757, the VHSL rankings are interesting and fun to get the season rolling once again, but you have to remember one key thing. I don't know the algorithm they use to make their predictions, but I assume it is heavily based on recent performance, historical success, and this year's (VHSL rated) strength of schedule. There is almost always a team that is historically not a "strong" program that puts it all together and they appear in the VHSL rankings by the end of the season. I am quite sure the VHSL does not use any humans to pore over things like returning players, so their predictions are probably strictly based on a computer projection. That is why you end up seeing the same teams year after year as long as they are consistently a strong program.
But let the games begin!