It’s our seventh season making weekly rankings, and there is a temptation to reject the notion that senior-laden teams are the ones which are guaranteed to be the ones to shepherd their teams through tough out-of-conference matches and into the wilds of late October and November, where the tough hockey is played.

But when I heard a high-performance coach tell me last week that a certain high school player would be “ten times better” than a college player currently at the highest level of the U.S. high-performance system, it makes you wonder if the talent coming through the Olympic Development Select program is going to turn these rankings upside down.

As in past years, this preseason list is not guaranteed to be the same once the weekly Top 10s are compiled in mid-September. And even if all of the teams are undefeated by then, they are not guaranteed to be in the same order.

1. Kingston Wyoming Seminary (Pa.) — 14-3 record in 2007

Knights wary of last year’s late collapse, and Kolojejchick and Gagliardi are set to prove the doubters wrong

2. Emmaus (Pa.) — 27-1

Only four seniors, but immense talent in the younger classes

3. Voorhees Eastern (N.J.) — 23-2

Vikings focused on 10th straight state championship

4. Escondido San Pasqual (Calif.) — 18-2

Kelli Gannon ready to lead team back to glory days of the 1990s

5. Louisville Sacred Heart (Ky.) — 26-0

Valkyries putting nation’s longest winning streak on the line in Virginia Beach

6. Lehighton (Pa.) — 20-3

Tough schedule will test Indians’ mettle

7. Medford Lakes Shawnee (N.J.) — 23-2

Showdown with Eastern to take place Oct. 10

8. Wilmington Tower Hill (Del.) — 20-0

Hillers will be pushed hard this year by a number of teams

9. Carlsbad La Costa Canyon (Calif.) — 22-1

Can the Mavericks win a fourth straight CIF San Diego Division I title?

10. Lakeville Hotchkiss School (Conn.) — 18-0

After scrimmages with two tough public schools and a college JV team, Bearcats face Deerfield Academy Sept. 20.

And bear in mind: San Diego Scripps Ranch (Calif.) 21-4, Georgetown Sussex Tech (Del.) 14-4-1, Winnetka New Trier (Ill.) 26-2-1, Summit Oak Knoll (N.J.) 22-2-2, Marathon (N.Y.) 22-1, Hummelstown Lower Dauphin (Pa.), 27-1, Flourtown Mount St. Joseph Academy (Pa.) 25-2, Millersville Penn Manor (Pa.) 27-3, Virginia Beach Frank W. Cox (Va.) 23-2, Virginia Beach Princess Anne (Va.) 18-4