AA Rankings for 2/15/26 and Section Preview

[karl(east)]

It’s the end of the regular season! That means for a change in rankings format, as I list the top 25 and then walk through each section. Seedings are speculative (outside of pre-released 7AA and 8AA), and I may update this post as things become official. The top 25:

1. Rogers (20-4-1)
2. Minnetonka (21-2-2)
3. St. Thomas Academy (19-4-2)
4. Moorhead (21-3-1)
5. Edina (18-6-1)
6. Shakopee (21-4)
7. Cretin-Derham Hall (19-6)
8. Rosemount (20-4-1)
9. Maple Grove (15-8-2)
10. Hill-Murray (17-6-2)
11. Holy Angels (19-6)
12. Wayzata (12-11-2)
13. Eden Prairie (12-12-1)
14. Blaine (14-7-4)
15. Centennial (16-9)
16. Stillwater (15-9-1)
17. Chanhassen (16-7-2)
18. White Bear Lake (11-11-3)
19. Grand Rapids (12-12-1)
20. Elk River (14-10-1)
21. Lakeville South (11-11-3)
22. East Ridge (15-10)
23. Rock Ridge (14-11)
24. Farmington (18-6-1)
25. Gentry Academy (14-9-2)

And now, each section:

1AA
2/19 Thurs QF High Seed Home
2/21 Sat SF TBD
2/26 Thurs F Rochester Rec Center

1. Farmington (18-6-1, #24)
-A late loss to South dents the Tigers’ top status in 1AA, and the shots on goal suggest that, no matter what the records say, they may not be the favorite here. It’s been an impressive year for a team that was not on many people’s radars at the start, though, and we’ll see if they can ride it all the way out.

2. Lakeville South (11-11-3, #21)
-Got the nice win over Farmington to wrap up the regular season and to make them the slight favorites to win this, but followed that up with a loss to Prior Lake that underscored their vulnerability. They have the most talent in 1AA; can they rally at the end of a tumultuous season to get back to St. Paul?

3. Lakeville North
-As with South, the record isn’t pretty, but they have hung around with their chief rivals for this section and could cause someone a problem.
4. New Prague
5. Owatonna
6. Rochester Century/John Marshall
7. Rochester Mayo
8. Austin

2AA
2/18 Wed QF High Seed Home
2/21 Sat SF Braemar
2/26 Thurs F Ridder

1. Minnetonka (21-2-2, #2)
-A five-goal defeat to Rogers is a sour end to the team that held the top spot in these rankings for most of the season, and they followed it with a tight win over Maple Grove. The Skippers’ great defense and balance up front mean they’re still clearly built for a title run, but a few more questions have appeared toward the end here. They are still, however, the odds-on favorite in 2AA, and a meeting with another defensively stout but relatively low-scoring Shakopee team being their likely obstacle.

2. Shakopee (21-4, #6)
-Took care of Lakeville North to wrap up a regular season that, surprisingly, was just as good as their effort a season ago. They don’t give up much and have some real talent, but they will need to find their scoring in big games to pull this out; their losses include shutouts at the hands of St. Thomas Academy and the Minnetonka team they’ll probably have to beat to repeat as section champs.

3. Chanhassen (16-7-2, #17)
-Beat Benilde and Orono comfortably to wrap up a strong regular season; I gave them a rankings bump because their PageStat rating has climbed noticeably in recent weeks. Now the real fun begins, though, as they try to show they can be in the conversation with the likes of Minnetonka and Shakopee.

4. Eden Prairie (12-12-1, #13)
-Fell in overtime to Wayzata for a second loss to the Trojans this season. There have been some flashes of real quality for this very young team, and there is certainly some high-end potential, but they’ll need to do more to prove they’re more than a long shot in a tough section.

5. Prior Lake
-Had a nice finish to the regular season with four straight wins, including defeats of decent Holy Family, Farmington, and Lakeville South teams. Winning a quarterfinal in this section won’t be easy, though.
6. Holy Family
7. Bloomington Jefferson
8. Chaska

3AA
2/17 Tues QF High Seed Home
2/20 Fri SF BIG
2/24 Tues F St. Thomas

1. Rosemount (20-4-1, #8)
-The Irish did all they could do against their conference schedule, rolling past everyone not named Shakopee and remaining very consistent in the rankings over the course of the season. They have a potent enough offense to hang with the two private powers in 3AA, but now, can they win a big game when it matters most? The seeding stunner makes their road a lot easier, but whoever they face in the final will certainly be motivated.

2. St. Thomas Academy (19-4-2, #3)
-The Cadets thumped rival Hill to wrap up a very strong close to the regular season; they haven’t lost since their holiday tournament, and have since tied and beaten the two teams they lost to there. It’s hard not to like this team’s overall balance, from a great top line to forward depth to strong D to a star goalie in the making, but they do now have two win two tough games to get back to State.

3. Cretin-Derham Hall (19-6, #7)
-The Raiders roll into sections having won 11 of their last 12, and lately their margins have been those of the top team we thought they could be at the start of the season. That entire stretch has been against the Suburban East, though, where they are clearly the class of the conference; now, can they replicate this against potent Rosemount or the more battle-tested force from St. Thomas?

4. Eagan
5. Eastview
6. Park of Cottage Grove
-Not bad for a 6-seed, but Cretin is a tough semifinal opponent.
7. Two Rivers
8. Apple Valley/Burnsville

4AA
2/21 Sat QF Aldrich
2/25 Wed SF Aldrich
2/27 Fri F Aldrich

1. Hill-Murray (17-6-2, #10)
-It wasn’t a dominant year by Hill standards, but the Pioneers are in their usual spot at the top of 4AA; their final week was 0-2, including a challenged showing against St. Thomas, but they did force Moorhead to overtime, so I didn’t drop them any further. This team hasn’t been flashy, but they may not need to be to win this section this year.

2. Stillwater (15-9-1, #16)
-Lost to East Ridge and then didn’t do much with Cretin, continuing a downward slide to end their regular season; they have some real talent and got fairly high in the rankings earlier this season, but now they have reverted more toward where I had them at the start. We’ll see what they can make of a muddy 4AA.

3. White Bear Lake (11-11-3, #18)
-The Bears took down Forest Lake and surging East Ridge to claim a couple of decent wins and hoist their regular season back to a .500 record. They’ve hovered in the same range in the rankings most of the season, never great but always respectable, and there are enough pieces here to pull an upset if enough things go right.

4. East Ridge (15-10, #22)
-Continued their late season surge with a win over Stillwater, though a later loss to White Bear did throw a little cold water on the Raptors’ rise. Nonetheless, they’ve shown they can be competitive down the stretch, and every other contender here has some vulnerabilities.

5. Gentry Academy (14-9-2, #25)
-Quietly had a strong close to the season, culminating in a tie with Blaine. This section is deep enough that their odds are long, but they are also capable of beating just about anyone here, too.

6. Roseville
-Gave White Bear some real trouble this season, so this could be an interesting quarterfinal.
7. Woodbury
8. Mounds View

5AA
2/18 Wed QF High Seed Home
2/21 Sat SF Furniture and Things
2/26 Thurs F Furniture and Things

1. Maple Grove (15-8-2, #9)
-The Crimson held serve in their final Lake Conference games, beating St. Michael-Albertville before losing to Minnetonka in a competitive showing. There have been bumps, and their margins against the 5AA chase pack all suggest this could be close, but they are the favorite here nonetheless, and the most complete and best-tested team in the section.

2. Blaine (14-7-4, #14)
-A tie with Gentry is a less than ideal end to the regular season for the Bengals, who had a pretty quality regular season but have just enough question marks on the list of results to leave some doubt heading into sections.

3. Centennial (16-9, #15)
-A convincing win over Totino has the Cougars going into sections on a good note. Champlin is a mild upset threat in the quarters, but they have their eyes on rival Blaine in the semis, as the Bengals have handled them twice this season.

4. Totino-Grace
-Lack the flashier results and bigger names of some of their 5AA rivals, but they did have a good, competitive season and beat Andover a few weeks ago.
5. Andover
-This team never really put it together in the regular season despite good returning talent from a Tourney team (albeit in a weaker section than this one) a season ago, leaving them with a very tough road. Still, if they can get through to the semis, they are not going to be a pleasant draw for Maple Grove, and another run for a veteran, well-coached squad is not out of the question.
6. Champlin Park
7. Spring Lake Park/Coon Rapids
8. Anoka

6AA
2/18 Wed QF High Seed Home
2/21 Sat SF BIG
2/25 Wed F Ridder

1. Rogers (20-4-1, #1)
-The Royals made a decisive statement over the final two weeks of the regular season, beating first Moorhead and then thumping a Minnetonka team in a way no one else has managed. As a result, I’m riding the momentum and calling them the top team in the state right now. That doesn’t mean the road will be easy, as they start in on 6AA playoff life—Wayzata is a notoriously tough out, and then there are the fiery, battle-tested, defensively stout Hornets looming in a potential section final. But they have earned this spot with their play down the stretch and look the part of a number one team with a star-studded defense and an attack that has rounded into form. Now, they have to go play like it when it counts.

2. Edina (18-6-1, #5)
-A season-closing loss to Wayzata killed any argument the Hornets had for the top seed in 6AA. That means they’ll avoid the rival Trojans in the semis, and with a potent top line and a very deep defense, this team is still built for real playoff success; history has told us not to bet against the Hornets. It won’t be an easy road back to St. Paul, though. This team has lived on the edge emotionally at times this year; can that give them an edge, or will it be their undoing?

3. Holy Angels (19-6, #11)
-The Stars roll into sections with wins in their past ten games, including quality results over Wayzata and Hermantown, though a late near-hiccup against Champlin Park leaves some lingering questions. They’ve got to deal with a potentially dangerous Benilde team in the quarters, and an entirely different beast in Edina looms after that, but they have some good momentum, and with the talent in their senior class, this is their chance to land a big result in sections.

4. Wayzata (12-11-2, #12)
-The Trojans finished on a very strong note, as they knocked off rival Edina and got by Eden Prairie to secure a winning record. They’re well-built to cause trouble, but beating both the Hornets and Rogers would seem to be a tall order.

5. Buffalo
-Beat Benilde and have played a few tough Lake games here and there, so they could yet be a quarterfinal annoyance.
6. Benilde-St. Margaret’s
-A beating at the hands of Chanhassen summed up an uncharacteristic season for this program, but they are one of the more threatening 6-seeds out there.
7. Robbinsdale Armstrong/Cooper
8. Hopkins

7AA
2/17 Tues QF High Seed Home
2/21 Sat SF Amsoil
2/26 Thurs F Amsoil

1. Grand Rapids (12-12-1, #19)
-A decisive win over Hermantown capped a strong close to the season for the Thunderhawks, who rode a respectable record against much tougher competition than most of 7AA to the top seed. This group is battle-tested and has enough quality parts to deserve status as the favorite in this wide-open section, but they’ll need their goaltending to come through and lock down when it counts.

2. Rock Ridge (14-11, #23)
-Collected two section wins to wrap up the season, and they are probably pretty happy about how the section seeding went down, as they land the 2-seed and likely get an East team they beat in the regular season in the semis. They haven’t truly awed at any point this year, but they have shown they can beat Grad Rapids, and they have the firepower and the goaltending to pull this off.

3. Duluth East (8-15-2)
-The Hounds rode a final week win over Duluth Marshall to a surprise 3-seed, and while it has rarely felt like this team has put it all together, they do have some real young talent and are in better position than expected to make a push in a winnable section. They get rival Denfeld in the quarters.

4. Forest Lake (14-10-1)
-The Rangers have had their ups and downs this season, and the 4-seed may feel a bit tough given it all, but at the end of the day they are a team with a couple potent forwards and are right there with anyone in 7AA. As the 4-seed, it will not be an easy road.

5. Duluth Marshall (19-4-2)
-A shutout loss to Duluth East is a sour end to the Hilltoppers’ regular season, and they got brutally punished for it in the 7AA seeding, being forced to go on the road in the quarters and win three tough games. They have the depth to be trouble in this tournament, but face a long road against respectable opponents after playing very few of them during the regular season.

6. Duluth Denfeld
7. Cambridge-Isanti
8. Northern Edge

8AA
2/17 Tues QF High Seed Home
2/21 Sat SF High Seed Home
2/25 Wed F TBD

1. Moorhead (21-3-1, #4)
-The Spuds dominated a couple of 8AA opponents before needing to dig deep to slip past Hill. That game was a continuation of a recent trend in which they’ve had some struggles putting away other teams, giving up a lot of goals for a top 5 squad. Still, the show here is awfully fun to watch, and it would take a huge upset to keep them from returning to St. Paul to defend their title.

2. St. Michael-Albertville (10-15)
-Despite losing 11 of their last 12 games (such is life in the Lake Conference), the Knights are the 2-seed in 8AA, and earlier wins over Rogers and Edina show they can be giant-slayers if enough goes right. Before they get a crack at Moorhead, though, they need to get through a tough section where anyone not named the Spuds seems capable of giving anyone else some trouble.

3. Elk River (14-10-1, #20)
-The Elks appear to have forfeited their claim to a 2-seed with a surprising loss to St. Cloud this past week. They have their sights on Moorhead after a decent showing a couple of weeks ago, but like STMA, they have some questions to answer before they get there. Their playoff journey starts out with Roseau.

4. St. Cloud
-An unexpected 4-seed after a late win over Elk River; we’ll see what they can make of that now.
5. Bemidji
-A respectable 5-seed that can hang around with good teams, but hasn’t busted through with that big AA win.
6. Roseau
7. Alexandria
8. Brainerd

[karl(east)]

Update: all official seeds have been added, and some 3AA comments were re-worked given the seeding surprise there.

[East Side Pioneer Guy]

It's absolutely nuts to put Rosemount ahead of STA. To suggest Rosemount is the favorite to win that section is asinine and embarrassing. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of a small mind. No wonder these are the people who, twenty years ago, would suspend a first grader for pointing a carrot stick at his buddy and saying "Bang!" (Mrs. Smith, we have a zero tolerance policy for weapons!) The Cadets deserve more respect for winning outright the Tradition Rich Metro East (Home of Champions).

I was at the Moorhead Hill game. The Spuds needed some home cookin' from the Section 8 stripes to pull it out. That's a little sad, and humorous, too, but what's important is that it's the best Hill looked all season. I was not at all impressed with their building, I'd say it's the least impressive of any of the premier programs in the state. They don't even have a scoreboard at each end. Like, is this still the Nixon era? I was just hoping to avoid RT, but it was a really good game, with a playoff atmosphere. I'll take our chances in a rematch in the Capital City.

Instead of jersey's reading 'M. Cullen' or 'R. Cullen", they should just put the full first name, and we can all figure out it's a Cullen from there.

[bardown27]

It's absolutely nuts to put Rosemount ahead of STA. To suggest Rosemount is the favorite to win that section is asinine and embarrassing. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of a small mind. No wonder these are the people who, twenty years ago, would suspend a first grader for pointing a carrot stick at his buddy and saying "Bang!" (Mrs. Smith, we have a zero tolerance policy for weapons!) The Cadets deserve more respect for winning outright the Tradition Rich Metro East (Home of Champions).

I was at the Moorhead Hill game. The Spuds needed some home cookin' from the Section 8 stripes to pull it out. That's a little sad, and humorous, too, but what's important is that it's the best Hill looked all season. I was not at all impressed with their building, I'd say it's the least impressive of any of the premier programs in the state. They don't even have a scoreboard at each end. Like, is this still the Nixon era? I was just hoping to avoid RT, but it was a really good game, with a playoff atmosphere. I'll take our chances in a rematch in the Capital City.

Instead of jersey's reading 'M. Cullen' or 'R. Cullen", they should just put the full first name, and we can all figure out it's a Cullen from there.

Home cooking? It’s not like power plays were 7-2 in favor of Moorhead, they both had 5, and Hill had over a minute of 5x3 in the second period. Penalty in OT is a pretty blatant trip

[SEC Scotty]

It's absolutely nuts to put Rosemount ahead of STA. To suggest Rosemount is the favorite to win that section is asinine and embarrassing. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of a small mind. No wonder these are the people who, twenty years ago, would suspend a first grader for pointing a carrot stick at his buddy and saying "Bang!" (Mrs. Smith, we have a zero tolerance policy for weapons!) The Cadets deserve more respect for winning outright the Tradition Rich Metro East (Home of Champions).

I was at the Moorhead Hill game. The Spuds needed some home cookin' from the Section 8 stripes to pull it out. That's a little sad, and humorous, too, but what's important is that it's the best Hill looked all season. I was not at all impressed with their building, I'd say it's the least impressive of any of the premier programs in the state. They don't even have a scoreboard at each end. Like, is this still the Nixon era? I was just hoping to avoid RT, but it was a really good game, with a playoff atmosphere. I'll take our chances in a rematch in the Capital City.

Instead of jersey's reading 'M. Cullen' or 'R. Cullen", they should just put the full first name, and we can all figure out it's a Cullen from there.

Great stuff ESPG. Didn't get the whole carrot stick thing. Although my youngest got detention for throwing a snowball at a tree.

[Nostalgic Nerd]

It's absolutely nuts to put Rosemount ahead of STA. To suggest Rosemount is the favorite to win that section is asinine and embarrassing. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of a small mind. No wonder these are the people who, twenty years ago, would suspend a first grader for pointing a carrot stick at his buddy and saying "Bang!" (Mrs. Smith, we have a zero tolerance policy for weapons!) The Cadets deserve more respect for winning outright the Tradition Rich Metro East (Home of Champions).

Ridiculous to leap Rosemount ahead.

[InThePipes]

It's absolutely nuts to put Rosemount ahead of STA. To suggest Rosemount is the favorite to win that section is asinine and embarrassing. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of a small mind. No wonder these are the people who, twenty years ago, would suspend a first grader for pointing a carrot stick at his buddy and saying "Bang!" (Mrs. Smith, we have a zero tolerance policy for weapons!) The Cadets deserve more respect for winning outright the Tradition Rich Metro East (Home of Champions).

Ridiculous to leap Rosemount ahead.

Has anyone stated publicly what occurred in the voting?

[bauerman]

really sad that there had to be some sort of collusion by coaches to rank Rosemount ahead of STA and even ahead of CDH although that would be a closer call. Obviously they didn't want the possibility of 2 privates playing in the final. That's not what the seeding process should be about, really sad

[bardown27]

According to Legacy article, after the seeding by all the coaches, STA and Rosemount had the same final rank, so they used an online spinning wheel to determine the 1 seed.

[bauerman]

my point would be its hard to imagine how some coach's could set up the rank so that there was a tie. Oh well you have to beat them all even though Rosemount set themselves up to be in the final

[Brodziak Fan Club]

I really think PageStat should seed all sections…

[ryguyMN]

I really think PageStat should seed all sections…

Of the computerized ranking systems, PageStat feels the most accurate.

[ryguyMN]

According to Legacy article, after the seeding by all the coaches, STA and Rosemount had the same final rank, so they used an online spinning wheel to determine the 1 seed.

I thought it was funny they used an online spinning wheel, then I realized it's 2026 and no one carries cash or coins around anymore for a coin flip.

[ryguyMN]

really sad that there had to be some sort of collusion by coaches to rank Rosemount ahead of STA and even ahead of CDH although that would be a closer call. Obviously they didn't want the possibility of 2 privates playing in the final. That's not what the seeding process should be about, really sad

I would love to hear an "overrated" chant directed at Rosemount at Anderson Arena when STA is about to close out the 3AA final with a win. If Rosemount coaching staff gets angry, my retort would be "You have no business getting worked up, you brought this on yourself".

[Sparlimb]

STA is my pick to win it all this year (and I'm not sure I can stomach watching). They better not choke it away, because years like this don't come that often.