be revealed Monday night at 7 on “Talking Preps,” our streaming sports show. UNC football coach Mack Brown will be a guest host. You can watch on The Observer’s Facebook, YouTube or Twitter pages.
The ‘second’ Sweet 16
| Rk. | School (Cl) | 2019 Rec. |
| 17. | Ardrey Kell (4A) | 11-2 |
| 18. | Mooresville (4A) | 8-5 |
| 19. | Olympic (4A) | 8-4 |
| 20. | North Lincoln (2A) | 12-5 |
| 21. | Lake Norman (4A) | 6-6 |
| 22. | Alexander Central (3A) | 8-4 |
| 23. | Newton-Conover (2A) | 8-5 |
| 24. | Cox Mill (3A) | 7-5 |
| 25. | Porter Ridge (4A) | 7-6 |
| 26. | Watauga (3A) | 13-2 |
| 27. | Maiden (2A) | 9-4 |
| 28. | Independence (4A) | 6-6 |
| 29. | Hickory (3A) | 4-8 |
| 30. | Anson Senior (2A) | 7-3 |
| 31. | Central Cabarrus (3A) | 7-5 |
| 32. | West Rowan (3A) | 9-5 |
This story was originally published February 22, 2021 at 7:00 AM.