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Churchill's Sarah Harris (#12) goes up against Westlake's Tedi Doucet ( #5) and Kelsey Bryant (#11) in the finals of the Duncanville Tournament of Champions. Westlake keeps its grip on the #1 ranking while Churchill moves up to #2.

The Texas Top 20

August 17 — Houston is a mess. In fact, it may take several weeks before things sort themselves out in the Bayou City. Part of the problem is that most of the teams that should be the area's best by the end of the season are very young. And with the ridiculously early start to the season, some of the early losses may not be a true indication of things to come. Of course two teams with solid experience - Cy Springs and Elkins - are among two that have struggled the most.

Elsewhere, the Duncanville Tournament of Champions followed form with the exception of Clements' stunner over Arlington Martin. But beware the Rangers. Despite following the Martin win with losses to Amarillo and Lubbock Coronado, the Rangers appear to be for real.

So as we prepare for more strange results from Houston this week, here's where we rank the Top 20 teams in Texas (last week's rank in parenthesis).

1. Austin Westlake (1)
The Chaps knocked off Round Rock to open the season then breezed to a second-straight Duncanville title including wins over Arlington Lamar, Tascosa and Churchill.

2. Churchill (3)
Opened season with wins over arch-rival Clark and New Braunfels then finished the week with a second place finish to Westlake in Duncanville. Impressive wins over Amarillo and Lake Highlands.

3. Amarillo (4)
Third place finish at Duncanville with big wins over Cedar Park, Clements and Arlington Lamar. Only loss was to Churchill.

4. SA Clark (5)
Rebounded from opening loss to Churchill with blitz of MacArthur.

5. Round Rock (8)
Opened with loss to Westlake in four then rebounded with wins over Austin Bowie and New Braunfels.

6. Arlington Lamar (11)
Until Martin solidifies itself on the outside Lamar becomes the Arlington team to beat. Wins over Allen, Coronado, Woodlands. Losses to Westlake and Amarillo.

7. Cy Falls (13)
We're going out on a limb here since the Eagles really don't have a major win yet, but no one else in Houston seems ready to step up. Opened with wins over Mayde Creek and Klein. Must get past Elkins this week and survive big tests beginning next week to solidify position among state elite.

8. Arlington Martin (2)
OK Clements fans, we know you beat them head-to-head. But we're not ready to write off Martin yet although they MUST solidify their outside attack. The Warriors rebounded from the loss to breeze to the Consolation title losing only two of 13 games that included wins over Cedar Park, Arlington and Tascosa.

9. Lubbock Coronado (19)
Coronado picked up right where they left off last season with impressive wins over Clements and Lake Highlands. Loss to Arlington Lamar was the only blemish.

10. Lake Highlands (16)
Another team picking up where they left off. Opened season with win over Highland Park then followed up at Duncanville with wins over Clear Lake, Allen, and Arlington. Only losses came against Lubbock Coronado and Churchill.

11. Austin Bowie (14)
Solid wins over New Braunfels, Georgetown and Wimberley. Loss came to Round Rock. Another team that still needs to prove it belongs here, but has the talent to do it.

12. Katy (NR)
Didn't make the pre-season rankings because of loss of the Kirks. Apparently they aren't missed. Opened season with wins over Clear Creek and Cy Springs. Langham and Cy Fair on the schedule this week.

13. Houston Stratford (6)
Like Martin, we're not ready to write the Spartans off. Followed up opening loss to Clear Lake with impressive 3-1 win over Kingwood.

14. Kingwood (9)
Opened with win over Katy Taylor but loss to Stratford raises questions about the young team.

15. San Antonio O'Connor (NR)
Completely slipped under the pre-season radar but hit the screen in a big way with season opening win over San Antonio Reagan.

16. Allen (12)
Eagles will need MB Whitney Stare (out 3-4 more weeks) to beat quality opponents. They've played two -- Lake Highlands and Arlington Lamar -- and lost them both. Schedule doesn't get easier with Martin up next.

17. Clements (NR)
Exploded onto the scene with 2-1 win over Martin and solid win over Cleburne, which had earlier beaten Elkins. Lost to Amarillo and Lubbock Coronado.

18. San Antonio Reagan (17)
Rebounded from opening loss to O'Connor with two wins, including Boerne.

19. Boerne (18)
First test in brutal non-district schedule was loss to SA Reagan. Beat Odessa.

20. Cy Creek (NR)
In our search to find Houston teams worthy of the rankings, we'll give the perennial powers a chance to prove themselves. Opening wins over Klein and Clear Creek were solid. Schedule starts heating up now.

Teams To Watch

Amarillo Tascosa - Program on the rebound. Lost to Westlake in second round at Duncanville but rebounded with three wins including Clear Lake before falling to Martin in Duncanville consolation finals.

Arlington - Impressive wins over Elkins and Clear Lake; losses to Lake Highlands and Arlington Martin.

Elkins - Opened with loss to Dobie then adds loses to Arlington and Cleburne at Duncanville to drop out of the Top 20.

Cedar Park - Losses to Amarillo, Martin and New Braunfels offset three wins. Needs quality win to remain in the hunt.

Cinco Ranch - Opened season later than most, and lost to FB Austin to fall from rankings.

Clear Lake - Opened with win over Stratford but suffered losses to Lake Highlands and Amarillo Tascosa at Duncanville.

Cleburne - Wins over Elkins and Longview were impressive. Losses to Westlake and Clements weren't unexpected.

Cypress Springs - Opened with two tough matches (and losses) to Dulles and Katy to drop from the rankings.

Dobie - Win over Elkins was impressive, but loss to Oak Ridge keeps them out of rankings.

Dripping Springs - Off to a perfect start. Needs quality win to move up.

Dulles - Wins over Cy Springs and Pearland have team on verge of moving into rankings. A win later this week over Clear Lake will help.

El Paso Franklin - Late start to season, but opened with win over Midland Lee.

Highland Park - Last year's 4A finalists lost tough one to Lake Highlands (3-1) but rebounded with easy sweeps of Rowlett and Woodrow Wilson.

Lake Travis - Off to fast start and a tournament title thanks to addition of Natalie Peters.

New Braunfels - Like Boerne, Unicorns have a brutal opening schedule with losses to Churchill, Round Rock and Austin Bowie. Quality win over Cedar Park.