The Minnesota State High School League’s Board of Directors on Thursday approved adjustments to how two high-profile state tournaments will be seeded.
MSHSL tinkers with volleyball, football seeding, adds class in girls tennis
The volleyball state tournament teams will be seeded 1 through 8, eliminating a random draw, and football quarterfinals will be adjusted.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
February 1, 2024 at 8:57PM
The board approved changes in seeding for the football and volleyball state tournaments starting in fall 2024.
The quarterfinals in the four classes of volleyball will be seeded 1 through 8. Previously, seeding was done 1 through 5, with the sixth, seventh and eighth seeds determined randomly.
Because league member schools strongly supported keeping games regional, football will divide its quarterfinals into North and South brackets, seeding each 1 through 4. The goal is to cut down on travel for visiting teams.
Semifinals, all of which are held at U.S. Bank Stadium, will match up the highest remaining seeds from each side of the bracket against the lowest remaining seed from the opposite bracket. How the seeds will be determined is still to be decided.
Class 6A seeding is unchanged. The class, which consists of the state’s 32 largest programs, has long had a process for seeding in four brackets of eight teams.
The league also gave the go-ahead to adding a third class to girls tennis in the fall, siding with the state coaches association. The aim is to increase state tournament opportunities in a sport dominated by dynastic programs.
The league cutoff for adding a third class is 192 teams. Girls tennis has 194 teams. Boys tennis has 172 teams and will not add a class.
Six players plus head coach Garrett Raboin and assistant coach Ben Gordon are from Minnesota. The tournament’s games will be televised starting Monday.
