Hawks are No. 7, Jaguars No. 14 in initial Class 5A RPI football rankings from IHSAA

Ankeny running back Daniel Larmie tries to break a tackle during the Hawks’ 29-15 win over Ankeny Centennial on Sept. 19 at Ankeny Stadium. Both Ankeny and Centennial are listed among the top 16 teams in the initial Class 5A RPI rankings, which were unveiled Monday by the Iowa High School Athletic Association. (Photo by Evan Reiter)

Both Ankeny and Ankeny Centennial are in position to make the Class 5A football playoffs with three weeks left to go in the regular season.

The Iowa High School Athletic Association unveiled its initial RPI rankings for Class 5A on Monday. The Hawks are No. 7 with an RPI of 0.6085, while the Jaguars are No. 14 with an RPI of 0.5285.

The RPI formula was instituted in 2018, using each team’s record, their opponents’ record, and their opponents opponents’ record to determine relative strength in a single regular season. Class 5A uses RPI to determine all 16 playoff qualifiers.

Here are the top 16 teams in the Class 5A RPI rankings, with each team’s record and their RPI:

1. Waukee Northwest 6-0, 0.6934

2. Dowling Catholic 5-1, 0.6685

3. Johnston 5-1, 0.6656

4. Valley 5-1, 0.6556

5. Sioux City East 5-1, 0.6224

6. Iowa City Liberty 5-1, 0.6121

7. ANKENY 4-2, 0.6085

8. Southeast Polk 4-2, 0.5949

9. Cedar Falls 5-1, 0.5903

10. Iowa City West 5-1, 0.5676

11. Cedar Rapids Prairie 4-2, 0.5656

12. Dallas Center-Grimes 4-2, 0.5527

13. Indianola 4-2, 0.5486

14. ANKENY CENTENNIAL 3-3, 0.5285

15. Waukee 2-4, 0.5180

16. Dubuque Senior 3-3, 0.5118