Prep football: Hits and misses from the weekly rankings

With the playoffs beginning Tuesday, I thought it would be a good chance to look back at the Week 1 Metro Top 10 rankings to see how they look with the benefit of hindsight.

The verdict? I was right on many of teams but had a few significant misses.

The hits: Eden Prairie went wire-to-wire at No. 1 — no shock there; Undefeated Maple Grove found a running game and moved from No. 8 to No. 2; East Ridge started at No. 5, survived the loss of running back Nick Leach to a knee injury and still ended up at No. 4; Wayzata (preseason No. 2), Prior Lake (No. 3) and Lakeville North (No. 6) were all legitimate top-10 teams.

The misses: Rosemount and Osseo, two teams not ranked at the start of the season, turned out to be vastly better than anticipated. Rosemount was an overtime loss to Wayzata from an undefeated season while Osseo, using balance on offense and speed on defense, proved to be the biggest surprise of the season.

Here is the final Metro Top 10 of the 2013 season:

1. Eden Prairie (7-0): RB Dan Fisher, injured in the victory over Wayzata, didn't play against Hopkins and is questionable for the 6A quarterfinals.

2. Maple Grove (8-0): How did the Crimson succeed? A running game that averaged nearly 300 yards per game.

4. East Ridge (7-1): The Raptors suffered another blow when center J.C. Hassenauer went down with a right knee strain in a victory over Hastings.

5. Osseo (7-1): Does Osseo have a weakness? The Orioles can run, pass and stop the other guys. What else is there?

6. Prior Lake (6-2): The Lakers, whose two losses were to No. 1 Eden Prairie and No. 3 Rosemount, are riding a four-game wining streak.

7. Wayzata (5-2): The Trojans soothed memories of a nightmarish loss to Eden Prairie by routing Minnetonka.

8. Roseville (6-2): Despite a 50-47 loss at Mounds View, the Raiders have established themselves as a team that can play with anyone.