2025 wpial discussion

[northalleghenytiger]

Thought this would be a good time to start

Central has to be the betting favorite, but Walker Jr. always has a trick up his sleeve, so Il go with them

Pine is the favorite I’d imagine, USC lost a ton. I’m not sure about Peters

 

[2020sports]

Thought this would be a good time to start

Central has to be the betting favorite, but Walker Jr. always has a trick up his sleeve, so Il go with them

Pine is the favorite I’d imagine, USC lost a ton. I’m not sure about Peters

good call- yes May seems reasonable- I just looked at this fall's brackets- at this moment, id say

1a- Ft Cherry- cant go against Sieg, he is a stud
2a-Seton LeSalle- seems they are due
3a- Central Valley- again, they are due
4a- TJ- seems they have figured some things out the last few years- great coach still goin strong
5a- PR- Peters and USC i think will not be as strong as 24
6a- PCC- NA close second, and maybe some better competition from Seneca and Lebo

 

[BradlyPitt]

it's the same teams every year pretty much, any of you ever think this is boring?

1A - Clairton they should've won it last year, they were young which means they should be better
2A Seton Lasalle they have a lot of D1 prospects
3A Central Valley because they are always up there, even last year in a "down year"
4A Mckeesport they have to break through sooner or later, they have Kemon Spell
5A PR because they always reload and their stars are still young
6A Central there is no reason to think otherwise with the talent they have on the lines

 

[northalleghenytiger]

it's the same teams every year pretty much, any of you ever think this is boring?

1A - Clairton they should've won it last year, they were young which means they should be better
2A Seton Lasalle they have a lot of D1 prospects
3A Central Valley because they are always up there, even last year in a "down year"
4A Mckeesport they have to break through sooner or later, they have Kemon Spell
5A PR because they always reload and their stars are still young
6A Central there is no reason to think otherwise with the talent they have on the lines

It’s boring for sure. The only interesting year really was 2021, with lots wpial public schools winning states. 2023 NA vs Central was also entertaining. Other than that, pretty boring. Last year was dreadful. Hopefully the go back to 4 classes

 

[2020sports]

It’s boring for sure. The only interesting year really was 2021, with lots wpial public schools winning states. 2023 NA vs Central was also entertaining. Other than that, pretty boring. Last year was dreadful. Hopefully the go back to 4 classes

BP or tiger- what in the world do you mean by "boring?"

If you mean it's the "same schools" that's just not true. Seton Lesalle and McKesport have not won a wpial title in 20 years.

And tiger- if we had only 4 classes, there would be LESS variety. Over the last 3 years there have prob been like 20 different schools competing.

There are many things the wpial could do, to make this better / more exciting, but they either don't care, or don't understand what would make it better.

 

[northalleghenytiger]

BP or tiger- what in the world do you mean by "boring?"

If you mean it's the "same schools" that's just not true. Seton Lesalle and McKesport have not won a wpial title in 20 years.

And tiger- if we had only 4 classes, there would be LESS variety. Over the last 3 years there have prob been like 20 different schools competing.

There are many things the wpial could do, to make this better / more exciting, but they either don't care, or don't understand what would make it better.

​

it’s boring in my eyes because when classifications split and 6A shrunk to just a handful of teams, the prestige of winning a WPIAL title in the highest class really took a hit. it's hard to celebrate a championship when you’re playing in essentially a mini-league of five or six teams. It feels more like a round-robin trophy than a real gauntlet. I hate to say that as an NA fan, but no one really care about their wpial title wins, as evident by people on this forum

Back when 4A was the biggest classification, winning the WPIAL was a war. You had legit powerhouses like Woodland Hills, Central Catholic, North Hills, McKeesport, Upper St. Clair, Gateway—20+ top-tier programs competing. That gave WPIAL titles real weight, even without a state championship. So while they won zero state titles, Woody High’s early-2000s run meant something because of the depth of competition. That’s why a lot of people speak fondly of them, even on this website

I believe the only 6A teams that will be remembered are 2017 Pine-Richland and 2021 Mt. Lebanon. They transcended the watered-down format by statistical domination and winning states

 

[2020sports]

​

it’s boring in my eyes because when classifications split and 6A shrunk to just a handful of teams, the prestige of winning a WPIAL title in the highest class really took a hit. it's hard to celebrate a championship when you’re playing in essentially a mini-league of five or six teams. It feels more like a round-robin trophy than a real gauntlet. I hate to say that as an NA fan, but no one really care about their wpial title wins, as evident by people on this forum

Back when 4A was the biggest classification, winning the WPIAL was a war. You had legit powerhouses like Woodland Hills, Central Catholic, North Hills, McKeesport, Upper St. Clair, Gateway—20+ top-tier programs competing. That gave WPIAL titles real weight, even without a state championship. So while they won zero state titles, Woody High’s early-2000s run meant something because of the depth of competition. That’s why a lot of people speak fondly of them, even on this website

I believe the only 6A teams that will be remembered are 2017 Pine-Richland and 2021 Mt. Lebanon. They transcended the watered-down format by statistical domination and winning states

ok, I hear ya- but this stuff only really effects 6A. Still pretty impressive to win at 1-5. And, even though there are negatives, there are a lot more teams benefitting from the 6 levels- better chance for winning records, playoffs, which keeps more kids playing football, so that is a positive.

For 6A, the reality is if it was 4 levels, imo, PR and Peters are the only teams that would have given any challenge to PCC and NA in the last 3 years- things would not have been much different- imo, 99% likely NA would have still won in 23 and PCC would have still won in 24. 22, not sure, maybe PR could have wo 6A.

imo- there's a whole lot of things the WPIAL could do to make postseason better- better media coverage, better "free access" to watching on TV or streaming- and how about this- ALL home playoffs games? Except for the final, which would NOT be played at Norwin, which is terrible- maybe Highmark Stadium, or Robert Morris Field

 

[steelcurtain55.]

This upcoming fall I'm hearing Southmoreland's QB - Anthony Smith (Syracuse offer) is transferring to Seton LaSalle for the Catholic education...

 

[BradlyPitt]

ok, I hear ya- but this stuff only really effects 6A. Still pretty impressive to win at 1-5. And, even though there are negatives, there are a lot more teams benefitting from the 6 levels- better chance for winning records, playoffs, which keeps more kids playing football, so that is a positive.

For 6A, the reality is if it was 4 levels, imo, PR and Peters are the only teams that would have given any challenge to PCC and NA in the last 3 years- things would not have been much different- imo, 99% likely NA would have still won in 23 and PCC would have still won in 24. 22, not sure, maybe PR could have wo 6A.

imo- there's a whole lot of things the WPIAL could do to make postseason better- better media coverage, better "free access" to watching on TV or streaming- and how about this- ALL home playoffs games? Except for the final, which would NOT be played at Norwin, which is terrible- maybe Highmark Stadium, or Robert Morris Field

PR beat both NA and Central in the 2022 regular season, that was the year when everybody was really down on wpial 6A

 

[BradlyPitt]

​

it’s boring in my eyes because when classifications split and 6A shrunk to just a handful of teams, the prestige of winning a WPIAL title in the highest class really took a hit. it's hard to celebrate a championship when you’re playing in essentially a mini-league of five or six teams. It feels more like a round-robin trophy than a real gauntlet. I hate to say that as an NA fan, but no one really care about their wpial title wins, as evident by people on this forum

Back when 4A was the biggest classification, winning the WPIAL was a war. You had legit powerhouses like Woodland Hills, Central Catholic, North Hills, McKeesport, Upper St. Clair, Gateway—20+ top-tier programs competing. That gave WPIAL titles real weight, even without a state championship. So while they won zero state titles, Woody High’s early-2000s run meant something because of the depth of competition. That’s why a lot of people speak fondly of them, even on this website

I believe the only 6A teams that will be remembered are 2017 Pine-Richland and 2021 Mt. Lebanon. They transcended the watered-down format by statistical domination and winning states

I think we would've had the same 6A champ every year except 2022 and 2020

2018 is debatable when Penn Hills won 5A, I don't think that PR team was very strong and it benefited them greatly when Seneca Valley got hot and knocked off some teams that were better than they were

but I definitely miss the 4 class system

 

[BradlyPitt]

BP or tiger- what in the world do you mean by "boring?"

If you mean it's the "same schools" that's just not true. Seton Lesalle and McKesport have not won a wpial title in 20 years.

And tiger- if we had only 4 classes, there would be LESS variety. Over the last 3 years there have prob been like 20 different schools competing.

There are many things the wpial could do, to make this better / more exciting, but they either don't care, or don't understand what would make it better.

yes it is boring with the same teams every year

it's rare for a team to come out of nowhere, we could probably predict who wins titles 3 years from now with good accuracy

 

[northalleghenytiger]

Okay I have some intel from someone related to the Central Catholic coaching staff—-

They are very confident in winning states this year. Apparently they are also extremely strong. I find this hard to believe, but it is said that they have around 15 players that can bench at least 315. Apparently some teams do a powerlifting meet thing and max out, which is why they know the numbers. Their offensive line is all atleast above 6’4, so they are huge

 

[bummer01]

Okay I have some intel from someone related to the Central Catholic coaching staff—-

They are very confident in winning states this year. Apparently they are also extremely strong. I find this hard to believe, but it is said that they have around 15 players that can bench at least 315. Apparently some teams do a powerlifting meet thing and max out, which is why they know the numbers. Their offensive line is all atleast above 6’4, so they are huge

It will come down to coaching in the end. They'll be in the 6A WPIAL title game, but they would've beaten 5A P-R the last two years if they had better coaching and gotten past NA two years ago in the WPIAL final.

 

[bucksftball]

Okay I have some intel from someone related to the Central Catholic coaching staff—-

They are very confident in winning states this year. Apparently they are also extremely strong. I find this hard to believe, but it is said that they have around 15 players that can bench at least 315. Apparently some teams do a powerlifting meet thing and max out, which is why they know the numbers. Their offensive line is all atleast above 6’4, so they are huge

I don't see how this has ever been in doubt, beyond conspiracies that they are somehow "over-recruited." As mentioned above, they still need to be able to play as a team and at least match the other top teams in scheme, which they could not do in last year's state championship game. They'll need their QB to mature quickly, but SJP won last year in a similar situation. The LaSalle matchup will show their staff where they are in relation to another top 5 team in the state and then give them two months to benchmark and improve. (Unless of course they knock off LaSalle, which is certainly a possibility.)

 

[new2pa]

The idea that PCC, without a QB, will be able to run the ball consistently vs SJP in a championship game doesn’t make sense to me.

I doubt they are better up front than the Hinish, Thorpe, etc team in 2016 and IIRC that championship game wasn’t close.

Unless their QB and skill can make plays, I’ll take SJP. Plus the coaching edge.

Not yelling at you Tiger, but until that crew now at PCC wins against good comp, I’ll remain a skeptic.