2025 Minnesota High School Football Thread

[Ranger692]

They remaining teams aren't weak. They are Section CHAMPIONS and thus earned a bid to the State Tournament.

Maybe they are less talented, but it will get proven on the field.

Anyone getting beat by 50 in the quarters is weak, and maybe if they were in another section they go 3-5... look at section 5A, they went 1-5 vs section 6A including their champion taking a loss... USA in section 6 might have been 4-4 and not 7-1. You are most certainly getting weak teams from weak sections at the state tournament... it would also get proven if you went 1-16 and got best 8 to quarters...

 

[Ope3]

SO you loose a section championship on last second and you are just fine saying we arent good enough, go ahead let schmuckville have a shot just to get beat by 50.

Yes.

 

[Ranger692]

Yes.

Why are you so in favor of not getting the best 8 teams to quarters?

Serious question

Seems like a "we dont keep score" in this league stance

 

[Ope3]

Definitely insane. AND being an alum of a team in your scenario also isn't what I was talking about. Anyone on that team who could have been a finalist would want the chance to be on the biggest stage, not on some obscure field with 10% the viewers

I wouldn't feel any different as a participant.

Only 1 team gets to finish with a victory in each Class. Doesn't matter when the loss happens.

 

[Ranger692]

I wouldn't feel any different as a participant.

Only 1 team gets to finish with a victory in each Class. Doesn't matter when it happens.

Again I dont understand the stance of not trying to get the best 8 to quater finals?

You are all for being hard on the weren't good enough be be state champ so you dont deserve the chance to be in the state tournament.

But then take the stance that you deserve a shot if you are the best team out of 8 from this area, even though that area is terrible and we know you are heading into get beat by 50

That's really speaking out of both sides of your mouth

 

[Ope3]

Why are you so in favor of not getting the best 8 teams to quarters?

Serious question

Seems like a "we dont keep score" in this league stance

You're "don't keep score" is way off the Mark on my opinion. The score is indeed was kept at all Section Championship games. The Section Champions earned their right to continue on. Inarguable.

I prefer to the regionality. In any sport it's rarely if ever getting the Best 8 Teams in the Quarters/State Tournament. I see it as identify the Best Team in the State, which I have stated repeatedly and the 7 other Section Champions.

Prove you are the best team in your approximate geographic area that gets you to State.

Aside from that, I think with minimal regular season cross over play any attempt to rank seed the Top 16 comes with a high degree probability for error.

 

[Ranger692]

You're "don't keep score" is way off the Mark on my opinion. The score is indeed was kept at all Section Championship games. The Section Champions earned their right to continue on. Inarguable.

I prefer to the regionality. In any sport it's rarely if ever getting the Best 8 Teams in the Quarters/State Tournament. I see it as identify the Best Team in the State, which I have stated repeatedly and the 7 other Section Champions.

Prove you are the best team in your approximate geographic area that gets you to State.

Aside from that, I think with minimal regular season cross over play any attempt to rank seed the Top 16 comes with a high degree probability for error.

Once you get to the top 16 in the lower clases there is a lot of crossover things to look at. Several of these teams only play a couple section games and then when you are looking at top 2 from each section there is definitely enough to say this section is very tough, this one looks pretty weak and there would obviously be some things maybe not perfect, but in the long run a weighted coaches vote and a qrf input the 16 team tournament would be way more fun to watch than what Barnum and Lester Praire went thorough last night. Much less probability for error than current system

 

[Ope3]

Again I dont understand the stance of not trying to get the best 8 to quater finals?

You are all for being hard on the weren't good enough be be state champ so you dont deserve the chance to be in the state tournament.

But then take the stance that you deserve a shot if you are the best team out of 8 from this area, even though that area is terrible and we know you are heading into get beat by 50

That's really speaking out of both sides of your mouth

No it isn't.

Section Champion = Best Team in geographic region.

Each and every team got a chance to be a Section Champion. If they failed, too bad

Tournament Champion = Best Team in the State of those 8 Section Champions

Makes total sense. Hope it never changes in Classes 5A and below.

I would be all on board if 6A changed back, but I realize it's a different beast. Only 32 team field to begin with and 31 of the 32 Teams are all geographically close.

 

[Ranger692]

No it isn't.

Section Champion = Best Team in geographic region.

Each and every team got a chance to be a Section Champion. If they failed, too bad

Tournament Champion = Best Team in the State of those 8 Section Champions

Makes total sense. Hope it never changes in Classes 5A and below.

I would be all on board if 6A changed back, but I realize it's a different beast. Only 32 team field to begin with and 31 of the 32 Teams are all geographically close.

How is it not.

BOLD leads Minneota all game until 4 minutes left in section champioship last season.

They dont deserve to be in state tournament an show they are 2nd best team in MN, or maybe they are 1 play better a couple weeks down the raod and win the champioship.

But a team who gets blown out by 50 to same team does deserve the chance to be in the state tournament.

Im not saying we dont get the true state champions, but the state isn't showcasing the games it could and should be having these lesser teams getting to state tournament. You could honestly have the worst 8 teams in any said region and one of those gets to make an appearance at the state tournament in this format, while at the same time 4 of the states best teams actually have been in the same section and only one of those is represented.

That's extremely flawed. Teams in states where football isn't looked at like the red headed step child dont settle the playoffs that way. You have to 1st qualify, and then beat good teams to get to the quarters. Here in MN you could just be the best way below average team and get lucky your town happens to be in the middle of a cesspool section

 

[Ope3]

How is it not.

BOLD leads Minneota all game until 4 minutes left in section champioship last season.

They dont deserve to be in state tournament an show they are 2nd best team in MN, or maybe they are 1 play better a couple weeks down the raod and win the champioship.

But a team who gets blown out by 50 to same team does deserve the chance to be in the state tournament.

Im not saying we dont get the true state champions, but the state isn't showcasing the games it could and should be having these lesser teams getting to state tournament. You could honestly have the worst 8 teams in any said region and one of those gets to make an appearance at the state tournament in this format, while at the same time 4 of the states best teams actually have been in the same section and only one of those is represented.

That's extremely flawed. Teams in states where football isn't looked at like the red headed step child dont settle the playoffs that way. You have to 1st qualify, and then beat good teams to get to the quarters. Here in MN you could just be the best way below average team and get lucky your town happens to be in the middle of a cesspool section

My conclusion is BOLD should have played better against Minneota to advance to the State Tournament.

 

[Ranger692]

My conclusion is BOLD should have played better against Minneota to advance to the State Tournament.

My conclusion is they were better than 7 of the other teams that you claimed to deserve a shot to be state champions last year and your reasoning to keep them out is they are in the wrong area of the state

 

[MaxyJR1]

Just goes to show again the poll voters don't know squat...

Also shows how the format should be redone and that every region from MN doesn't need a repetitive at the quarter final level.

In class A probably 2 or maybe even up to 4 the top 10 teams are not in the state tournament when you start looking at things closely... Barnum and Lester Prairie had no business in the State tournament. Lester had 1 win over a team with a winning record and that didn't come till the section championship game. Barnum gave up 300 yards rushing in the first 20 minuets last night and If Breckenridge wanted to they could have scored 100. Upsala Swanville Area played 2 good teams and lost both games this year.

If there was a seeding at the section championship level I think last nights games are all much closer. I assume #1 V #16 and #2 v #14 would still result in blowouts but that is a little bit to be excepted with teams that are favorites to get the the championship game. But a look to Class 6A and there are no extreme blowouts at the quarterfinals

You can’t compare 6A. The top 24 teams all are respectable programs. It’s really just the bottom 8 that have no shot.

There are no pollsters. The Tribune does put out rankings but those guys tend to know just as much as we do.

The state separates north and south and seeds 1-4 with basically the 8 coaches involved input.

Only one team can win state

 

[MaxyJR1]

My conclusion is they were better than 7 of the other teams that you claimed to deserve a shot to be state champions last year and your reasoning to keep them out is they are in the wrong area of the state

Minnesota defines state for 5A and below as 8 sections distributed across the state with one team advancing from each section.

Yes taking the top two that reach section final and crossing the over would be a step, but not sure it’s needed.

 

[Ranger692]

Minnesota defines state for 5A and below as 8 sections distributed across the state with one team advancing from each section.

Yes taking the top two that reach section final and crossing the over would be a step, but not sure it’s needed.

I think that the need was shown in the post you quoted Maxy... no reason to have a team who is the second best team in the state by a large margin be eliminated in the section championship.

That minniota BOLD game was epic and what everyone was forced to see in the championship game was Springfield give up 70 points and loose by 50. That's why it would be beneficial to go to 16

 

[State of Football]

No it isn't.

Section Champion = Best Team in geographic region.

Each and every team got a chance to be a Section Champion. If they failed, too bad

Tournament Champion = Best Team in the State of those 8 Section Champions

Makes total sense. Hope it never changes in Classes 5A and below.

I would be all on board if 6A changed back, but I realize it's a different beast. Only 32 team field to begin with and 31 of the 32 Teams are all geographically close.

Most of the schools agree with you and believe it is also best for high school football. Having Grand Rapids in the Semi’s is good in a part of the state that struggles to prioritize football.

Glad they didn’t just advance Maple Grove to the Championship. I thought they were the best in the state….

 

[Ranger692]

Most of the schools agree with you and believe it is also best for high school football. Having Grand Rapids in the Semi’s is good in a part of the state that struggles to prioritize football.

Glad they didn’t just advance Maple Grove to the Championship. I thought they were the best in the state….

Maple Grove was not advanced to the championship becasue in 6A at the quarter finals you are getting probably the best 8 teams.

Now in the section play that the rest of the state has to play by you are advancing teams to the championship game.

Grand Rapids last game is also a great example of how the section system is broken. 54-7 is not a score that you should see regularly at the quarter final round... Are you saying Grand Rapids only get to semis because your system let a team in BSM that shouldn't have been there?

 

[PMWinSTP]

Waseca punches its ticket to the semifinals.

 

[Hucklebearer]

OL really good.
Kid with 6 touchdowns has the speed to make anything go. But in the past they had 2-4 guys who could do that.

The south metro teams who see T every year bottled them up more.
Will be interesting how Moorhead handles it.
I don’t think Moorhead played elk River last year so it may be their first time seeing it

I expect a lot of points in that game.

South did exactly what MG defense was susceptible too. Not only big and physical, but with the deception to make it unstoppable. I thought Tonka would do the same thing but MG slowed them down I believe because Tonka was so easy to read. Never would have expected this game to wind up that out of hand, but the defense MG had last year was even better than their offense. This year, the opposite.
South did to MG what Centennial could not do against Moorhead the other night. If South can do it against Moorhead also and keep them around 30, they could win that one too.

 

[disco]

SO you loose a section championship on last second and you are just fine saying we arent good enough, go ahead let schmuckville have a shot just to get beat by 50.

Definitely insane. AND being an alum of a team in your scenario also isn't what I was talking about. Anyone on that team who could have been a finalist would want the chance to be on the biggest stage, not on some obscure field with 10% the viewers

You're all over the place. Ope is correct here.

Not to go all Al Bundy here, but my senior year, we finished ranked 7th in the state (I think). We may have been better than that. Unfortunately, as it was, we were in the same section (and conference) as the team that won state with an undefeated record. They beat us bad in the regular season and again in the section final. I don't believe there was anyone in the state that year who could have beaten them.

As a top eight team in the state, should we have been able to play in the state tournament? Sure, that would have been cool. But the system worked. The best team won that year. And if we hadn't had to play them in the section final, and had advanced to the championship based on a seeding system, we STILL would have lost to that team. If you aren't good enough to beat the best team in your section, you aren't good enough to beat them at state.

 

[Ranger692]

You're all over the place. Ope is correct here.

Not to go all Al Bundy here, but my senior year, we finished ranked 7th in the state (I think). We may have been better than that. Unfortunately, as it was, we were in the same section (and conference) as the team that won state with an undefeated record. They beat us bad in the regular season and again in the section final. I don't believe there was anyone in the state that year who could have beaten them.

As a top eight team in the state, should we have been able to play in the state tournament? Sure, that would have been cool. But the system worked. The best team won that year. And if we hadn't had to play them in the section final, and had advanced to the championship based on a seeding system, we STILL would have lost to that team. If you aren't good enough to beat the best team in your section, you aren't good enough to beat them at state.

I think you guys are all missing the point. I want to see GREAT games in the state tournament. I think we get the correct state champs, but the state isn't awarded with the games we should or could get at the highest level. But I guess we can continue to hand out participation trophies to all corners of the state just to appease people's feelings.

You want more tickets sold? Send 16 teams to the state tournament. You want more people to attend the state championship games, guarantee the best teams are there. You want more people to pay for the NSPN games, double the teams playing in the 1st round of state with good games.

Until then we will have close games in some sections and then blowouts in the quarter finals when good teams play teams that are just ok

 

[Hucklebearer]

South, Shakopee, Rosemount, Eagan anyone else run similar offense in that district?

if either can play defense Moorhead won’t win against South or Minnetonka.

Nobody is equipped to stop the passing game the way Moorhead runs it. And if it’s 3rd and 5, they just hit Mack on a slant or hitch and it’s money.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Nobody is equipped to stop the passing game the way Moorhead runs it. And if it’s 3rd and 5, they just hit Mack on a slant or hitch and it’s money.

Minnetonka and Maple Grove both did well against Moorhead the first time they played them but definitely seems like they don't have much trouble putting up points....also don't seem all that good at stopping their opponent from scoring in a lot of games.

Gotta think playing at US Bank is probably a good thing for a team with a high powered offense. Will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

 

[Some guy]

Minnetonka and Maple Grove both did well against Moorhead the first time they played them but definitely seems like they don't have much trouble putting up points....also don't seem all that good at stopping their opponent from scoring in a lot of games.

Gotta think playing at US Bank is probably a good thing for a team with a high powered offense. Will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

I think Moorhead QB was out for both of those games

 

[Ope3]

I think you guys are all missing the point. I want to see GREAT games in the state tournament. I think we get the correct state champs, but the state isn't awarded with the games we should or could get at the highest level. But I guess we can continue to hand out participation trophies to all corners of the state just to appease people's feelings.

You want more tickets sold? Send 16 teams to the state tournament. You want more people to attend the state championship games, guarantee the best teams are there. You want more people to pay for the NSPN games, double the teams playing in the 1st round of state with good games.

Until then we will have close games in some sections and then blowouts in the quarter finals when good teams play teams that are just ok

I am highly skeptical that attendance and viewership in whatever is NSPN would increase.

If anything I would think it's most likely that total Round of 16 attendance would be less than 8 Sectional games, especially if more travel is involved.

Minnesota High School football is never going to attract anything more than followers of the teams involved and hard core fans, regardless of the prospect of "better games".

Furthermore, I view your classification of a Section Champion as a "participation trophy" condescending. Those teams actually won something.

Not all Sections have the same caliber of competition. Such is life. They still went out and won on the field amongst a collection of 5-8 schools in their peer group. They won something.

 

[SJUgopher]

you are arguing to keep weak teams in a tournament to crown the best team, that's a looser mentality... let's not have the 2nd best team in the state at the state tournament but let's replace them with the 17th best just becasue they fall geographicly where id like to see a team come from.

Loser

SO you loose a section championship on last second and you are just fine saying we arent good enough, go ahead let schmuckville have a shot just to get beat by 50.

Definitely insane. AND being an alum of a team in your scenario also isn't what I was talking about. Anyone on that team who could have been a finalist would want the chance to be on the biggest stage, not on some obscure field with 10% the viewers

lose

 

[State of Football]

I am highly skeptical that attendance and viewership in whatever is NSPN would increase.

If anything I would think it's most likely that total Round of 16 attendance would be less than 8 Sectional games, especially if more travel is involved.

Minnesota High School football is never going to attract anything more than followers of the teams involved and hard core fans, regardless of the prospect of "better games".

Furthermore, I view your classification of a Section Champion as a "participation trophy" condescending. Those teams actually won something.

Not all Sections have the same caliber of competition. Such is life. They still went out and won on the field amongst a collection of 5-8 schools in their peer group. They won something.

Centennial vs Edina set an attendance record. Communities travel and attend when they haven’t been there in awhile or ever. The casual is less interested in the same teams and or a metro centric tourney. It’s contrary ton AAU, Club JO, AAA, etc.

 

[Ranger692]

Centennial vs Edina set an attendance record. Communities travel and attend when they haven’t been there in awhile or ever. The casual is less interested in the same teams and or a metro centric tourney. It’s contrary ton AAU, Club JO, AAA, etc.

So getting a 16 team State tournament seems to fit into the more tickets thing then not? I imagine there are several teams who have never played in a state tournament...

Travel isn't a huge factor IMHO in a state tournament game. Communities are going to support them as long as its not a 4 hour drive om a Thursday. Which could be avoided pretty easily. 1-8 in the north and 1-8 in the south is one way to do it I guess but the best way is definitely 1-16 It would be highly unlikely scenario that a team like Rushford would line up against Roseau in seeding but Brainerd which is already hosting MULTIPLE section and state games is almost exactly half way between. That game played on a Saturday of a Friday would still be well attended by both communities. Do it on a Thursday now you are making issues for people, and schools for letting students get to the game and then asking them to attend school the next day. Again completely avoidable if you tried

 

[Ranger692]

Loser

lose

Reading through all those posts to then take the time to correct an auto correct mistake must be VERY time consuming

 

[Some guy]

So getting a 16 team State tournament seems to fit into the more tickets thing then not? I imagine there are several teams who have never played in a state tournament...

Travel isn't a huge factor IMHO in a state tournament game. Communities are going to support them as long as its not a 4 hour drive om a Thursday. Which could be avoided pretty easily. 1-8 in the north and 1-8 in the south is one way to do it I guess but the best way is definitely 1-16 It would be highly unlikely scenario that a team like Rushford would line up against Roseau in seeding but Brainerd which is already hosting MULTIPLE section and state games is almost exactly half way between. That game played on a Saturday of a Friday would still be well attended by both communities. Do it on a Thursday now you are making issues for people, and schools for letting students get to the game and then asking them to attend school the next day. Again completely avoidable if you tried

It’ll never be1-16 seeding

You could seed the top seed advancing from each section from 1-8 and then random draw teams 9-16


You could seed 1-8
Then seed 9-12 and random draw 13-16

Politically,
You aren’t going to get sections to vote to make their two team have to play 1-2 in the state in the round of 16 potentially because perception is their section is bad.
You may get them to vote to have their teams seeded 8 and 13-16 because both teams can essentially say they advanced to the seeded state bracket



To get teams to vote to change their has to be an upside for them, not just a downside

 

[Ranger692]

Easiest way to av

It’ll never be1-16 seeding

You could seed the top seed advancing from each section from 1-8 and then random draw teams 9-16


You could seed 1-8
Then seed 9-12 and random draw 13-16

Politically,
You aren’t going to get sections to vote to make their two team have to play 1-2 in the state in the round of 16 potentially because perception is their section is bad.
You may get them to vote to have their teams seeded 8 and 13-16 because both teams can essentially say they advanced to the seeded state bracket



To get teams to vote to change their has to be an upside for them, not just a downside

Easiest way to avoid it all is a straight QRF seed. Its non bias and most sections are in a straight QRF seeding format already.

If a tie breaker is needed it could be as easy as

head to head
Record Vs Like opponents
Strength of schedule - Total win percentage of the teams you played.
Coin flip