After WC, I think it will be a dogfight between their neighbors for the #2 spot. No one has a clear pre-season advantage in my opinion.
I've gathered that WC is reloading, which doesn't mean much but might give a short window of opportunity to the right team on the right night. Whether that's Joplin week 2 or CJ in districts who knows. Roderique made remarks similar to what he said prior to the 4-loss season a couple years ago. So I may not predict a state championship, but not putting them atop the COC is really going out on a limb.
Carthage is losing some exceptional athletes that won a track state championship but they also return some key positions. I think they will be good, but better than the other local COC teams, we'll have to play the game to find out.
We've talked Joplin into the ground. They could lay an egg amid high expectations or they could win the conference. Neither would surprise me. Part of me sees Joplin as the biggest threat to Webb City this regular season. I'm interested to see how they do.
CJ is without Weston and graduated a lot but in my mind that's ofset by Buckmasters unusually positive and optimistic comments about his team. So who knows, maybe they have a shot to hurdle WC in districts.
After those 4 I don't think there is any clear order. Nixa, Willard and sometimes Ozark tend to keep winning records. But I see some momentum in Branson, Neosho and Republic where the others seem flat. I think Republic is a team to watch, but I also said that a couple years ago.
