The Statewide Media Poll is back this season, but in a new home with Arizona Varsity. 

The 2A and 3A conferences will be the first to be released, with 4A through 6A to follow next week, as well as updated rankings for the two small school conferences. 

Last year’s debut with Hypamark was a success, as 20 media members from around the state joined in to bring athletes, coaches, administrators and fans a look every week at where each team stands in the eyes of the people who are on the ground daily at practices, games and film sessions. 

As the media poll transitions now to Arizona Varsity, there have been a couple of minor changes put into place. First, there will no longer be an Open Division poll. Media members will only vote on the 2A through 6A conferences. 

We will also not have 1A this season. While it is statewide, 8-man football isn’t well known in the Valley, with only a handful of teams playing. The AIA does a great job with those rankings, so to avoid low participation numbers, we will take a step back from that conference. 

Arizona Varsity staff photographer JJ Digos is partnering with me to bring you the rankings each week. We will both calculate the numbers and he will drop them into a graphic. Also, congratulations to JJ for being named the girls soccer coach at Apache Junction!

If you missed it last year, here’s a brief breakdown of how the polls will work. 

• Each media member will be asked to rank teams 1-10
• Every team will then be given a point value for their rankings (No. 1 gets 10 points, No. 2 gets 9 points, etc.)
• Teams will be put in order based on the number of points – or number of votes – they receive. 
• Teams who are outside the top 10 but still receive votes will be included in the graphic

A disclaimer: This is in no way meant to simulate or be used for playoff seeding. This is simply how things look in the eyes of the media. The AIA formula is still used to determine final playoff brackets. 

Many of the same media members have returned for another season. We also added some new faces, including some up-and-coming stars in the community. 

Here are this year’s voters: 

• Adam Beadle, Arizona Varsity
• Brandon Jones, BJ Media
• Brittany Bowyer, All Sports Tucson
• Chris Eaton, Arizona Varsity
• Cody Cameron, Sports360AZ
• Eric Newman, Legacy Voter
• JJ Digos, Arizona Varsity
• Julian Villalobos, WSS Arizona
• Jose Bandilla, Pinal Central
• Konnor McMaster, WSS Arizona
• Lee Patterson, Gila Valley Prep Sports
• Logan Stanley, Arizona Republic
• Gregg Rosenberg, Arizona Varsity
• Mason Byers, BJ Media
• Ralph Amsden, Arizona Varsity
• Richard Obert, Arizona Republic
• Richard Smith, West Valley Preps
• Zach Alvira, Arizona Varsity
• Four anonymous voters

While every voter is encouraged to participate every week, it is not mandatory. 

This is the most exciting time of the year for sports fans, especially those who love football. Arizona Varsity is setting out to make it more enjoyable for fans with top-notch content, analysis and pure fun. And if you’ve seen the group of people involved, you know we like to have fun. 

If you have any suggestions for the media poll, please feel free to DM on X/Twitter: @ZachAlvira, or send me an email: zachary.alvira@gmail.com. 

Any complaints about the media poll should be directed to Cody Cameron and Eric Newman.

Week 0 Statewide Media Rankings: 2A-3A