Non-league games impacting rankings

I was just curious as to why a team like Okanogan was ranked so high in the state basketball rankings for so long yet the LR Raiders have only just now breached the top ten. So I took a look at the non-league schedule for the Ok Bulldogs and the LR Raiders and found my answer.

The difference is the non-league games at the beginning of the season. Who did the Ok Bulldogs play in their first three nl games?

1. 2B Entiat (Ok won 52-42)
2. 2B Oroville (Ok won 56-50)
3. 2B Liberty Bell (Ok won 102-28

Then look at the LR first three games:

1. 2A Ephrata (LR lost 54-66. Note Ephrata in ranked top 10 in 2A)
2. 1A Freeman (LR won 46-41. Note Freeman is currently ranked one spot above LR)
3. 1A Chelan (LR lost 77-57)

Then look at some of the other earlier Ok nl games: Ok vs 2B Waterville (85-33), Ok vs 1B Almira (64-49), Ok vs 1B Kettle Falls (80-15).

Compare to LR earlier nl games: LR vs 2A Cheney (LR lost 61-71), LR vs 2A Mt. Spokane (LR lost 58-63).

This just shows how deceptive some of the AP rankings can be. A team like LR might be penalized in the AP rankings, however their pressure cooker nl games will set them up better for season ending tournament play.

Kinda like how the Gonzaga Bulldogs have built their program.