A PROPOSAL
No this is not a marriage proposal. It is a proposal for a better system of regular season games and by extension post season. Establishing classes based on student population is a flawed way to divide schools. You can look at teams right now in AAAA that have no business being in AAAA, AAA or even AA. When a team averages 24 points a game that probably indicates that that team has a roster full of inexperience players. My proposal is to place teams based on player experience——kind of a relegation model used by the soccer teams in Europe. The first step would include teams that have club rostered players—–how many years have said players played at a high level. It is no accident that the teams that have players that have been in the club world on topflight teams are the high school teams that are enjoying success right now. Well…..what came first the chicken or the egg. Guess what, it was the egg. The egg in this case being involved at club ball in the single digit grades. Those players have a history of playing in big games. So that would be the first and prime example. Just because a school has 1500 kids doesn’t mean their brand of basketball is better than the school of 200 kids. The other factor is how many years do players have starting? how many years are they all conference? how many all state? These items can be easily quantified.
This proposal would eliminate all the massacres, slaughters, butcherings, and exterminations wrapped up in running time games. No one, and I mean absolutely no one, benefits from these travesties. I have had to sit through too many of these waste-filled nights this year. This would eliminate conferences as we know them. Perhaps there would be a broad representation, but no “Lake,” “South Suburban” or the like. Maybe all the Lake teams are in AAAA. Maybe not.
Would this proposal fly? It looks wonderful on paper. The issue would be scheduling. The current system locks in the calendar early. This proposal would mean schedules wouldn’t be ready until September. That is a non-starter in today’s environment. Why September? By that time it would be clear where the vast majority of migrations will have landed. Another problem would be transportation for some schools that are stacked in the remote regions of the state. Think Roseau when they had three sisters. They would not be playing neighboring schools like Warroad. Who wants to see a rock vs. glass? But six hour road trips are hard to justify on school nights. Also traditionalists will weep when the rivalry is eliminated. But to be a rivalry there has to be more than a snowflake’s chance in a blast furnace for victory.
Imagine, as John Lennon once told me, where DeLaSalle, Becker, Simley, and Marshall all live in AAAA (Lourdes, Fergus and Sauk too) and North St. Paul lives in A. Imagine games that come down to the wire EVERY night. Imagine “any given day….” Imagine teams finishing 13-13 and that would be considered a good year. No more sandbagging. No more playing a AAA or AA schedule and dropping down to feast on hapless foes. No more buying or renting a title. It would be a worthwhile experiment.
Guess what this would also work for other sports ——Like the complaints that are raining down on Breck in girls hockey who have smashed and obliterated the “competition” in Class A. Time for a change. Time to play at the correct level of ability. Time to step up and compete at the highest level. Time to get out of the shallow end of the pool. Step up and get in the real arena.
Don’t expect it soon if ever. People say that like to compete, but only if they have the advantage.
QUEST FOR 100
The regular season is over. Moving into section week #1 I have five left on the vine. The top 75 are in the bank. But some sections have already started and their already has been some casualties (Zumbrota-Mazeppa being the highest team eliminated—as a #6 seed by #11 Chatfield). Two teams are left in AAAA and both will be charted this week. 8AAAA helped by having their sections start on Thursday. Last Monday’s QRF, the one I am basing the current listing, has a heavy dose of AA teams—4, with one in A. There is “super” Tuesday in the political world, but for MN GBB there is a “Super” Saturday—–which falls on leap year day February 29. There usually is a stunner in the mix that date. Be ready for head scratchers and jaw droppers. The clock is ticking.
| Level | Seen | % |
| 1-10 | 10 | 100.00 |
| 1-25 | 25 | 100.00 |
| 1-50 | 50 | 100.00 |
| 1-75 | 75 | 100.00 |
| 1-100 | 95 | 95.00 |
| 1-125 | 113 | 90.40 |
| 1-150 | 128 | 85.33 |
| 1-175 | 139 | 79.43 |
| 1-200 | 149 | 74.50 |
| 1-225 | 148 | 68.89 |
SEEDING THE STATE
Most sections are finished with the seeding process—-either by actual votes by actual coaches or abdicated to the QRF. It should be noted that not every #1 section seed winds their way to state. In fact, expect 75% of the #1s to make it. It is a rare blue moon indeed when all #1s make it. Lower classes have the benefit of having two #1s in some section (i.e. north, south or east, west).
AAAA
1 Hopkins #6
2 Farmington #1
3 Chaska #2
4 Park Center #5
5 St. Michael-Albertville #8
6 Rosemount #3
7 Stillwater #4
8 Andover #7
AAA
1 DeLaSalle #4
2 Becker #5
3 Simley #3
4 Marshall #2
5 Holy Angels #6
6 Red Wing #1
7 Alexandria #8
8 Hermantown #7
AA
1 Rochester Lourdes #1
2 Sauk Centre #6
3 Fergus Falls #8
4 New London-Spicer #3
5 Minnehaha #4
6 Waseca #2
7 Providence #5
8 Proctor #7
A
1 Minneota #3
2 Cromwell-Wright #7
3 Mayer Lutheran #4
4 Walker-Hackensack-Akeley #5
5 Henning #6
6 Blooming Prairie #1
7 Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s #2
8 Red Lake #8
UNBEATENS
As Bob Segar once told me “Still the same.”
AAAA: 1: Hopkins
AAA: 1: Marshall
AA: 1: Pelican Rapids
A: 0
STREAKING
Looking at the four leaders here it is possible two don’t make state. Marshall lives in the most brutal AAA section with land mines like Hutchinson and St. Peter. They are ranked in the top 20 but they are #4 and #5 in 2AAA. Pelican Rapids wasn’t even the #1 seed in their sub-section (8AA South). That went to Fergus Falls.
AAAA: 57 Hopkins (32+25)
AAA 25: Marshall
AA 25: Pelican Rapids
A 14: Minneota
What about the secondary market?
Simley moves into the top spot in AAA. Becker is one behind at 20. So, three teams in AAA have 20+ win streaks alive.
AAAA: 16 Rochester Mayo
AAA: 21 Simley
AA: 19 New London-Spicer, Albany
A: 13 United Christian Academy, Warren-Alvarado-Oslo