Four weeks of the prep football season are complete. Has any team stepped forward with great improvement over last season in 5A?

Some teams by observation of coaches, fans and administrators. Yes. But in the win-loss column or enough  to make a huge difference? Not really.

The 26 schools that comprise the 5A Central, 5A Desert Valley, 5A East Valley and 5A Fiesta regions -- the four that dominated the playoff field in 5A-I and 5A-II last year -- don't have a single team that's two games better than it was this time last year. And mind you of the final 16 teams in 5A-I and 5A-II last year, 12 were from those four regions. Two schools from those four regions are two games or more below what they were last year at this juncture -- Desert Mountain and Skyline. The only team among the 16 quarterfinal teams in 5A-I and 5A-II last year that's two games worse or more is Sunnyside (3-0 in 2009, 1-2 in 2010).

Sure, a few more schools will qualify for state this year in 5A that didn't last year and bump a few that did. That happens every year. But as the rest of the regular season plays out, and as the aforementioned regions batter each other in region play, one thing stands to reason.

If the brackets come out right , Hamilton (5-0 at present) will face Chandler (3-1) in the 5A-I final. Chaparral (4-0) will take on Centennial (3-0) in the 5A-II championship. Like it not, there's noone else that can thwart that quartet when it counts come postseason barring catastrophic injury/injuries.