March Madness continued this past weekend in Indiana and Minnesota, as all the state champions around the country have now been crowned. The results in those basketball-crazed states did cause some movement in the second-to-last FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by Ballislife.com of the 2025-26 season, but no team was able to crack the rankings. The season will conclude on April 4 when a champions is crowned at Chipotle Nationals.
By Ronnie Flores
RELATED: Chipotle Nationals Field Announced | Chipotle Nationals All-Time Records
The Madness of March is winding down, as Arizona, Illinois, Michigan and UConn are headed to the NCAA Final Four. It’s ironic this year’s Final Four is in Indianapolis because March Madness definitely hit Indy this past Saturday as basketball crazed Indiana held its state finals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
In the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) Class 4A state title game, then FAB 50 No. 31 Crown Point (Ind.) took on No. 47 Mt. Vernon (Fortville, Ind.) in front of 11,000 fans. In the end, it was Mt. Vernon outlasting Crown Point, 52-50, as Purdue-bound guard Luke Ertel led the the way for the Maruaders with 26 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in the nail-biter.
Mt. Vernon trailed Crown Point, 30-20, at halftime and not only had to overcome the deficit, it also had to overcome Crown Point holding on to the ball for over a minute in the third period to the chagrin of the Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd. Some fans feel the real Madness is not having a shot clock in the high school game in every state, but Mt. Vernon was able to scratch and claw back into the game behind the play of Ertel, who scored 15 of his points in the second half.
Max Vise added 12 points, five rebounds and five blocks for Mt. Vernon.
With its win, Mt. Vernon won its first IHSAA title and moves up seven spots in the second-to-last FAB 50 of the 2025-26 season to No. 40. The Marauders won their last 11 games of the season and two of their losses were in overtime. Crown Point ended its season with two losses, including a split with Mt. Vernon, and did enough to stay in the rankings. The Bulldogs drop 18 spots but do remain in the FAB 50 at No. 49.
One of the reasons Crown Point was able to stay in the rankings was the March Madness in Minnesota. A series of upsets in the Minnesota High School League (MHSL) meant the No. 5 seed in the AAAA state tourney, Chaska (Minn.), met No. 7 seed Apple Valley (Minn.) in the AAAA title game.
Top seeded and previously unbeaten Tartan (Oakdale, Minn.) lost in the semifinals to Chaska. Apple Valley downed No. 3 seed Maple Grove (Minn.) in the semifinals after knocking off No. 2 seed and FAB 50 bubble club Wayzata (Plymouth, Minn.) in the quarterfinal. Had Tartan or Wayzata had won the state title, the winner likely cracks the FAB 50.
For Chaska, its ranking really doesn’t matter since it won its final game to capture the MHSL AAAA title with a 63-55 victory over Apple Valley at Williams Arena to end the season with 21 straight victories. Freshman Jed Keenan had 12 points and six rebounds for Chaska, while junior Kalin Jochum added 12 points, including 8-of-8 free throws, and four assists. In the semifinal win over Tartan, Keenan had 17 points and hit two clutch free throws down the stretch.
Chipotle Nationals Closes Season
While Chaska isn’t particularly concerned with a national ranking, the nine FAB 50 ranked teams participating in Chipotle Nationals, scheduled for April 1-4 at Hamilton Southeastern High School (Fishers, Ind.), will be. There is a good chance the winner of that end-of-season event will finish No. 1 in the FAB 50, but there is no guarantee.
Right now three of the participating teams have players who are part of the McDonald’s All-American Game festivities in Arizona. For more about the Chipotle Nationals field, CLICK HERE and for more about the McDonald’s All-American Game participants, CLICK HERE.
Updated FAB 50 National Team Rankings
Powered by Ballislife.com
(15th poll of 2025-26 regular season; Through games played on Sunday, March 29; *Indicates forfeit wins, forfeit losses not included; **Indicates forfeits and defaults not included; ***Indicates season not complete)
No. Prev. High School (City)Record
11Prolific Prep (Southwest Ranches, Fla.) 38-3***
22CIA Bella Vista (Phoenix, Ariz.)23-4***
33Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.)33-2***
44AZ Compass Prep (Chandler, Ariz.) 24-2**
55Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah)25-6***
66Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.)30-1
77Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.)21-6***
88Spire Academy (Geneva, Ohio)28-4***
99La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.)22-5
1010Calvary Christian Academy (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.)24-1
1111 Principia (St. Louis, Mo.)29-2
1212Wisconsin Lutheran (Milwaukee, Wis.)30-0
1313Oak Cliff Faith Family (Dallas, Texas)27-11
1414Brewster Academy (Wolfeboro, N.H.)30-6
1515Archbishop Stepinac (White Plains, N.Y.)26-4***
1616Link Academy (Branson, Mo.)23-4***
1717Bartlett (Bartlett, Tenn.)33-4**
1818 Greensboro Day (Greensboro, N.C.) 36-2
1919Sunnyslope (Phoenix, Ariz.)28-2
2020Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.)28-5**
2121Rainier Beach (Seattle, Wash.)29-1
2222North Crowley (Ft. Worth, Texas)35-3
2323Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.)27-7
2424IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.)21-8
2525St. Joseph (Santa Maria, Calif.)31-3
2626Columbus (Miami, Fla.) 26-6
2727Southeastern Prep Academy (Orlando, Fla.) 42-9
2828Richland (Richland, Wash.)28-0
2929Forsyth Country Day (Lewisville, N.C.)29-3
3030Ridgeview (Columbia, S.C.)27-3
3132St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, Md.)36-7
3233Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (Baltimore, Md.)30-11
3334St. John’s (Washington, D.C.)27-8
3435Heritage (Frisco, Texas) 34-2
3536Marist (Chicago, Ill.)33-5
3637Dream City Christian (Glendale, Ariz.) 18-10
3738Little Elm (Little Elm, Texas)37-2
3839Benet Academy (Lisle, Ill.)36-2
3940Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.)16-11
4047Mt. Vernon (Fortville, Ind.)28-3
4142Salesian (Richmond, Calif.)29-4
4243East St. Louis (East St. Louis, Ill.)33-4
4344Rockford (Rockford, Mich.)25-3
4441Olympus (Salt Lake City, Utah25-2
4545St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.)28-4
4646Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.)29-3
4748East Lansing (East Lansing, Mich.)27-2
4849Bearden (Knoxville, Tenn.)37-2
4931Crown Point (Crown Point, Ind.) 25-2
5050Petersburg (Petersburg, Va.)22-4
Dropped Out: None.
Bubble Teams: Academy of Central Florida (Kissimmee, Fla.) 30-8; Alexander (Douglasville, Ga.) 30-2; Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville, Fla.) 28-2; Apple Valley (Apple Valley, Minn.) 21-12; Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco, Calif.) 26-2**; Ashland-Greenwood (Ashland, Neb.) 28-1; Atascocita (Humble, Texas) 30-7; Bishop O’Connell (Arlington, Va.) 23-10; Booker T. Washington (Tulsa, Okla.) 24-2; Brennan (San Antonio, Texas) 33-4; Bryant (Bryant, Ark.) 29-4; Carl Albert (Midwest City, Okla.) 29-5; Cedar Falls (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 25-0; Central Dauphin (Harrisburg, Pa.) 30-3;(Chaska, Minn.) 28-4; Concord Academy (Concord, N.C.) 29-3; Curie (Chicago, Ill.) 28-2**; DePaul College Prep (Chicago, Ill.) 33-4; DME Academy (Daytona Beach, Fla.) 25-10; Father Judge (Philadelphia, Pa.) 18-12; Fishers (Fishers, Ind.) 24-1; Gainesville (Gainesville, Ga.) 30-1; George Rogers Clark (Winchester, Ky.) 32-4**; Imhotep Charter (Philadelphia, Pa.) 26-7; La Mirada (La Mirada, Calif.) 24-9; Layton Christian (Layton, Utah) 21-6; Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.) 12-12; MacArthur (Decatur, Ill.) 34-2; Maple Grove (Maple Grove, Minn.) 23-7; Millennium (Goodyear, Ariz.) 24-4; Millwood (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.) 27-2; Mt. St. Joseph (Baltimore, Md.) 31-7; Newcastle (Newcastle, Okla.) 29-2; Norman (Norman, Okla.) 26-4; Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) 22-8; Ogallala (Ogallala, Neb.) 27-1; Olathe North (Olathe, Kan.) 24-4; Olympus (Salt Lake City, Utah) 25-2; Princeton (Cincinnati, Ohio) 25-3; Providence (Jacksonville, Fla.) 29-3; Ralston Valley (Arvada, Col.) 25-2; Rangeview (Aurora, Col.) 23-4; Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.) 27-5; Rock Canyon (Highland Ranch, Col.) 25-3; Santa Margarita (Rancho SM, Calif.) 28-6; Seven Lakes (Katy, Texas) 35-1; Sidwell Friends (Washington, D.C.) 22-7; South (Shawnee Mission, Kan.) 22-2; Southern School of Energy & Sustainability (Durham, N.C.) 28-3; St. Mary’s (Phoenix, Ariz.) 23-7; The Rock (Gainesville, Fla.) 24-10; The Villages Charter (The Villages, Fla.) 24-8; Timpview (Provo, Utah) 21-3; Wayzata (Plymouth, Minn.) 26-4; Westlake (Saratoga Springs, Utah) 24-3; Woodward Academy (College Park, Ga.) 25-7.
Note: The FAB 50 powered by Ballislife.com is a continuation of the National Sports News Service ratings that began in 1952. These were the first national high school rankings and the late Art Johlfs of Minnesota compiled them. They were compiled for many years by the late Barry Sollenberger of Phoenix, who merged them into the FAB 50 26 years ago.
Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of Ballislife.com. He can be reached at ronnie@ballislife.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonMFlores
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