Previewing the State Tourney SEEDS - 2/28

[O-townClown]

1. Roseau - easily the #1 seed
2. Edina
3. Hill-Murray, if they beat White Bear
4. Benilde-St. Margaret's
--
Take yo' pick: Blaine/Cenennial/Anoka
other half of Section 5 (Centennial/Blaine) and 7 (Cloquet/Anoka)
Rosemount/Woodbury
Lakeville N or S

There is a good chance Benilde gets seeded #3 and they swap with Hill-Murray. B-SM owns wins over Shattuck, Minnetonka, and Edina - very impressive.

IF White Bear beats Hill-Murray it looks a little different.

1. Roseau
2. Edina
3. Benilde-St. Margaret's
4. Centennial/Blaine winner or Anoka, if they beat Cloquet
--
other half of Centennial/Blaine and Section 7 (Anoka/Cloquet)
Rosemount/Woodbury
White Bear Lake
Lakeville S or N

In either scenario there is a very tough draw for one of the seeded teams. I wouldn't want to face A, B, or C (Anoka, Blaine, Centennial) if the alternative was one of the Lakeville teams or Rosemount/Woodbury.

In order to win the title these teams could face the following gauntlets:

Roseau - Centennial, Hill or Benilde, Edina or someone else on a 5 game roll

Edina - Anoka, Hill or Benilde, Roseau

Benilde - Blaine, Roseau, Edina or Hill

Hill - A/B/C, Edina, Roseau

Section 1 represents a Lotto ticket for whoever draws them. It would take a heroic effort for them to knock off any seeded team.

Like John Mellencamp says...

There's no free ride, no one said it'd be easy

This is shaping up to be a great tourney!

[Sparlimb]

Seeing as my squad hasn't punched their ticket yet, I hate to theorize for too long on seeding. But everything you said looks sound. Hill is seeded ahead of Benilde on the basis of beating them in their one meeting. Benilde Roseau would be a fantastic game as Benilde is the scrappy team that could. Hill versus Edina would likely have 15 goals. Granted, 3 of the 4 seeded teams lost their first round matchup last year, so nothing is guaranteed.

[Neutron 14]

HALs seeding of whose left

1 EDINA 2AA 21.68
3 ROSEAU 8AA 21.30
4 HILL MURRAY 21.11
5 CENTENNIAL 20.97
7 BENILDE ST MARGARETS 20.67
8 BLAINE 20.24
13 ANOKA 19.23
15 ROSEMOUNT 18.98
23 WHITE BEAR LAKE 18.65
25 WOODBURY 18.61
42 CLOQUET 17.62
44 LAKEVILLE SOUTH 17.45
74 LAKEVILLE NORTH 15.61

[OGEE OGELTHORPE]

I think BSM should be at least #2 or #3 seed they did beat Edina and Tonka. 1-3 will be tough to rank. Hill #4 if they make it.

[Since95]

O-Town, that A, B, and C analogy was gold.

I thought Benilde would be ahead of Hill, but I forgot that Hill has a victory over them, so yeah, I'll give them the nod now provided they beat White Bear Lake tomorrow night. Let's hope they do for a better tournament. Otherwise it looks good to me. Although, do you really think if Rosemount wins tonight that they would be 7th among all the teams? I'd think they could be 6th, even 5th maybe. But I guess I don't know. If you could elaborate, I'd be willing to listen. Just looking for some clarity.

[Nostalgic Nerd]

HALs seeding of whose left

1 EDINA 2AA 21.68
3 ROSEAU 8AA 21.30
4 HILL MURRAY 21.11
5 CENTENNIAL 20.97
7 BENILDE ST MARGARETS 20.67
8 BLAINE 20.24
13 ANOKA 19.23
15 ROSEMOUNT 18.98
23 WHITE BEAR LAKE 18.65
25 WOODBURY 18.61
42 CLOQUET 17.62
44 LAKEVILLE SOUTH 17.45
74 LAKEVILLE NORTH 15.61

I'm not understanding that rating where an undefeated team can be ranked #3?

[packerboy]

Well Nerd, it takes into account the schedule teams played.

HAL doesnt place much stock in head to head. Coaches at seeding meetings do. Strength of schedule is also discussed.

HM beat BSM , very early. BSM beat Edina, later but still early so that will cause fits at the meeting.

I think it should be #1 Edina #2 BSM #3 Roseau #4 HM, if they beat WBL

[SB24]

SOS

[BIAFP]

Undefeated, Defending State Champs #1
BSM #2
Edina #3
Centennial #4

[watchdog]

packer boy i cant wait for roseau to shut you up. if you havent figured it out by now you never will..

[hockeyxprt1]

O-Town, that A, B, and C analogy was gold.

I thought Benilde would be ahead of Hill, but I forgot that Hill has a victory over them, so yeah, I'll give them the nod now provided they beat White Bear Lake tomorrow night. Let's hope they do for a better tournament. Otherwise it looks good to me. Although, do you really think if Rosemount wins tonight that they would be 7th among all the teams? I'd think they could be 6th, even 5th maybe. But I guess I don't know. If you could elaborate, I'd be willing to listen. Just looking for some clarity.

Only the top 4 teams are seeded. The other 4 teams are placed based on a random draw. The seeding is not terribly important as we saw last year. For example, the difference between a #2 and #3 is minimal as you would have to play the other team in the second round anyway.

[SB24]

They'll shut somebody up, that's for sure.

[packerboy]

packer boy i cant wait for roseau to shut you up. if you havent figured it out by now you never will..

Another brilliant response. Why dont you give us your argument as to why Roseau who plays the 40th toughest schedule in the state should be the #1 seed so we can all figure it out?

BIAFP, who won last year shouldn't mean squat. We are seeding the 2008 tournament. I mean come on, should we seed Moorhead #2 every year they come down?

[Doc Holliday]

Only the top 4 teams are seeded. The other 4 teams are placed based on a random draw. The seeding is not terribly important as we saw last year. For example, the difference between a #2 and #3 is minimal as you would have to play the other team in the second round anyway.

Seeding doesn't matter for the 1st round, but I wouldn't necessarly say it doesn't matter for the semi final should the high seeds advance.

Say Edina & Benilde are #2 & #3 respectively.....Edina gets the last change. And Edina has been taking advantage of getting the last change specifically in the Holy Angels & Burnsville games. With Benilde's top line, being a #2 & #3 seed would be important for Edina. It would matter in the semis & finals.

But you're right, no really big difference in the quarters.

[minnhock1228]

it's no doubt the rams will be the number one seed, however 2-4 is anyone's game. if Hill makes it it will be even more confusing. Edina lost to Benilde,Benilde lost to Hill, Hill hasn't lost either team, but they rank below both teams. i would say.
1.Rams
2.Benilde
3.Edina
4.Hill

[DmanDad1980]

it's no doubt the rams will be the number one seed, however 2-4 is anyone's game. if Hill makes it it will be even more confusing. Edina lost to Benilde,Benilde lost to Hill, Hill hasn't lost either team, but they rank below both teams. i would say.
1.Rams
2.Benilde
3.Edina
4.Hill

Ahhhh, just a moment... not so fast...

4.WBL

[BIAFP]

it's no doubt the rams will be the number one seed, however 2-4 is anyone's game. if Hill makes it it will be even more confusing. Edina lost to Benilde,Benilde lost to Hill, Hill hasn't lost either team, but they rank below both teams. i would say.
1.Rams
2.Benilde
3.Edina
4.Hill

It would have been even more interesting if Edina hadn't pulled off the huge upset win in OT over powerhouse Burnsville.

[ahastars03]

how can you not have the rams #1 seed. you think it doesn't matter that they won last year but it does because they haven't lost since last season and are the champs from 07. you think that your city team is so good and they may have more overall talent then the rams but no way should they be considered for #1. Rams hands down! i would laugh in their face if i was in a meeting to seed the teams and someone said edina should be number 1

[Sparlimb]

HALs seeding of whose left

1 EDINA 2AA 21.68
3 ROSEAU 8AA 21.30
4 HILL MURRAY 21.11
5 CENTENNIAL 20.97
7 BENILDE ST MARGARETS 20.67
8 BLAINE 20.24
13 ANOKA 19.23
15 ROSEMOUNT 18.98
23 WHITE BEAR LAKE 18.65
25 WOODBURY 18.61
42 CLOQUET 17.62
44 LAKEVILLE SOUTH 17.45
74 LAKEVILLE NORTH 15.61

I'm not understanding that rating where an undefeated team can be ranked #3?

Well first you need to understand that this is a computer rankings. Do they have computers up where you live yet? They are really neat. They can compute all kinds of things, like how long it will take you to till the field and how many sugar beets you can expect for a cup of seeds. In HAL we trust.

[DmanDad1980]

Seriously, the following...

1. & 2. Roseau & Edina, interchangeable, I can see merit for both...
3. BSM
4. Hill/Centennial this is a tough pick for me, as it may be for those who make the seeds... but, we have to see if either or both make it to the big party next week...

[Warroad97]

Havent any of you learned computers seeding teams is the worst way to do it in the history of sports?? Last I checked hockey was played on ice not a computer chip. College football uses a computer to show who it picks as #1 and that was OSU this season and look what happened to them when they played the team who one the computer wasnt as good as them. Going unbeaten and being the defending State Champs makes Roseau #1. Not to mention the last rankings that came out had them as #1 in the state. So for you people like "Hal" or from Edina to say now you should jump a team into #1 you need to really stop and think. You want to beat the champs well you may get your chance, until then your #2.

[O-townClown]

Roseau is the #1 seed. That isn't up for discussion. Sorry if that offends those favoring someone else. They'll be seeded #1.

As mentioned, #2 = #3 since there is random draw for their opponents and they'd meet in the Semis if they both win. Edina is most likely #2. Both Edina and Benilde split with Minnetonka and B-SM won the head to head, but those are Edina's only losses and the Red Knights do have blemishes. Moot point though, although there is a mention of last substitution for line-matching.

Hill could edge Benilde for the #3. I don't see A,B,C getting a leg up on Benilde simply because the Red Knights record looks great and includes wins over 'Tonka, Edina, and Shattuck-St. Mary's.

The draw is more important than the seed. You think Roseau-Anoka as one quarter and Edina-Lakeville is a wash!? No way. Or vice versa. Three games in three days can wear a team out. Even with a win in the quarter teams would rather have an easier matchup.

I'm going on record saying there is no way Lakeville South or North wins their game. No chance.

Roseau #1 - please let's not argue. No case can be made for seeding them somewhere else. Had Edina come to Xcel with 1 loss it still would be very difficult to argue for seeding purposes. People do not forget that Roseau won last year, plus they met every challenge so far.

[AngusYoung]

The Hornets could care less where the seeds end up because.....

Edina - Eatin' Cake' and Takin' State in '08!

AY

[O-townClown]

Havent any of you learned computers seeding teams is the worst way to do it in the history of sports?? Last I checked hockey was played on ice not a computer chip. College football uses a computer to show who it picks as #1 and that was OSU this season and look what happened to them when they played the team who one the computer wasnt as good as them. Going unbeaten and being the defending State Champs makes Roseau #1. Not to mention the last rankings that came out had them as #1 in the state. So for you people like "Hal" or from Edina to say now you should jump a team into #1 you need to really stop and think. You want to beat the champs well you may get your chance, until then your #2.

Warroad, CFB uses the BCS system - a blend of polls and computer rankings - to select two teams to play in a final. This is a best-efforts attempt at a Championship game in absence of a playoff. A better example for you to cite is CBB awarding seeds based in part on the crude RPI.

Your comment about games played on a field and not a computer chip sounds nice and is oft-repeated, but it is so trite. I can run the PS2 calculation by hand and it wouldn't make it any different. Take the computer out of it. "Computer rankings" like PS2, Jeff Sagarin's, Ken Pomeroy's, or whatever are merely ways of taking things into account. If you didn't know anything about HS hockey and moved to Minnesota you would ask how the hometown team is. The answer you'd get would be based in part on their record and also on who they played. How well those teams did, etc... That's all PS2 or a Sagarin ranking does.

Could International Falls with a very good record beat Wayzata, a metro team that floundered in the W/L area but played a murderous schedule? If you only saw the record you'd think it is a walk for Falls. You and I know that's not the case because I. Falls hasn't beat many good teams and Wayzata really only lost to the state's better teams. PS2 is merely a way of quantifying that. Last I checked Wayzata and I. Falls were ranked about the same.

Ditto the Park Rapids team. If you only saw their record you'd assume they were awesome. Turns out they might struggle to get past Kennedy who didn't win a game. It takes PS2 to show that, or a lot of paper and hand calculations.

[the dangsnipe]

I agree the PS2 rankings are the most accurate rakings out there. Just look at their results year in and year out they are way more accurate than Lets Play Hockey