Every year, various media groups and football preview periodicals/websites poll every sportswriter with a pulse about what’s going to happen in the upcoming high school football season.

And every year, this sportswriter is constantly making up reasons in his head to justify the predictions he makes.

My latest quandary came with the Austin Community Newspapers preseason polls for the top 10 teams in 5A, 4A and 3A and below.

I always think this thing is a crapshoot, even though I think I follow Texas high school football pretty closely. But let’s start with what I don’t know.

I don’t know if Westwood is going to be any good, even though I know that running back Princeton Collins is arguably the best returning running back in the Austin area.

I don’t know if Westlake is going to be better under new head coach Darren Allman, even though I know it’s hard to imagine the Chaps being better without all-everything defensive monster David Durham, who moved to North Carolina.

I don’t know if Hendrickson running back Kenny Williams can stay eligible or healthy long enough for the Hawks to provide a real run at the district title. Without Williams, the Hawks lost 57-0 to Lake Travis.

You do the math.

I don’t know if Dripping Springs is for real. The Tigers finished second in District 25-4A last year to the Cavaliers, but got throttled 42-3 in arguably Lake Travis’ worst first quarter of the season, and then barely made it to the second round of the DII playoffs before getting knocked out. Meanwhile, they lost some experienced defensive players.

I don’t know if Stony Point is as good without Tevin Mims or Nyk McKissic, but I suspect that Tiger defense will help carry the team.

Cedar Park is perennially tough and underrated, Austin High is now always overrated and I’m wondering if the same could be said about Bowie.

But the truth is, I don’t know.

And yet, I’m filling out polls that suggest I might.

It’s the same kind of stuff that got my butt chewed at midfield by Cedar Park head coach Chris Ross following the Timberwolves’ 2006 playoff loss in Round Rock. I was a stringer for the Austin American-Statesman at the time, and Ross was quick to inform me that my paper said his team wouldn’t amount to anything. And there they were, playoff losers, but one of the last teams standing in Central Texas. Before the season started, the paper didn’t even have them in the top 10.

I’ve learned there are two types of coaches in this world – those that don’t pay attention to polls or the media, and those that are like Ross.

Coaches like Ross love and hate polls like this, they get some ammo and some motivation, but they crave respect, too. I don’t think either desire really gets completely fulfilled, so really, the polls are an excuse to get people talking and arguing a bit.

And to get a reporter yelled at sometimes.

But the more I thought about it, the more I came to one conclusion: I may not know as much I as I think I should, but I know Lake Travis is going to be really, really good.

I think everyone looks for an easy explanation as to why the Cavaliers have excelled so suddenly. Every year there’s a change, the critics point to a new flaw.

When head coach Jeff Dicus left, they said everything would change.

Now, it seems, they say the Cavaliers won’t be any good because Garrett Gilbert is gone.

Here we go.

Believe me, I know how good Gilbert is and was. He’s a once-in-a-lifetime talent. But if you expect me to believe that Todd Reesing couldn’t have taken the Cavaliers to a state title, you’re nuts. The program just wasn’t at that level yet when Reesing was a part of it. If the kid could win an Orange Bowl, I think he could handle Highland Park.

So why would I sit here and expect Michael Brewer not to do the same?

Besides, one man has never been enough to make an offense like this work the way it does anyway. And if you think it does, tell me why Vince Young and Jevan Snead don’t have state titles.

The Cavaliers return plenty of starters, including an all-state linebacker and three members of an offensive line that allowed a handful of sacks all year. And if opposing defenses thought Gilbert was slippery, wait until they see Brewer’s feet move. Gilbert was a lot of incredible things, but Brewer’s agility is just better.

And the beautiful part? Despite all the pressure that should be on this team, every player seems intensely focused and oblivious to the expectation and what it could mean to their legacy.

“The goal is always the same no matter what happened the year before,” Lake Travis head coach Chad Morris said. “And we don’t expect any player to try to be something they’re not. Michael Brewer will succeed as Michael Brewer. He can’t worry about being Garrett Gilbert, and we don’t want him to be.”

Will there be a learning curve? Sure.

Will Steele be waiting for revenge down the road? Probably.

But I know this: Lake Travis is the best team in its district still, and it’s not even close. And that means until someone else proves otherwise, the defending champs are still the best in Texas.

You could call me biased, but really, I just don’t know any better. That’s why polls are flawed. I’ve watched one team continually defy expectations, continually improve and win two state titles.

That’s probably all I really need to know, though. So the Cavs will get my vote for No. 1.