Roundtable: How do you feel about "Texas vs. The World?"

[caption id="attachment_19734" align="alignright" width="350"]Photo by Gary Sanderson Allen QB Mitchell Jonke (Photo by Gary Sanderson)[/caption] This week, a number of Texas high school football teams will take on "The World," to kick off the season. These national showdowns always garner loads of headlines, but are they any better or more interesting than the blockbuster in-state games between top-ranked teams? Our team of scribes sat down to discuss all things related to the national battle for bragging rights. Participants: Max ThompsonGreg TepperMatt SteppMike CravenMax Thompson: It’s no secret that if you want an early season blockbuster, just pit one of the best, prospect-rich teams in Texas against one from Florida or California or Louisiana and you’ll get more than a few eyeballs to watch on ESPN or FOX or wherever. I’ll admit that I do enjoy the production value of sitting down in my living room and seeing Cedar Hill or Euless Trinity pound out a win for state pride in front of a national audience. The cool factor is off the charts, but it has its downsides. The national crew broadcasting the thing never has a great feel for a program, and always defers to prospect rankings and analysis. So a lot of what makes these games great theater is lost in translation. That’s a common gripe, and the first one I’ll make in this discussion, but before we go farther down my list, I want to get your thoughts. I’ll start with Greg, because I know he has a very specific stance on these state vs. state showdowns. Greg Tepper: Indeed I do, Maximus. Indeed I do.

The Texas vs. the World thing just doesn’t do a whole lot for me, but it’s important to clarify that it’s not because I don’t respect other high school football. I do! I promise! I would say that the No. 1 team in most football-crazy states — the Ohios and Floridas and Californias and Louisianas of the world — could match up pretty well with the No. 1 team in Texas. But depth is where the rubber meets the road for me, and that’s where Texas blows other states away. In a state like Georgia, the top 5 or maybe even 10 teams would hang with the top 5-10 teams in Texas. But it’s the No. 15 team in Texas vs. the No. 15 team in Georgia that would be a bloodbath. There just isn’t a state out there that can match Texas’ depth of talent and coaching.