Saturday night, Cardinal O'Hara will venture up the New Jersey Turnpike and end their journey at Don Bosco Prep. The Lions will meet the Ironmen in a nonleague game, with Bosco ranked 21st in the preseason poll released by USA Today. On a yearly basis, Don Bosco Prep is one of the top teams in New Jersey and regarded among the elite in the country.

These days, a number of national entities do what USA Today has been doing for 25 years. They rank high school teams in a national poll. ESPN does it, along with Prep Nation. There are others, too. Truthfully, I view these rankings from two angles, neither of which is necessarily bad.

While a handful of games each year feature out-of-state opponents with lofty reputations playing one another, it really is difficult to rank high school teams on a national basis. How do you measure the best team from California against the best team from Colorado? From Texas against Pennsylvania. It's not something that is clear-cut.

This weekend, Southlake Carroll (Texas) will play Northwestern (Miami) in a matchup of teams ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the country by several polls. In this instance, we'll know which team is better because the answer will be decided on the field. And, earlier this year, many of the top Ohio teams played out-of-state powerhouses as part of the Kirk Herbstreit Ohio vs. USA Challenge. Overall, though, it's impossible to determine which high school team is best. This isn't the NCAA.

Then again, the national rankings are fun. They might be arbitrary, but they provide entertainment value and, for that reason, I'm good with them. If O'Hara comes back from Bosco with a win, its players can brag about beating a nationally ranked foe. If O'Hara falls, it can say it challenged itself against a nationally recognized team. There's nothing wrong with either scenario.

So, enjoy national rankings for what they are: Entertainment, adding to the fun of kids playing a great sport.