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Just read on Gopherhole.com that Maple Grove will be joining the Lake Conference beginning next season.

Edina & Wayzata were already seeing them once at the beginning of the season. But all of those heavyweights seeing each other 2x a season now.....grab your popcorn!

Might we see the first ever team to finish 5th in a conference win a state tournament?

Ten years overdue but better late than never I suppose. If only we could get rid of STMA and Buffalo (maybe add Chan and/or PL too?). Finally both my username teams are in a comference together!

STMA holds there own in every sport but hockey. Girls basketball and wrestling won state in last couple of years. They are fine in the Lake.

STMA holds there own in every sport but hockey. Girls basketball and wrestling won state in last couple of years. They are fine in the Lake.

My gripe with STMA and Buffalo is more that it was a pain in the butt driving out there for track meets when I was in high school so they aren’t really a geographic fit. They’re kinda out of the way of the “Lake” part of “Lake Conference”

This is great from a regular season perspective, but does it increase the odds that MG gets moved into sections 2 or 6 by MSHSL (which MSHSL has proposed before)? That would be TERRIBLE for the postseason, as both of these sections are already loaded. The quality of competition at the state tourney will be dramatically reduced if this happens.

SpreadOut! wrote: ↑Tue Sep 10, 2024 4:00 pm This is great from a regular season perspective, but does it increase the odds that MG gets moved into sections 2 or 6 by MSHSL (which MSHSL has proposed before)? That would be TERRIBLE for the postseason, as both of these sections are already loaded. The quality of competition at the state tourney will be dramatically reduced if this happens.

This. Meanwhile you have some sections that literally are a cakewalk to get in. Will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

SpreadOut! wrote: ↑Tue Sep 10, 2024 4:00 pm This is great from a regular season perspective, but does it increase the odds that MG gets moved into sections 2 or 6 by MSHSL (which MSHSL has proposed before)? That would be TERRIBLE for the postseason, as both of these sections are already loaded. The quality of competition at the state tourney will be dramatically reduced if this happens.

Geographically, I think they are too far north for Section 2. I could see them getting bumped to Section 6 as Section 5 currently has 10 teams and Section 6 has 8. The MSHSL likes to stick pretty strictly to geographic boundaries and not competitive balance.

A lot will depend on what happens with the next round of reclassification for 2025-26 and 2026-27 and if any enrollments/schools opt up or down.

https://www.mshsl.org/sites/default/fil ... 6-2027.pdf

BSUBeaver wrote: ↑Wed Sep 11, 2024 2:08 pm

SpreadOut! wrote: ↑Tue Sep 10, 2024 4:00 pm This is great from a regular season perspective, but does it increase the odds that MG gets moved into sections 2 or 6 by MSHSL (which MSHSL has proposed before)? That would be TERRIBLE for the postseason, as both of these sections are already loaded. The quality of competition at the state tourney will be dramatically reduced if this happens.

Geographically, I think they are too far north for Section 2. I could see them getting bumped to Section 6 as Section 5 currently has 10 teams and Section 6 has 8. The MSHSL likes to stick pretty strictly to geographic boundaries and not competitive balance.

A lot will depend on what happens with the next round of reclassification for 2025-26 and 2026-27 and if any enrollments/schools opt up or down.

https://www.mshsl.org/sites/default/fil ... 6-2027.pdf

I don’t disagree. But when you make sections only by geography, you are seriously diluting the state tourney. If MG is moved to 2 or 6, the state quarterfinals will be a joke, and the semis could be as well. How often are we gonna be looking at a 2 versus 6 state championship game like last year under this scenario? Every year? Moorhead has had strong youth Peewee AA and Bantam AA teams for several years now but it doesn’t seem to be translating to high school success…yeah, they always make the tourney, but aren’t a top team in the state at high school like at youth, where they are consistently winning state championships at top peewee and bantam levels.

4 of 9 past AA State Tourneys have resulted in Section 2 vs 6 in the Championship game:

2016-Ep vs Wayzata
2019-Ep vs Edina
2023-Tonka vs Edina
2024-Chan vs Edina

headsupsticksdown wrote: ↑Wed Sep 11, 2024 1:31 pm

SpreadOut! wrote: ↑Tue Sep 10, 2024 4:00 pm This is great from a regular season perspective, but does it increase the odds that MG gets moved into sections 2 or 6 by MSHSL (which MSHSL has proposed before)? That would be TERRIBLE for the postseason, as both of these sections are already loaded. The quality of competition at the state tourney will be dramatically reduced if this happens.

This. Meanwhile you have some sections that literally are a cakewalk to get in. Will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Cake walk? You say that like it's a bad thing.

There's no reason the MSHSL can't say they go strictly by geography, but still keep an eye on competitive balance. There are times when these section assignments come down to basically a toss up, and there's no reason they can't let competition tip the scale.