Pennsylvania is well known as a competitive state. Professional sports teams in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are perennial contenders for national championships.

Now, another ranking finds the Keystone State in the top tier — and sure to move up.

The latest ranking is by the national political website, The Daily Beast, which listed states according to public corruption. In the latest list, Pennsylvania ranked as the 8th-most- corrupt state, based on only federal crimes committed by public officials.

But, as Tim Potts, co-founder of Democracy Rising PA, points out, the Daily Beast ranking includes crime data only up to 2008. So, according to Potts, our 8th-place position does not include the ongoing Bonusgate scandal, including former state Rep. Mike Veon's recent conviction and sentencing to a 6- to 14-year prison term.

The state's 8th-place finish also does not include the 2009 conviction of former state Sen. Vincent Fumo on 137 charges of corruption, fraud and obstruction of justice for misuse of more than $2 million in state funds and assets of a nonprofit agency. The former Democratic power broker from Philadephia is serving a 55-month prison sentence.

The Daily Beast rankings do not include the so-called "cash for kids" corruption scandal in which two Luzerne County judges sentenced young people to serve time in two juvenile detention centers, including one in Butler County, in exchange for kickbacks.

The state's position as the 8th-most-corrupt state will surely be boosted by these high-profile cases. More charges and convictions can be expected from the Bonusgate probe.

Several current lawmakers remain under Bonusgate clouds, including Democratic Rep. Bill DeWeese, who has been charged with public corruption for hiring staffers to do political work and using state resources for re-election campaigns.

Republican Rep. John Perzel is accused of spending tens of millions of taxpayer dollars for a computer database system that was used for political, partisan purposes to help Republicans win elections.

A raid earlier this month of Democratic state Senate Minority Leader Robert Mellow's home and office by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service could develop into another reason for the state to move up on the Daily Beast ranking.

According to a recent report in a Scranton newspaper, Mellow, 67, has announced he will not seek re-election, but is on track to receive pension benefits calculated at $313,000, roughly three times his current state salary of $110,250.

State taxpayers should keep an eye on further developments involving Mellow, as well as DeWeese and Perzel. These three state lawmakers could very well help move the state up to the top-five most-corrupt states.

And there are others who could boost Pennsylvania's standing as a hotbed of political corruption. Democratic Sen. Raphael Musto had FBI agents raid his home in April, and state Sen. Jane Orie, R-McCandless, has been accused of using state resources to boost her sister's race for the state Supreme Court.

Then, on June 20, as if to put icing on the cake for Pennsylvania's run to the top of most-corrupt states, the Philadelphia Inquirer published an editorial calling for the resignation of Ronald D. Castille, chief justice of the state Supreme Court, over conflict-of-interest charges having to do with a lawyer hired by Castille to work with a developer planning to build a $200 million Family Court facility in Philadelphia.

Based on Fumo, Veon, the expanding Bonusgate probe and with possible help from DeWeese, Perzel, Mellow and Castille, Pennsylvanians from across the state could well be someday shouting "We're number one" — the most corrupt state.

Since the notorious pension grab of 2001 and the pay grab of 2005, Harrisburg has been putting together a sort of highlights reel of abuses of public trust and greed, with too many elected officials behaving in self-serving ways and displaying the arrogance that can come from a job-for-life with fringe benefits far richer than average citizens will ever receive.

Pennsylvania might not be the worst — Illinois, with disgraced ex-Gov. Ron Blagojevich, will be a tough competitor. But our public officials are sure to give every other state a run for the dubious distinction of Most Corrupt State.