Last week, I went inside the numbers to show that the first round of the Minnesota prep football playoffs is mostly an exercise in easy victories for top seeds. The second round took place last Saturday. There were a few more upsets. Like over in Class 2A, only one #2 seed made it through to the section finals – six #3 seeds pulled upsets, and a #7 seed beat a #6 seed.

That said, it’s still not exactly Upset Central. To wit:

  • 44 of the 48 #1 seeds in the state made it to the section finals.
  • 28 of the 48 sections will match up #1 vs. #2, and a further 13 will match up #1 vs. #3.
  • Only five teams in the bottom half of their brackets – two #5 seeds and three #7 seeds – made it to the section finals.
  • In all 48 sections, one of the favorites – #1 or #2 – will play for a chance to go to state.

Hey, I’m happy for the two #5 seeds (Stewartville and Rockford) that beat the #1 seed in their sections. And I’m happy for Cloquet, #7 in section 7AAA, which upset the #3 seed, and the two #7 seeds – Sauk Centre and Annandale – that beat #6 seeds to make the section finals. But ultimately, 76 of the 96 teams that were ranked #1 or #2 in their section will play in the section final. 13 of the other 20 section final participants are #3 seeds, and two more are #4 seeds.

I get it; the MSHSL wants a big tournament. They want as many kids as possible to play in the playoffs. They love the state playoffs so much that they’re expanding to seven classes next year, even though there’s hardly enough teams to fill out the playoffs as-is, just so eight more teams will get the chance to “go to state.”

But 172 teams went on the road for the first round of the playoffs. 151 lost. 16 of the remaining 21 lost the following Saturday. Is five out of 172 – three percent – really justification enough to make more or less the entire state play two games in a week?