In this week's state rankings of high school football teams, the last top-10s of the season, the magic number is eight. Or zero. They're both important.
Eden Prairie, Becker stand out in final high school football state rankings
Eden Prairie is the only unbeaten team in Class 6A, Becker in 4A. In the other classes, it's a little less obvious who's No. 1.
October 23, 2023 at 1:27PM
Every class is led by a team that made it to 8-0 in the regular season. In two cases, only one team reached the magical mark. In other cases, it takes a magician to say who's No. 1.
Absent magic, the Star Tribune's Jim Paulsen settled it with the help of the panel of media members he consults each week to determine the class-by-class state rankings, which are then distributed statewide by the Associated Press.
Eden Prairie, No. 1 in Class 6A, and Becker, No. 1 in 4A, stand as the only 8-0 teams in their classes, and each received all of the first-place votes. Chanhassen swept the first-place votes in Class 5A, where No. 3 Alexandria is also undefeated.
Stewartville received eight first-place votes in Class 3A and finished No. 1 ahead of undefeated teams Esko and Annandale.
Barnesville, with eight first-place votes, leads a stack of seven undefeated 2A teams. Nine first-place votes put Minneota ahead of two other undefeated 1A teams. Six of the top 10 teams are unbeaten in Nine-Player, where Mountain Iron-Buhl reigned with nine first-place votes.
The state playoffs begin Tuesday for all classes but 6A; many of the teams in their top 10 won't play until Saturday because of first-round byes. The Class 6A playoffs begin Friday.
To see the 32-team Class 6A state tournament bracket or the section tournament brackets in other classes, click here.
Final state rankings
First-place votes in parentheses, record, total points
CLASS 6A
1. Eden Prairie (11), 8-0, 110
2. Lakeville North, 7-1, 95
3. Lakeville South, 7-1, 90
4. Centennial, 7-1, 75
5. Maple Grove, 6-2, 67
6. Stillwater, 6-2, 47
7. Minnetonka, 6-2, 46
8. Anoka, 6-2, 30
9. Edina, 5-3, 25
10. Shakopee, 5-3, 12
Others receiving votes: St. Michael-Albertville 4, Forest Lake 2, Prior Lake 2
CLASS 5A
1. Chanhassen (11), 8-0, 110
2. Mankato West, 7-1, 97
3. Alexandria, 8-0, 89
4. Andover, 7-1, 77
5. Rogers, 7-1, 60
6. Brainerd, 7-1, 54
7. Bloomington Jefferson, 7-1, 40
8. Sauk Rapids-Rice, 7-1, 29
9. (tie) St. Thomas Academy, 6-2, 19
9. (two) Two Rivers, 7-1, 19
Others receiving votes: Owatonna 8, New Prague 2, Robbinsdale Armstrong 1
CLASS 4A
1. Becker (11), 8-0, 110
2. Hutchinson, 6-2, 84
3. (tie) Kasson-Mantorville, 7-1, 74
3. (tie) Rocori, 6-2, 74
5. Orono, 7-1, 56
6. Mound Westonka, 7-1, 51
7. Detroit Lakes, 7-1, 48
8. North Branch, 7-1, 44
9. Byron, 7-1, 35
10. (tie) Duluth Denfeld , 7-1, 11
10. (tie), Hill-Murray, 6-2, 11
Others receiving votes: Princeton 5, Minneapolis Henry 4
CLASS 3A
1. Stewartville (8), 8-0, 107
2. Esko (3), 8-0, 102
3. Annandale, 8-0, 86
4. Litchfield, 7-1, 71
5. Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton, 7-1, 64
6. Minneapolis North, 7-1, 49
7. Dassel-Cokato, 7-1, 44
8. Fairmont, 7-1, 39
9. Pequot Lakes, 7-1, 20
10. Rockford, 7-1, 13
Others receiving votes: Waseca 9, Two Harbors 2
CLASS 2A
1. Barnesville (8), 8-0, 106
2. Caledonia (2), 8-0, 98
3. Eden Valley-Watkins, 8-0, 87
4. Jackson County Central, 7-0, 73
5. St. Agnes (1), 8-0, 71
6. Barnum, 7-0, 55
7. Norwood Young America, 8-0, 48
8. Osakis, 7-1, 33
9. Moose Lake-Willow River, 7-1, 18
10. Maple River, 7-1, 6
Others receiving votes: Cannon Falls 3, Dover-Eyota 3, Pelican Rapids 3, Chatfield 2, Kimball Area 1, Staples-Motley 1
CLASS 1A
1. Minneota (9), 8-0, 107
2. Fillmore Central (1), 8-0, 98
3. Mahnomen/Waubun (1), 8-0, 92
4. BOLD, 7-1, 71
5. Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa, 7-1, 66
6. Ada-Borup-West, 6-1, 49
7. Springfield, 7-1, 44
8. Upsala/Swanville, 7-1, 35
9. Mayer Lutheran, 6-2, 15
10. Tracy-Milroy-Balaton, 7-1, 13
Others receiving votes: Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop 9, Bethlehem Academy 4, Deer River 1, Lester Prairie 1
NINE-PLAYER
1. Mountain Iron-Buhl (9), 8-0, 108
2. Fertile-Beltrami (1), 8-0, 99
3. Nevis, 7-0, 82
4. Ottertail Central, 8-0, 73
5. Kingsland (1), 8-0, 71
6. Cherry, 6-1, 56
7. Hills-Beaver Creek, 7-0, 50
8. Ogilvie, 6-1, 27
9. Leroy-Ostrander, 7-1, 22
10. Edgerton, 6-1, 12
Others receiving votes: Spring Grove 3, Goodridge-Grygla 2, Border West 1
The rankings were determined by a group of voters representing media across the state. Each No. 1 vote is worth 10 points, No. 2 9 points, No. 3 8 points, down to No. 10 worth 1 point. The rankings are compiled by the Star Tribune's Jim Paulsen (612-437-9926 cell/text), james.paulsen@startribune.com).
Six players plus head coach Garrett Raboin and assistant coach Ben Gordon are from Minnesota. The tournament’s games will be televised starting Monday.
