Can it be? Is it really that time of the year? Formal practices for basketball season commenced, as they do every year, on October 15th and the start of the regular season is looming in the post-Thanksgiving future, the first official tip-offs happening on November 30th.
The 12th Region is at a transition point. So many familiar names have now graduated - Kole Grundy and Aedyn Absher of Somerset, Seth Farmer and Kendall Phillips of Wayne County, Leek Ateny and Ben Mikels of DCA, Carson Fraley of Pulaski, Walker Craig of Rockcastle, Zachary Hutchinson of Southwestern, Peyton Higginbothan of McCreary Central, Gavin Murphy of West Jessamine, Jack Baker of Somerset Christian, and Sawyer Robbins of Lincoln County, among others not mentioned here. Virtually every roster has seen one of their cornerstones removed and teams across the region will be faced with the challenge of filling missing shoes.
That lack of star power has caused things to be fairly quiet over the offseason and leading into this coming season. DCA was making waves on a statewide basis the last few years. There is no team in the 12th this year anywhere close to that status. There is no team that you look at and go, "HERE, here they are!"
Now, that's not to say it's all doom and gloom and the quality of basketball will be low. Lower than the last couple of years, maybe, and especially early, but this is still a super-competitive region with high quality coaching and some exceptional student-athletes. In particular, think of this year's theme as blue collar. The players who at the top of these rosters are going to be blue collar, insomuch that they do the little things right, that they work hard, and that they are fairly tough-nosed athletes. Last year we had Phillips, Ateny, and Craig. This year we have Brock Stevens and Guy Turner of Somerset, Cash Baird of Lincoln, Ryder Bell and Rylan Morgan of Wayne, Luk Tut of West Jessamine, Tyson Duke of East Jessamine, and more. But wow - think of those players. That is a ton of physicality and athleticism but maybe not so much on the pure scoring.
What does that mean? We already know this region has tended to be more low scoring and defensive minded, especially during the DCA rise to the top but even in the years before when we think about Lincoln, Boyle, West Jessamine, Wayne County and more. It is going to be even more intense in that way this year. I expect highly competitive games albeit ugly ones.
Give me grace on the rankings as it is called for. I am always open to missing transfers and injuries that don't appear online. Also, I expect the rankings this year to be incredibly fluid early as it really is that wide open. Like I opened with, this really is a big transition year for the region.

Dupont Manual ♈ vs. Male 🟣🟡
Records/Rankings
♈ | 8-1, 6A #3
🟣🟡 | 5-4, 6A #8

“The Old Rivalry”. The tables have turned, with the Crimsons seizing control. As Male feels its way through a transitional period, Manual is thriving with wins over St. Xavier and South Warren. The Dawgs are lacking any wins of substance and suffered a setback to Bullitt East last week. The temperature feels right for Manual to tighten its grip on the barrel with a third straight win over its ancient rival. The record books have to be dusted off for this one, which reaches all the way back to 1893. Male leads the all-time series 90-47-6. Manual crushed the Dawgs last year, 52-13, marking one of the biggest wins ever for the Crimsons in the series.

The Frederick Douglass Broncos (9-0) travel to Boyle County to take on the Rebels (8-1) for the 3rd time. This marks the 6th straight year that two of the best programs in central Kentucky will close out the regular season. So far the Rebels have won 4 of the first 5 meetings with the only Douglass win coming at Boyle Co. in 2022 when they went 15-0 and won the State 5A title.

Class 1A
1. Pikeville
2. Raceland
3. Sayre
4. Middlesboro
5. Kentucky Country Day
6. Bethlehem
7. Paintsville
8. Louisville Holy Cross
9. Newport Central Catholic
10. Eminence

The KHSAA is currently showing a RPI ranking for all teams but from reading the KHSAA release on 9-8-26 about RPI, the "Official RPI Rankings" will be released in the next week or so. Here are the unofficial, official 2A RPI Rankings as of 9-14-26:BeechwoodMayfieldSomersetOwensboro CatholicDanvilleBelfryLexington Christian AcademyPrestonsburgW.E.B. DuBois AcademyCaldwell CountyBreathitt CountyEast RidgeWalton-VeronaMonroe CountyGreen CountyKnott County CentralOwen CountySt. Henry DistrictBetsy LayneMartin CountyLeslie CountyShelby ValleyWest CarterFort KnoxWashington CountyMcLean CountyTrigg CountyFloyd CentralBracken CountyMetcalfe CountyHancock CountyThe Academy @ ShawneeJackson CountyCrittenden CountyMorgan CountyGallatin CountyFort CampbellTodd County CentralPike County CentralClinton Countyhttps://khsaa.arbiterwebsites.com/rpi-compilation/standings-rpi-26-27-football/

1. Trinity 124.04
2. Christian Academy - Lou. 113.15
3. Beechwood 97.85
4. Highlands 94.47
5. Boyle County 93.85
6. Frederick Douglass 92.76
7. Paducah Tilghman 91.16
8. Covington Catholic 91.1
9. Manual 89.68
10. South Warren 81.72
11. Pulaski County 80.27
12. Madison Central 79.35
13. Woodford County 78.85
14. Owensboro Catholic 75.97
15. Lexington Catholic 75.3
16. Lexington Christian 74.93
17. Owensboro 74.52
18. St. Xavier 74.51
19. Pikeville 74.11
20. Scott County 70.88
21. West Jessamine 69.96
22. Corbin 68.91
23. Mayfield 68.38
24. Madisonville N. Hopkins 64.6
25. Somerset 64.51