There are a few storylines in The Day's Top 10 high school football state coaches’ poll prior to the playoffs, first and foremost that Greenwich is the new number one.

The Cardinals ascended to the top spot after Darien lost 17-14 to New Canaan on Thanksgiving. The Blue Wave had been No. 1 for most of the season.

Greenwich (10-0) received 11 of 13 first-place votes. Defending Class L champion Hand (10-0) received the other two first-place votes and is ranked second.

Greenwich was the top-ranked team headed into last year’s playoffs, the first and only time it was number one. It lost to Darien in the Class LL final, with the Blue Wave finishing No. 1 for a third-straight season.

Another storyline is where Darien, St. Joseph and New Canaan were ranked.

St. Joseph (9-1) had a season-opening 28-0 win over New Canaan (8-2).

Darien won at St. Joseph during Week 3, 22-7 (Sept. 22).

New Canaan also lost at home to Greenwich during Week 5, 42-14 (Oct. 6).

Voters moved St. Joseph into a third-place tie with Shelton (10-0), followed by Darien. New Canaan reentered the Top 10 at No. 9.

New Canaan’s return pushed New Britain (9-1) down one spot to 10th and Fairfield Prep (9-1) just out of the Top 10 in 11th.

Prep mangled West Haven 63-12 on Thanksgiving and gained nine points this week, yet still dropped a spot.

A third storyline is that the Class LL playoffs are loaded based on the coaches’ voting. Prep is the only one of eight participants not ranked in the Top 10.

The quarterfinal matchups are No. 10 New Britain at No. 1 Greenwich, No. 9 New Canaan at No. 3 Shelton, No. 5 Darien at No. 6 Newtown, and Fairfield Prep at No. 7 Southington.

All quarterfinals are Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. The semifinals are Sunday at the higher seed (12:30 p.m.). The finals are Dec. 8 at sites and times to be announced.

Lastly, coaches didn’t know just who to vote for in the teens. There’s a dropoff after Prep with Sheehan (9-1) receiving 97 votes, Berlin (9-1) with 81 votes, and then another drop to North Haven (8-2) with 59 votes.

Most of the confusion stems from so many teams who had been ranked in the teens lost last week and/or exchanged wins during the season.

Much of the turmoil came from the Central Connecticut Conference’s Division II.

Windsor (8-2), for instance, lost its season-opener to Maloney (8-2), 26-20 (Sept. 7).

Windsor beat Platt (8-2) in double overtime, 21-14, during Week 4 (Sept. 28).

Bristol Central beat Maloney (29-22, Oct. 12) and Platt (21-20, Nov. 2). Central (5-5), however, later self-reported itself for using an ineligible player and forfeited two games, one of which was the Platt game.

Middletown (9-1) held on to beat Platt on Nov. 8 (21-18), stopping the latter at its 1-yard line to end the game.

Windsor beat Middletown on Nov. 21, 7-0. Platt also beat Maloney that same night, 36-20.

Middletown (54), Windsor (43), and Platt (23) all received votes. Maloney did not.

Defending Class M champion Killingly (9-1) earned one 15th-place vote, ending seven weeks in which no ECC team received a vote.

n.griffen@theday.com