At the start of football season, I met Free State High boys basketball coach Jack Schreiner, who as emcee was mangling names during the annual football jamboree. It was chaos in the booth, but Schreiner still found time to talk hoops, even though I knew nothing about the Sunflower League.

OK, I still don’t, but anyway.

“Who are you picking to win the league?” he asks me in between announcing names of the Firebird band. “You pick us to win, I’ll never talk to you the whole season.”

FSHS athletic director Steve Grant and FSHS girls’ basketball coach Bryan Duncan both stifled laughs.

“Yeah, right. That’ll happen Jack.”

Don’t worry. As loaded as the Firebirds are, they’re not the best team in the league. Olathe South, 19-3 last season and one game from the Class 6A state tournament, is the league’s best.

The Falcons have one of the state’s best coaches, John McFall, and one of the best players, senior guard Ryan Rundberg. Throw in junior twin forwards Nick and Caleb Holmes, both 6-foot-6, and solid guard Andrew Meile and the Falcons are the team to beat. They did lose four starters, and they’ll have targets on their backs. Still, an 18-5 season with a state tournament berth isn’t out of reach.

FSHS, with Keith Wooden, Dain Dillingham, Bijai Jones et al have the talent to win 15, but only if they decide to play defense. The Firebirds could lose a couple games early in the Emporia Tournament, and face a tough stretch of Olathe schools, but they might not lose a game from mid-January till March. Prediction: 17-6, state tournament.

Olathe North was 15-8 last year, and surprised O-South in the sub-state finals. The Eagles will be good again this year, probably slightly better than O-East, and could compete for the league title. Prediction: 14-8.

Leavenworth, which struggled to an 8-13 record last year, should rebound. The Pioneers have four starters back, including sharpshooter Demetrius Branch, but have tough sub-state assignment with both LHS, FSHS and all Olathe schools. Prediction: 14-8.

Olathe East lost three starters from last year’s 16-6 squad, but still have some height with 6-5 forward Brandon Coleman and experienced guards. Prediction: 12-9.

Lawrence High lost four starters, and could struggle to score this season. The Lions will be the league’s best defensive team, and will be the squad that no one wants to play in sub-state. Still, it’d be nice to have a scorer. Prediction: 11-10.

Here’s where it gets murky. All the Shawnee Mission schools are interchangeable. By interchangable, I mean bad.

Shawnee Mission East is probably the best of the bunch, or is it Shawnee Mission West? Both will be lucky to break .500. SM South, which lost 90 percent of its scoring to graduation, is the only definite. The Raiders will be in the league’s cellar.

As for the Sunflower League girls’ teams, if Leavenworth doesn’t win the league title, it’ll be a big surprise. The Pioneers, 14-7 last year, return all five starters, including three-time All-Sunflower league guard Tiffany Brooks. She’s already signed with Kansas State, and could lead a talented group to the state title. Prediction: 22-3, state runner-up.

Behind Leavenworth, SM East, SM Northwest and Lawrence High will be fighting for state berths. East, with senior forward Rebecca Parker, will probably finish second among league teams, going 15-7, while LHS will be close behind at 14-8.

Shawnee Mission Northwest, last year’s league champ, lost its best two players, but will still be above .500, at 13-9.

SM North, 12-9, Olathe East, 11-10, Olathe South, 10-11 and FSHS, 9-12, are in the next group, while SM South, 8-13, Olathe North, 7-15 and SM West, 6-15, round out the league.