High school football 2024 preseason rankings: Bay Area News Group Top 25

After an uninterrupted two-year reign at the top of the Bay Area News Group football rankings, a new – yet familiar – team takes Serra’s No. 1 spot in these rankings to start the 2024 season. 

Perennial North Coast Section champion De La Salle, fresh of an appearance in the CIF 1-AA state title game and touting returning talent at virtually every position, is BANG’s top team.

De La Salle has a non-league schedule befitting the ranking. The Spartans open the season against Sacramento juggernaut Grant before welcoming a retooled Serra squad in Week 2.

Nipping at the Concord powerhouse’s tail is loaded Pittsburg, which returns quarterback Marley Alcantara and UCLA commits JuJu Walls (edge rusher) and Jadyn Hudson (safety/receiver). 

The Pirates will play host to San Francisco juggernaut Archbishop Riordan in Week 4. The Crusaders return the majority of their high-end talent – Washington–bound WR Chris Lawson the best of the decorated bunch – and start the season in the Top 5. 

We’re not counting out Serra, though, even if the majority of its core has graduated. Patrick Walsh’s Padres start the season on Friday night with a major road test at Folsom. 

Three schools that weren’t in the final Top 25 last season — Bishop O’Dowd, Menlo-Atherton and Monte Vista — are ranked to begin this one.

Monte Vista, after a four-win season last fall, could vastly outperform its No. 14 ranking. RB Julian McMahan (Washington), TE Kellan Ford (Arizona) and QB Brayden Turner (Fresno State) are all Division I talents.

Menlo-Atherton is ranked 22nd and Bishop O’Dowd is 24th. 

On to the Top 25 …

Bay Area News Group Top 25

(Mercury News & East Bay Times)

No. 1 DE LA SALLE

Final 2023 ranking: 2

Season opener: Friday vs. Grant-Sacramento, 7:30 p.m.

No. 2 PITTSBURG

Final 2023 ranking: 3

Season opener: Friday at Monterey Trail-Elk Grove, 7:15 p.m.

No. 3 ARCHBISHOP RIORDAN

Final 2023 ranking: 11

Season opener: Friday at McClymonds, 7 p.m.

No. 4 SERRA

Final 2023 ranking: 1

Season opener: Friday at Folsom, 7:30 p.m.

No. 5 MCCLYMONDS

Final 2023 ranking: 9

Season opener: Friday vs. Archbishop Riordan, 7 p.m.

No. 6 EL CERRITO

Final 2023 ranking: 7

Season opener: Friday vs. Amador Valley, 7 p.m.

No. 7 ST. FRANCIS

Final 2023 ranking: 13

Season opener: Friday at Helix-San Diego, 7 p.m.

No. 8 SAN RAMON VALLEY

Final 2023 ranking: 4

Season opener: Friday vs. St. Ignatius, 7 p.m.

No. 9 VALLEY CHRISTIAN

Final 2023 ranking: 14

Season opener: Friday at Wilcox, 7 p.m.

No. 10 LOS GATOS

Final 2023 ranking: 5

Season opener: Friday at Soquel, 7:30 p.m.

No. 11 CLAYTON VALLEY CHARTER

Final 2023 ranking: 20

Season opener: Friday vs. Spanish Springs-Nevada, 7 p.m.

No. 12 WILCOX

Final 2023 ranking: 12

Season opener: Friday vs. Valley Christian, 7 p.m.

No. 13 CAMPOLINDO

Final 2023 ranking: 8

Season opener: Friday vs. Vanden-Fairfield, 7 p.m.

No. 14 MONTE VISTA

Final 2023 ranking: Not ranked

Season opener: Friday vs. Granada, 7:15 p.m.

No. 15 LIBERTY

Final 2023 ranking: 19

Season opener: Friday vs. Frontier-Bakersfield, 7 p.m.

No. 16 LAS LOMAS

Final 2023 ranking: 16

Season opener: Friday at Vintage-Napa, 7 p.m.

No. 17 ST. IGNATIUS

Final 2023 ranking: 10

Season opener: Friday at San Ramon Valley, 7 p.m.

No. 18 CALIFORNIA

Final 2023 ranking: 15

Season opener: Friday vs. Patterson, 7 p.m.

No. 19 LIVE OAK

Final 2023 ranking: 22

Season opener: Friday vs. Palma-Salinas, 7:15 p.m.

No. 20 ACALANES

Final 2023 ranking: 6

Season opener: Friday vs. Lowell-San Francisco, 7 p.m.

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No. 21 SACRED HEART PREP

Final 2023 ranking: 23

Season opener: Friday at Seaside, 7:30 p.m.

No. 22 MENLO-ATHERTON

Final 2023 ranking: Not ranked

Season opener: Saturday vs. Bellarmine, 7 p.m.

No. 23 CHRISTOPHER

Final 2023 ranking: 17

Season opener: Thursday vs. Carmel, 7:30 p.m.

No. 24 BISHOP O’DOWD

Final 2023 ranking: Not ranked

Season opener: Friday vs. Tamalpais, 7 p.m.

No. 25 MENLO SCHOOL

Final 2023 ranking: 18

Season opener: Saturday vs. Tennyson, 2 p.m.

Editor’s note: Teams eligible for the Bay Area News Group rankings come from leagues based predominantly in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. The news organization’s high school staff chooses the teams.

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