A little late-night blogging for some late-season football rankings, with championship week left:

1. Clovis West (10-3, Division I, last week: 1) — What a culmination for the Golden Eagles in the Division I championship game: A stifling defense shut down a good offense, and CW got enough big plays on offense to run away with this one. Truly the best team in the Central Section this year.
LAST WEEK: won at No. 2 Clovis East, 24-7. THIS WEEK: season over

2. Fresno-Bullard (9-3, Division I, last week: 3) — Take out the Knights' two games against Clovis West, and they were 9-1 with a more-than-respectable loss to Orange-Lutheran out of the Southern Section and victories against Clovis East, Buchanan, Edison, Bakersfield and Sanger. But Bullard will have to be content to be No. 2 this year.
LAST WEEK: season over

3. Visalia-El Diamante (11-1, Division II, last week: 4) — I was tempted to move Tulare Union ahead of the Miners, but it's not like a win against Edison, even in a struggle, is something to sneeze at. And until El D falls to Tulare, I'm not going to forget about last year's D-II final.
LAST WEEK: won vs. No. 8 Fresno-Edison, 21-15. THIS WEEK: at No. 4 Tulare Union

4. Tulare Union (12-0, Division II, last week: 5) — Yes, the Redskins needed to battle to get by Sanger. But so did nearly everyone who beat the Apaches. And an 18-point victory actually is pretty impressive. It easily speaks more of TU than any of the other 11 wins.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Sanger, 38-20. THIS WEEK: vs. No. 3 Visalia-El Diamante

5. Clovis East (9-4, Division I, last week: 2) — Another team foiled by Clovis West — two of four losses are to the Golden Eagles — but I expected the Timberwolves to put up a better fight than that in the final.
LAST WEEK: lost at No. 1 Clovis West, 24-7. THIS WEEK: season over

6. Clovis-Buchanan (9-3, Division I, last week: 6) — There was a time I thought Buchanan was the hands-down favorite to win the section. If the Bears had stayed healthy, they might still have been.
LAST WEEK: season over

7. Liberty (7-4, Division I, last week: 7) — Expect The Californian's All-Area team to be littered with defensive players from Liberty. Remember when the Patriots were supposedly in the running for Derek Carr? Yeah, they'd have been scary.
LAST WEEK: season over

8. Hanford (11-1, Division III, last week: 9) — The Bullpups will have their hands full with No. 6 seed Tehachapi in the section championship. But it's safe to say they've found the going easier than last year, when they lost to Tulare Union in the D-II quarterfinals.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Foothill, 24-0. THIS WEEK: vs. No. 15 Tehachapi

9. Bakersfield Christian (11-1, Division V, last week: 10) — I'd like to see the Eagles take on Westlake Village-Oaks Christian at the end of the season instead of the beginning. I don't think they'd turn a 35-7 loss into a win, but I guarantee it'd be closer.
LAST WEEK: won vs. Fowler, 62-20. THIS WEEK: at No. 12 Corcoran

10. Fresno-Edison (9-3, Division II, last week: 8) — Going from dominant to ordinary isn't always easy, but the loss of Rolando Jefferson and some big-time attrition seems like it's done that to the Tigers. In the end, this team was about as good as last year's.
LAST WEEK: lost at No. 4 Visalia-El Diamante, 21-15. THIS WEEK: season over

11. Stockdale (8-3, Division I, last week: 11) — It's worth repeating: Mike Snow did a hell of a job with the Mustangs, taking a team that was 2-8 last year, lost some talent and installed a brand-new offense and turned it into 8-2 with a league championship and a playoff game.
LAST WEEK: season over

12. Corcoran (12-0, Division V, last week: 12) — We'll find out very quickly whether Corcoran really deserves a top-15 spot or if it's just another Division V team. The Panthers need to be more than that if they're going to compete with BCHS.
LAST WEEK: won vs. SLO-Mission Prep, 49-10. THIS WEEK: vs. No. 9 Bakersfield Christian

13. Bakersfield (7-4, Division I, last week: 13) — I swear I didn't mean it to come out this way, but I've given Kern County the 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15 spots in this week's rankings. Odd place, isn't it?
LAST WEEK: season over

14. Kingsburg (11-1, Division IV, last week: NR) — A pair of wins against CVC and an impressive beatdown of Taft a couple of weeks ago has made a believer out of me. I'll take the Vikings to win the D-IV championship on the road.
LAST WEEK: won at No. 14 Visalia-Central Valley Christian, 14-13. THIS WEEK: at Chowchilla

15. Tehachapi (9-4, Division III, last week: NR) — Nothing against Chowchilla, which fell out of the rankings, but I felt the Warriors deserved a spot after a 110-point effort the past two weeks against good teams. Can they stun Hanford? Not likely, but I wouldn't want to play this team right now.
LAST WEEK: won at Oakhurst-Yosemite, 62-41. THIS WEEK: at No. 8 Hanford

Dropped out: No. 14 Visalia-Central Valley Christian, No. 15 Chowchilla
Waiting: Chowchilla, Sanger, Visalia-Central Valley Christian, Oakhurst-Yosemite, North, West, Golden Valley, Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial, Delano