Super Saturday in Class A was no treat for three of the road teams involved in the four ratings matchups among last week's top eight teams.

No. 1 Norfolk, No. 2 Omaha Creighton Prep and No. 3 Lincoln High all lost. Only No. 4 Omaha Central, which thumped slumping Omaha Benson on the Bunnies' home court, won.

So the Eagles, after a one-week absence, return to head the ratings and Lincoln Southeast, the only other team besides Central to beat two ranked teams last week, rebounds to No. 2 after holding the No. 1 spot coming out of December's holiday tournaments.

The new No. 3, Omaha Bryan, might have gone to No. 1 had it not lost in overtime at Central on Thursday. The Bears dominated Norfolk until the closing two minutes of a 62-55 win Saturday night. Bryan coach Tim Cannon said he believes it was the first win over a No. 1 for the Bears in six years, since they beat Omaha Westside in January 2004.

The question now becomes whether Central can hold No. 1 past Tuesday, when the Eagles visit Prep in a game that may test the listed 2,300-seat capacity of the new Bird Cage, the Heider Center, for the first time.

With two weeks left in the regular season, here's a look at each of the Top 10 teams. Note that there are no teams outside Class A included, after Omaha Skutt's losses last week to Elkhorn and Beatrice.

Central (7-1 against top-10 teams): Whatever issues there were with standout senior Deverell Biggs a year ago, when he didn't play in the fourth quarter of a two-point loss to Millard North, seem to be getting worked out. The litmus test for the Eagles, of course, is what happens against Prep at Prep.

Southeast (4-2): It's not been smooth sailing either with the Knights, whose players after their weekend wins over Lincoln High and Prep talked each night about chemistry woes. They have two more games before finishing the regular season at Norfolk.

Bryan (4-4): Losing senior guard Ben Imig, maybe for the season, to a broken wrist hurts the Bears' bench depth. Cannon even made a joke Saturday night about this team ending up like the last of the Rick Collura championship teams at Lincoln Northeast, which never subbed during the 1998 title game. Bryan weathered not having starting forward DK Augustine (previous-game ejection) for the Norfolk game. It has a tough final week with games against Benson and Burke.

Norfolk (3-2): Bryan exposed a soft middle for the Panthers, whose 2-3 zone was no match in the loss. Rebounding has been a constant worry for coach Ben Ries. The season finale against Southeast, should Prep beat Central, could be for the No. 1 seed in districts.

Creighton Prep (3-3): These are hard Birds to figure out. The Junior Jays probably are the deepest team among the contenders, but can't find a reliable backcourt mate for UNO recruit Cole Steffensmeier and gave up 71 points to Southeast.

Lincoln High (5-3): After having been the hottest team with nine wins in a row, the Links have work ahead after losing to Southeast and Omaha South. Another team with a short bench.

Omaha South (1-4): This season's feel-good story got better with the home win over Lincoln High. Each game now represents new ground for the Packers, and how will they respond? Their season finishes against Central.

Fremont (1-3): Feel-good story No. 2. The Tigers haven't had this many wins (13) since getting 14 in 1998-99 and 16 before districts is possible. The Tigers' schedule, however, hasn't been as difficult as those ahead of them in the ratings and they're not going to outscore anyone.

Omaha Benson (1-5): Blowout losses recently to Prep and Central cast doubts on the Bunnies' defense and drop them to their lowest ranking of the season. Those three wins against Burke aren't worth as much these days to the Bunnies' ratings stock.

Papillion-La Vista South (0-3): The Titans return to the ratings although they really haven't gotten over the hump. Again, a team that counts a win over Burke as its best. Benson on Saturday will be the only opponent of their final four with a winning mark.

As unstable as Class A is, Class B is a real mess. Which River Cities Conference team deserves to head the rubble — Skutt even after back-to-back losses; Beatrice, for beating Skutt only a week after losing by 10 at home to Ralston; South Sioux City, because No. 1 and No. 2 lost ahead of it; or Omaha Gross, which beat the only non-RCC team (then-No. 2 Lincoln Pius X) in the top six?

For right now, it remains Skutt at No. 1 because of its 4-1 record against the other four RCC teams in the top five. Beatrice jumps from sixth to second, followed by Gross, South Sioux City and Ralston. South Sioux plays Ralston and Gross this week.

Top games this week:

Class A—Tuesday: Omaha Central at Omaha Creighton Prep, Lincoln Pius X at Lincoln Southeast. Friday: Bellevue East at Omaha South, Millard South at Omaha Benson, Kearney at Lincoln Southwest. Saturday: Elkhorn at Fremont (5:15), Omaha Creighton Prep at Kansas City (Mo.) Rockhurst, Omaha South at Millard North, Omaha Benson at Papillion-La Vista South.

Class B—Tuesday: South Sioux City at Ralston, Bennington at Plattsmouth. Friday: Elkhorn at Waverly, Omaha Skutt at Elkhorn Mount Michael, Plattsmouth at Gretna, Omaha Gross at South Sioux City, Norris at Lincoln Pius X.

Heartland Hoops Classic lineup—Saturday at Grand Island: Sumner-Eddyville-Miller vs. Wood River, 9:30 a.m.; Weeping Water vs. Ravenna, 11:15; Adams Central vs. Kearney Catholic, 1; Axtell vs. Ewing, 2:45; Gretna vs. Grand Island Central Catholic, 4:30; Ralston vs. Chadron, 6:15; Hastings St. Cecilia vs. Omaha Skutt, 8.

Contact the writer:

444-1041, stu.pospisil@owh.com

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