As any NFL fan knows, a little parity goes a long way.

Perennial doormats can buck history for a run to the Super Bowl. Traditional powerhouses miss out on the postseason. Despite their detractors, parity and competitive balance keep more teams (and the fan bases that follow) involved much longer into the season, and in the end, nearly everyone wins. Well, maybe unless you’re an Oakland fan.

Applied on a local level, it’s obviously that balance has returned to the area’s prep football conference. In 2008, it was the Haves against Have Nots. Nearly every conference race came down to a single game that decided the fate of the league. Maryville/Chillicothe. Hamilton/Princeton. North Andrew/Stewartsville. You get the idea.

The rest of the games? Meh. At least as they pertained to conference titles.

But like Ross and I discussed last week in the podcast, any number of teams from conferences like the MEC and KCI could pull a stunner and topple any of the top teams on any given Friday. Which brings me to my first point:

1. The Grand River Conference is more wide open than we thought. And a lot more fun because of it.

Last year, Hamilton and Princeton were alone in the top tier — with a huge step down to the next level of South Harrison, Maysville and King City. After the Hornets cruised against the Tigers in the middle of the season, that was it. No more drama, at least not at the top of the GRC.

Thanks to the resurgence of the South Harrison and King City, though, there’ll be plenty of interesting matchups throughout the rest of the season, and not everything will rest on a mid-season game like last year.

Let’s be clear, Hamilton still is the favorite by a wide margin. But that South Harrison/King City game looks better every week, and Princeton (as shocking as this sounds) probably doesn’t factor into the upper crust of the league this time around. The Tigers, semifinalists in 2008, will have a chance at redemption in two weeks when they travel to King City.

2. While Princeton hasn’t lived up to expectations, a couple teams reminded us why we were so high on them in the first place.

Chillicothe absolutely demolished a quality Grain Valley team as Bryce Young finally got to stretch his legs a bit — starting with a 90-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. They’re still the best in the MEC, if you ask me.

And a hard-luck West Platte team came away with a really nice win against University Charter Academy. That Gryphons team has a couple Division I prospects on them and can put up lots of points against just about anybody. Consider last week the game that woke the Blue Jays from their slumber.

3. I said it last week, but I’ll say it again: the MEC is crazy. Trying to predict the final standings will make you crazy.

Ross blind-sided me last week by asking me to rank the teams. Epic fail, as I couldn’t even recall all eight teams in the area’s biggest conference. In case you were waiting with bated breath, here’s how I see it going down:

— 1. Chillicothe, 2. Maryville, 3.Benton, 4. Cameron, 5. Savannah, 6. Lafayette, 7. Smithville, 8. LeBlond

Maybe I’m buying too much into this Benton team, but Matt Pritchett is going to be player. Just watch. And I hate to put the Irish this low, but no Timmy Nelson really takes away a key element from their offensive spearhead. Sorry coach Woolard.

4. An improved Central squad will hand Tony Dudik his 100th win sometime this season — probably sooner rather than later.

Coming off a six-win campaign in 2007, the triple-digit milestone didn’t appear that far off for that Indians’ venerable coach. Then some untimely reshuffling of the Subarban League plopped Central smack dab among the Big 7 among powerhouses like Blue Springs and Liberty.

In an unsurprising development, the Indians won only two games last year and left Dudik perched at 98 wins entering his final year — with an equally tough schedule on tap.

But last week’s win against Lee’s Summit North — not as close as it looked at 24-19 — told us this: Central could win up to three more games this year and just might give Dudik his coveted 100th win at Noyes Field.

Make no mistake, the Indians will lose to Blue Springs South. The same holds true in Weeks 6 and 7 against Liberty and at Raymore-Pecuilar. But that Lee’s Summit home game is a real possibility for another 'W,’ and Central has a legitimate chance for back-to-back wins at Oak Park and Park Hill South.

Dudik’s 100th win has been a long time in the making. With a rapidly improving crop of juniors, he shouldn't have to wait much longer.

We’ll be back Thursday with the latest Prep Pick ’Em. Until then.