AA Ranking Update for 2/23/14

[karl(east)]

Short and sweet this week. Here’s a quick ranking update with eliminated teams omitted. This is largely for State seeding purposes.

1. Edina (21-4-1/2AA)
-Pounded Prior Lake, and on paper, their road to State got a lot easier when Burnsville went down. With a win on Wednesday, they’ll make it eight in a row.
2. Hill-Murray (23-3/4AA)
-After an easy quarterfinal win, they now take on Roseville in the semis.
3. Lakeville North (22-4-1/1AA)
-Rolled into their section final; we’ll see if Farmington or South can give them a game on Thursday.
4. Blaine (21-4-1/5AA)
-Benefits from Wayzata’s loss and is now assured of a top-4 seed if they can get through 5AA.
5. St. Thomas Academy (20-6-1/3AA)
-Escaped a tight game with Eastview and are now in position to grab a seed if they can win their section final.
6. Elk River (20-6/7AA)
-The 7AA champ is next in line to grab a seed if any of the above fall.
7. Duluth East (20-6-1/7AA)
-Took care of business against Grand Rapids and now aim for a sixth straight trip to State.
8. Eden Prairie (16-8-3/6AA)
-Would have some case to go higher as the 6AA champ, but this section isn’t quite what it usually is, and since Wayzata has already lost, they aren’t going to beat a higher-ranked team to get to State. Could slip into the top five with multiple upsets toward the top.
9. Eagan (17-9-1/3AA)
-A win over St. Thomas wouldn’t be enough to lift them any higher in the race for a seed, but it might keep them above Benilde if the Red Knights also win. Even so, a seed would be doubtful.
10. Benilde-St. Margaret’s (15-8-3/6AA)
-Get a nice boost for knocking off Wayzata, and looking good defensively in doing so. They are ranked somewhat higher in the LPH poll so they might have an outside shot at a State seed, but it would take at least one, perhaps two upsets in the top five for it to happen.
11. Maple Grove (15-8-3/5AA)
-No trouble in the first round; Centennial, who gave them two tough games this year, is up next. No one in this part of the rankings has a realistic shot at a seed.
12. White Bear Lake (19-6-1/4AA)
-Stillwater is up next for the Bears.
13. Bloomington Jefferson (15-10-2/2AA)
-Got a big win over Burnsville and did give Edina all they could handle last season, but advancing beyond Mariucci will be a tough task.
14. Roseau (19-7-1/8AA)
-Had a bit of an adventure with River Lakes in the quarters, but remain the cautious favorite in 8AA.
15. Centennial (14-10-2/5AA)
-The Cougars face long odds for a repeat, likely having to go through Maple Grove and Blaine.
16. Moorhead (13-12-1/8AA)
-Rematch with Roseau as they aim for a fourth straight Tourney berth; none would be harder-won than this one.
17. Stillwater (14-10-2/4AA)
-Could give White Bear a good game if they play well, but it’s hard to see them going much further.
18. Roseville (16-7-3/4AA)
-Not a bad team, and if enough goes right they could keep it close against Hill, though it’s tough to see the upset happening.
19. Farmington (22-3-1/1AA)
-Time to finally learn more about this group as they face Lakeville South in their weather-delayed semi on Monday.
20. Lakeville South (9-17/1AA)
-The South-Farmington game really is the ultimate test of a team with a very easy schedule with a gaudy record and a team with a very tough schedule that has an awful one.
21. Anoka (13-12-1/4AA)
-Face an uphill battle, but Blaine was stunned in sections last year, and they did play some decent games down the stretch.

I'll try to update this as more teams go down this week.

[karl(east)]

My AA seeds:

1. Edina
-Same record as North, but a tougher schedule.
2. Lakeville North
-There's an argument for #1 here since Edina lost to Eagan, but I'm not buying it. Not sure there's a big advantage to being #1 instead of #2 anyway.
3. Duluth East
-Head-to-head win over similarly-ranked Eden Prairie.
4. Eden Prairie
-Should be locked in here.
5. Eagan
-Highest-ranked of the remaining teams. While Stillwater and Centennial got bigger upsets, Eagan got a decent one of their own over St. Thomas, and they also have a win over Edina.
---
Centennial
-Could have an argument for a seed because they beat Duluth East, but they have 10 losses. Typically they've gone with straight rankings in doing the State seeding and only use head-to-head as a tiebreaker. Clearly a dangerous team.
Stillwater
-With the way they played in sections, they won't be an easy out.
Roseau
-Certainly the most unproven of this lot, but they've got some talent. If they can play some good defense, who knows?

[HappyHockeyFan]

I think Eden Prairie would be a favorable QF matchup for Eagan as a 5th seed, not that EP is any pushover. I just like their chances against them better than against Edina, Lakeville North or Duluth East. However, with Eagan's strong defense and highest ranked goaltender in the tournament, they have a chance to beat anyone in the field. GO CATS !!

[upnorthfan]

Roseau a #1 seed from their section and a better overall record than several teams should receive the 5 seed, but the metro bias will not allow that to happen.

[HShockeywatcher]

Roseau a #1 seed from their section and a better overall record than several teams should receive the 5 seed, but the metro bias will not allow that to happen.

They lost to Blaine (who lost to Centennial in section finals), lost to Rapids (who didn't make the section finals) and their only quality win is over Holy Family. If they don't get seeded it has nothing to do with "metro bias."

[Sats81]

Roseau a #1 seed from their section and a better overall record than several teams should receive the 5 seed, but the metro bias will not allow that to happen.

So if DE is seeded (they will be) is "metro bias" still present?

Bottom line Roseau doesn't deserve a top 5 seed with Edina, LN, DE, EP or Eagan. If they are good enough they will prove everyone wrong this week.

[almostashappy]

Roseau a #1 seed from their section and a better overall record than several teams should receive the 5 seed, but the metro bias will not allow that to happen.

Being the #1 seed in Section 1AA hasn't made it any easier for either of the "metro" Lakeville teams to get seeded over the years.

[CitiesSpudsGuy]

Roseau a #1 seed from their section and a better overall record than several teams should receive the 5 seed, but the metro bias will not allow that to happen.

They nearly lost to River Lakes in the section quarterfinals and you think they deserve to be seeded? Who's really biased??
Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to be hoping Roseau represents section 8 well and I'll be cheering for them, but they don't deserve to be seeded.

[upnorthfan]

So they didn't blow out River Lakes. What does that say about your Spuds who they did spank? DE deserves a top 3 seed, so the metro can't deny them. Roseau deserves a #5, but won't get it and if they draw Edina i round 1, I can tell you the seeding isn't random!

[Sats81]

So they didn't blow out River Lakes. What does that say about your Spuds who they did spank? DE deserves a top 3 seed, so the metro can't deny them. Roseau deserves a #5, but won't get it and if they draw Edina i round 1, I can tell you the seeding isn't random!

Stop whining. If they are good enough to "be seeded" then they should be good enough to beat anyone in the field. They will likely be at mariucci Friday AM.

[CitiesSpudsGuy]

So they didn't blow out River Lakes. What does that say about your Spuds who they did spank? DE deserves a top 3 seed, so the metro can't deny them. Roseau deserves a #5, but won't get it and if they draw Edina i round 1, I can tell you the seeding isn't random!

Wow, gotta take a shot at the Spuds just because your team isn't going to get seeded (and rightly so)? Real mature. Settle down, spanky.