SLP Gets 5-seed, BSM a 2 in Section Football Playoffs

will open up on the road next week in Simley when section football playoffs begin, while will start at home after a bye.

The Orioles earned the No. 5 seed in Section 3AAAA. A win against Simley in the first round on Tuesday would earn St. Louis Park a match-up with undefeated top seed St. Thomas Academy on Saturday, Oct. 29.

The Red Knights got the No. 2 seed in Section 6AAAA and a first-round bye. BSM will take on either third-seeded Orono or sixth-seeded Park Center in the section semifinals on Saturday, Oct. 29, at home.

Almost all of this year's seeds were determined by the new Quality Results Formula, created by Ryan Weinzier, owner of the minnesota-scores.net website, who has been using the formula to come up with unofficial ranking information on his site for several years.

Seven of the eight Class 4A sections were seeded by QRF this year—only BSM's Section 6 used the traditional coaches' vote.

Weinzier tweaked the system this year, removing margin of victory bonus points so as to not offer an incentive for teams to run up the score, and the Minnesota State High School league adopted it as its official method.

While some coaches like the new system or are taking a “wait-and-see” approach, others aren't so thrilled.

Lakeville North was locked in a tight battle with Owatonna for the No. 1 seed in Section 1AAAAA heading into its final regular-season game, but coach Brian Vossen doesn't think that should have been the case.

“We should get the one seed, win or lose (Wednesday) night,” Vossen said Monday night. “But if we lose it is likely that Owatonna will get it.”

Vossen said his Panthers have played a much tougher schedule than the Huskies and should be rewarded for it.

“We have seven 5A wins (wins over Class AAAAA opponents) and are ranked fourth in the state,” Vossen said. “Owatonna has two 5A wins and will likely get their third (Wednesday).

“(QRF) doesn't account for strength of schedule. They have five 4A games. We play a full 5A schedule, and all of our opponents do, too. It should be a no-brainer.”

The Panthers won and Owatonna lost Wednesday, so Vossen's Panthers wound up getting the top seed by a large margin.

St. Michael-Albertville coach Jared Essler, on the other hand, is a big fan. He said it's beneficial for his team because they don't have any common opponents with the teams in their section, which made it difficult to seed them accurately in the past.

Essler said he also liked the idea that QRF “takes the politics out” of seeding, something that was sometimes a problem with coaches voting for seeds.

Simley's Rex King said QRF is neither the problem nor the solution.

“QRF is not the savior—we need to get three of the top five or six teams out of the same section,” he said. “We are diluting our state playoffs when an unranked team is allowed to participate because of a weak section.”

Instead King wants a system where 32 teams per class get in, get seeded and play a 32-team bracket, regardless of what section they're from.

Like QRF or hate it, coaches on both sides of the issue agree on one thing: They don't fully understand it.

And so far, Weinzier has been unwilling to reveal the secret formulas involved in calculating QRF, citing “intellectual property rights” and the possibility that coaches may try to manipulate the system if they know exactly how it works. 

But careful study of the numbers reveals how the system works.

In Class AAAAA, for example, teams ultimately get 48 points for a win over another Class AAAAA team. Teams also get 21 more points for each win by any Class AAAAA opponent they beat during the season. 

Lakeville North's Week 8 win over five-win Prior Lake, for example, is worth 153 points, and their victory over two-win Burnsville last week is worth 90 points. Add up all eight of their games, and Lakeville North has 993 points, or a 124.1 QRF rating for the season, up considerably from the team's 90.4 rating of a week ago.

With every team in Class AAAAA—the numbers are smaller in other classes, so the potential for points swings is less dramatic—able to make similar jumps on a weekly basis, it's easy to see why it takes a little time to tabulate each week. 

And while the wait is more than a lot of coaches would prefer to bear, Henry Sibley coach Tom Orth is willing to give the new system a chance.

“We will see how it plays out,” he said. “Hopefully (QRF) will be the best option."