Top-ranked Eden Prairie football misses out on first-round bye

After his team defeated then-No. 2 Minnetonka last week, Eden Prairie football coach Mike Grant made a plea for the Eagles to get the bye that one of the top seeds in the Class 6A playoff bracket was going to receive.

"Whoever is ranked No. 1 should get that bye," Grant said. "That bye is a huge advantage.

"If you go and beat three No. 2 teams, if we beat Edina [which the Eagles did, 35-10 on Wednesday], you should get it."

Grant's sentiment was reasoned with the logic that the Eagles are the only undefeated team in Class 6A. But the matchups in the 6A brackets were determined randomly after each of the four sections seeded their teams.

Thus, the coveted bye was awarded to Cretin-Derham Hall (6-2), which earned the No. 1 seed in Section 4 on the strength of a season-ending four-game winning streak, punctuated by a 19-14 victory over Roseville on Wednesday.

Eden Prairie got the top seed in Section 6. The other top seeds in 6A went to Prior Lake (Section 3) and St. Michael-Albertville (Section 5).

The need for a bye was created by a drop in the number of Class 6A programs this season, from 32 to 31.

The 6A playoffs start Oct. 27.

Section playoffs for Nine Man through Class 5A begin Tuesday.

The wealth of good teams in Class 5A was apparent with the release of the section seeding. Earning No. 1 seeds were Northfield (Section 1), Chaska (2), Apple Valley (3), Mahtomedi (4), Cooper (5), Elk River (6), Andover (7) and Brainerd (8).

That meant Owatonna, which was ranked No. 1 briefly before losing to Northfield, was seeded No. 2 in Section 1.

Traditional power Mankato West found itself with the No. 3 seed in Section 2, behind Chaska and Chanhassen, despite having just one loss, to Winona, the No. 1 team in Class 4A.

Brainerd was given the No. 1 seed in Section 8 despite having the same record as No. 2-seeded Moorhead (both 6-2) and a lower QRF ranking. The Warriors defeated the Spuds in their next-to-last game of the season.

The QRF is an algorithm used by many sections that ranks teams according to non-subjective factors such as wins and losses, opponents' victories and class differential.

Six of the eight teams to get No. 1 seeds have 8-0 records: Winona (1), Marshall (2), Benilde-St. Margaret's (5), Zimmerman (6), Cloquet (7) and Rocori (8).

Kasson-Mantorville is also undefeated, but the KoMets were seeded No. 2 in Section 1 behind Winona.