Some football observations by division as we've reached the one-third mark of the 2015 regular season:

DIVISION I

Identifying a top-five to this point yields no surprises. Chandler (3-1), Centennial (3-1), Hamilton (4-0), Brophy (4-0) and Mountain Pointe (3-0) continue to be tough nuts to crack in D-I. Centennial, technically new to D-I this year, has proven strong. In my view the ranking of the aforementioned five goes like this -- 1. Centennial, 2. Chandller, 3. Hamilton, 4. Brophy and 5. Mountain Pointe. Centennial and Chandler have played the toughest schedules so far. I give the No. 1 edge to Centennial because of its defense. Chandler has almost seamlessly weathered the injury to Chase Lucas. Its defense has endured some lapses while Centennial has been very steady. The next big clash among top-5 teams comes Thursday Sept. 24 when Centennial visits Hamilton. That will be Hamilton's top test to date. Desert Ridge is usually part of the Fab 5, but isn't in that group at present. Its schedule hasn't been overwhelming and its defense has given up 40-plus points twice. Kudos to Perry for its 4-0 start. Perry plays host to Chaparral on Friday Sept. 18, its best challenge of the season at this juncture. The question for the Pumas -- can they they sustain when October arrives with Chandler, Hamilton, Brophy and Basha popping  up on the schedule. Perhaps the most improved team from the first game is revamped Pinnacle, which is finding a groove after its shellacking at the hand of Chandler on Aug. 20.

DIVISION II

Conventional wisdom  says unbeaten teams shouldn't be shunned, but the three teams unscathed in D-II to date are not top-5 worthy -- yet. Corona del Sol, Tucson High and Skyline are 3-0. Despite its .500 record, Saguaro (2-2) gets the No. 1 nod followed by Queen Creek (2-1), Ironwood Ridge (2-1) Marcos de Niza (2-1) and Williams Field (2-1). Every loss this top-5 in D-II have thus far is against a D-I school. Saguaro endured two losses to D-I teams Centennial and Pinnacle, which showed why they aren't D-I elite caliber. Queen Creek and Ironwood Ridge both lost to Hamilton. Marcos fell in tis first game to Mountain Pointe. Williams Field (2-1) lost handily to D-I Desert Vista. This week Tucson High has a chance to make a bonafide claim for top-5 recognition facing Ironwood Ridge while Williams Field hosts Queen Creek. Skyline has continued to play well dropping from D-I to D-II with a decent schedule so far, but no D-I opponent. Corona may get tested this week by Sahuaro.

DIVISION III

It would make sense to be more difficult to divine a top-5 in a field of 57 teams, but that's almost not the case here. My top-5 here are pretty easy -- 1. Paradise Valley (4-0); 2. Desert Edge (1-2); 3. Sunrise Mountain (3-0); 4. Sabino (3-0); and 5 Thunderbird. There remains plenty of play as to who are 3 through 5, but PV and Desert Edge are clearly 1-2. PV would have to produce a stinker to drop a game the rest of the way. The Trojans drop from D-II to D-III has them sitting pretty. Desert Edge lost to Paradise Valley and D-I Chaparral. It's not far-fetched the Scorpions can run the table from here on out.  Sunrise Mountain, Sabino and Thunderbird are not locks to stay perfect, but what they've shown so far is promising. Teams still lurking are Cactus, Tempe High, Peoria and perhaps Maricopa.

DIVISION IV

The addition of Yuma Catholic and Northwest Christian adds more depth to the usual northern Arizona suspects such as Snowflake and Show Low and last year's champ, River Valley. In fact, those are my top 5 to this point. There are 12 schools unbeaten to date in D-IV. Here is my top-5 in order -- 1. Show Low (3-0), 2. Snowlfake (3-0), 3. Yuma Catholic (4-0), 4. River Valley (2-1) and 5. Northwest Christian (3-0). Show Low and Snowflake are trampling the non-northern foes. They shouldn't expect any tension until October when Payson and Blue Ridge check out the two area leaders. Yuma Catholic will roll in D-IV after escaping River Valley once again two weeks ago in another close contest. River Valley has a similar road ahead with not much competition through the end. Northwest Christian has a late October date with Yuma Catholic, a good tune-up to postseason. Estrella Foothills (3-0) will have a shot at making in statement in October with games against YC and NWC.

DIVISION V

The clear leaders are Joy Christian and Tempe Prep. A couple rural schools are in the mix, but have a ways to go equal the former duo. My D-V top 5 are: 1. Joy Christian (3-0), 2, Tempe Prep (2-2), 3. Benson (3-0), 4. Santa Cruz Valley (3-0) and 5. American Leadership Academy (3-0). Joy Christian and Tempe Prep met in the D-V quarterfinals last season with Tempe Prep winning a close one. Tempe Prep has lost twice this season, but those were to Snowflake and NWC, two of the top teams in D-IV. Rural schools Santa Cruz Valley and Benson have a shot at winning their sections although Santa Cruz has dates with section foes Tempe Prep and American Leadership Academy coming up. American Leadership Academy, which made the playoffs last year playing a freedom schedule, is now residing in Section VIII of revamped D-V.

DIVISION VI

Impressive starts by many of the D-VI mainstays makes a top-5 analysis rather routine. My top 5 are: 1. Pima (4-0), 2, Bagdad (4-0), 3. Gilbert Christian (4-0), 4, Valley Union (3-0) and 5. Superior (3-0). Pima claimed an early showdown with Gilbert Christian taking a 22-19 victory. Bagdad has done exactly what coach Dalton Mills projected and has reloaded to an unbeaten mark as it tries to reclaim the D-VI title. Gilbert Christian is right there and takes on Bagdad in two weeks. Valley Union faces Glendale Prep (4-0) on Friday Sept. 18 Pima two weeks later. Superior has started fast and faces an Oct. 9 challenge at Gilbert Christian. Defending champ Mogollon (2-1) doesn't have much of a threat ahead, but its loss was a 41-8 drubbing to Gilbert Christian. There is work to do for the Mustangs come playoff time.