So, the final football poll of the year has been released, and it's River Hill that stays at the top over Dunbar. How does that sit with you?

As my colleague Pat O'Malley's story in Monday's paper lays out, there were compelling reasons to favor either the Hawks, who completed an unbeaten season with a 14-7 win over Eastern Tech in Saturday's state 2A championship game, or the Poets, who likewise capped their undefeated year with a 58-34 victory over Allegany in the 1A match.

River Hill players, coaches and fans will certainly point to the team's remarkable collection of shutouts, 11, which tied a state record to make their case. Dunbar supporters, meanwhile, will identify the state record-tying 58 points they hung on Allegany in the title game, part of the record 186 points the Poets scored in the playoffs as proof they are the best.

And while the Hawks were selected No.1, there's no way to definitively prove which is the better team, save for a game, which can't happen under state rules.

Nor should it happen, frankly. While big-time college football looks asinine for the way it conducts its postseason, Maryland's four classifications and champions makes sense. More importantly, the process doesn't pervert the educational process.

That's not to say that it wouldn't be fun to see Dunbar and River Hill play each other, say in a season-opening doubleheader next year, with, say, Arundel and Hereford, the 4A and 3A runners-up, playing in the other game, at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson.

Yes, each school would have to give up a game from its league schedule to make it happen, and the county and city school systems would have to maneuver to make it work, but that's a small sacrifice to make for the amount of attention the games would get.