As you may know, Perryville did not break its 57-year championship drought last Saturday by beating Dunbar in the 1A football final, as the Panthers lost to the Poets, 32-11. It was a great game, but I was a wreck afterward, and I hope I don't have to cover another game like it any time soon.

So, with football behind us, lets cut to the chase and throw down a boys basketball power poll. Judging by some of the results I've seen thus far, three days into the season, things could get pretty exciting. Here's how I see things shaking out:

1. Aberdeen: Yes, the Eagles lost All-Harford selections Gerrae Williams and Tevon Saddler, but they have enough returning talent to get back on top of the Chesapeake (upper) Division, after having watched Havre de Grace snag the crown two years in a row. Their first game of the season was a 56-54 loss, but it came to a tough customer, Atholton, the same team that knocked the Eagles out of the post-season in 2009.

2. Edgewood: Last year's top scoring team, the Rams come back to the table with All-Harford guards Thomas Dillard and Van Rolle, who should guide an otherwise young team. Their first regular season game saw the Rams come down to the wire with Joppatowne, beating the Mariners by one point when Van Rolle hit a free-throw with 3.2 seconds left on the clock. I can't say that topping a Susquehanna (lower) Division team by one point bodes well, but I'll chalk it up to early-season nerves. Look for Edgewood to make noise in the Chesapeake.

3. Havre de Grace: Why aren't the defending Chesapeake Division champs at No. 1? Well, the Warriors lost all of last year's starters to graduation, and they were knocked off 86-73 by the lower division's Harford Tech Cobras on Tuesday night. Time will tell, but I would not bet on the River City boys matching the 11-1 division record they turned in last season.

4. Bel Air: The Bobcats are in the lower division this year, but they kicked off the season by pounding the upper division's Fallston Cougars by 21 points (68-47) on Monday. Just think, the season before last Bel Air didn't win a game until the regional playoffs, then they turn it around in 2010-11 by going 12-9. They are my early pick to win the Susquehanna.

5. Fallston: The Cougars, who lost more talent to graduation than any team in the county besides North Harford, got started with the aforementioned 21-point loss to rival Bel Air. Not an encouraging way to get out of the gates, but there's still a lot of time to make adjustments.

6. Harford Tech: The Cobras bucked the terrible trend of losing half of their roster to graduation, which seems to have affected just about everyone else, and come into the new campaign with a load of experienced players. Though strange things happen this early in the season, a victory over the reigning upper division champ is a very good sign.

7. North Harford: The Hawks, who won the Susquehanna title last season and upset Havre de Grace in the UCBAC championship game, were hurt very badly by departing seniors, and may have a tough time keeping up in the Chesapeake this year. They did start with a 71-62 win over North East.

8. Patterson Mill: Like Harford Tech, the Huskies, who won more games than any team in the UCBAC during the 2010-11 campaign (18), bring back a lot of last season's starters, and will probably make a run for the lower division title. I have not seen them play yet, but I expect they'll jump up this list soon.

9. C. Milton Wright: Last season's most schizophrenic team isn't any easier to read this time around. They avoided relegation to the Susquehanna Division in 2010-11 by grinding out a 3-9 record in the Chesapeake, putting them one game ahead of Joppatowne in the standings. Will things be any easier this year? We shall see.

10. Joppatowne: Somebody has to go on the bottom of these lists, but looking at things positively, the Mariners very nearly beat Edgewood in their season opener. If things go as I hope, it will be Joppatowne, Patterson Mill, Harford Tech and Bel Air fighting tooth and nail for the lower-division title this year.

Keep in mind I wrote this on Wednesday afternoon, before I received any scores from that night's games, so these rankings are apt to change dramatically between now and next Friday.