For those of you who used Minnesota-Scores.com, it is now at Minnesota-Scores.net. It has all the same stuff, just a different address. This is my site of choice when I want to look up schedules, conference standings, scores etc since MaxPreps is so ungodly slow and most of the time I don't need player stats.
Its a simple site to follow and navigate and their QRF ranking is as good a tool as you'll find for comparing teams that don't play each other. It's a mini-Sagarin ranking for lack of better comparison. Simple RPI is nice, but it leaves out a couple of interesting factors that the QRF does have.
1) Margin of Victory. This is relevant to a point as a 30 pt win isn't really any different than a 50 pt win. RPI doesn't use it at all.
2) Class of the team you played. In many cases, getting a W over a 3A team says much more than a win over a 1A team. RPI doesn't take this into account. But if you St. Bernard's last year and you played a high level schedule, it can also artifically inflate your QRF. Let's face it, you shouldn't get extra credit for beating someone like a St. Paul Arlington or Mound-Westonka. Granted you will take the hit in the opponents win portion of the calculation.
Note that the RPI does take into account the winning % of the opponents opponents (basically did all the teams you beat, beat good teams or bad teams). QRF doesn't address this.
Neither system takes out of state games into account which is a shame. A game like DLS vs Whitefish Bay Dominican of Milwaukee should count as it will pit 2 of the top teams in 3A in their respective states.
Definition of the QRF can be found here.
Transfer rule working
Based on numbers from the star trib, it looks like the new transfer rule is working. 143 legit transfers, 119 transferred late. Since a percentage of those transferred to beat the new rule, the real test comes next year. Once the AJ Barker's of the world (MPA to DLS to play PG) are no longer counted, let's see what these numbers are and get the number from before this year (bad work star trib) to see the real impact.
Andrew Brommer Recruiting
The Star Tribune reported this week that Andrew Brommer has scholarship offers from the following schools.
Long Beach State (Dan Monson, who had him committed to the U when he was still here)
SMU (former gopher asst on that staff)
Colorado St
Valpo (him and Arden Skogland of Hopkins fame, I weigh more than the 2 of them combined)
He also has lots of other schools coming in this week. I'm surprised he's gotten this much interest after a poor season last year. I saw him get dominated by Elliot Post of Burnsville last year. What will happen at the D1 level? I know the Lake Conference is brutal, but if Brommer is as talented as everybody says, how does his team go 9-17 last year and they were 4-22 the year before that (though he may have had injury problems that year). And of those 9 wins, only 3 were worth noting (Eden Prairie by 2, Eastview by 5 at home and a 8 pt win at Kennedy in OT).
The Lake Conference will be down this year, so if they don't finish in the top half of the league with at least an overall .500 record that will a major disappointment. He's a project who needs to put on weight and get tougher physically and mentally. But if Les Jespen can eventually play center for a decent Iowa team, I suppose he can succeed somewhere.
Long Beach State (Dan Monson, who had him committed to the U when he was still here)
SMU (former gopher asst on that staff)
Colorado St
Valpo (him and Arden Skogland of Hopkins fame, I weigh more than the 2 of them combined)
He also has lots of other schools coming in this week. I'm surprised he's gotten this much interest after a poor season last year. I saw him get dominated by Elliot Post of Burnsville last year. What will happen at the D1 level? I know the Lake Conference is brutal, but if Brommer is as talented as everybody says, how does his team go 9-17 last year and they were 4-22 the year before that (though he may have had injury problems that year). And of those 9 wins, only 3 were worth noting (Eden Prairie by 2, Eastview by 5 at home and a 8 pt win at Kennedy in OT).
The Lake Conference will be down this year, so if they don't finish in the top half of the league with at least an overall .500 record that will a major disappointment. He's a project who needs to put on weight and get tougher physically and mentally. But if Les Jespen can eventually play center for a decent Iowa team, I suppose he can succeed somewhere.
Single Game Rivalries
So you have your basic conference rivalries, but what about the non-conference rivalries that only get played once a year. Here are some of those games
Armstrong vs Cooper. District rivals and former conference foes, fun game
Minnetonka vs Eden Prairie, great in football or basketball.
Richfield vs Holy Angels, bragging rights in Richfield on the line.
Cretin-Derham Hall vs St. Thomas Academy. Too bad this went away in football, but still a good basketball game.
Mahtomedi vs White Bear Lake, bragging rights in the NE metro, but these teams don't have much on the basketball side.
Armstrong vs Cooper. District rivals and former conference foes, fun game
Minnetonka vs Eden Prairie, great in football or basketball.
Richfield vs Holy Angels, bragging rights in Richfield on the line.
Cretin-Derham Hall vs St. Thomas Academy. Too bad this went away in football, but still a good basketball game.
Mahtomedi vs White Bear Lake, bragging rights in the NE metro, but these teams don't have much on the basketball side.
Season Preview: Section Winner Predictions for 4A
Labels:
07-08 Previews
Last but not least, here are my predictions for the 6 metro area sections in 4A.
Section 2: Eden Prairie has to be the happiest team around after finally getting away from Hopkins and Minnetonka and all the heartbreaking losses the last few years. With Shakopee losing Eric Carlson and Bloomington Jefferson losing Cole Aldrich, EP is the class of this section. Jefferson might still make some noise with Moses Alipate, but EP's Ethan Wragge will finally lead them to state.
Section 3: This is the most wide open section in the metro. Apple Valley and Lakeville S lose most everything. Park is dangerous with Jake Lindstrom back and Rosemount has Andrew Brommer returning in the middle. I'll take Burnsville here, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Eastview make some noise.
Section 4: This is a tough section. Cretin-Derham Hall has a bunch of people back, but they were disappointing last year. Henry Sibley will get better as Jake Kreuser continues to improve and they have plenty of people back. Stillwater will be a tough out with Joel Armstrong in the middle. Ditto for Tartan with their backcourt of Sam Ryan and Marc Sonnen. St. Paul Central could be a tough out as the 5 seed as they have a bunch of people back and they are tall and athletic. We'll see if they learned from their 1-13 non-conference record last year. I'm picking CDH to come out of this section with a tough win over Sibley.
Section 5: 3 teams in here to watch. Mounds View, Osseo and Cooper. Mounds View has everybody back including Mike Schramm and Ziggy Kauls knows how to coach. Osseo has Carrington Tankson and Zach Peterson back and Tim Theisen knows how to coach too. Rodney Williams Jr is a monster for Cooper and they bring in Mpls North transfer Joe Bright so they'll have a couple of very good wing players, but the loss of Dennis Williamson is huge. In addition, they have to find somebody to play the point. This section final is a must see whoever it is among these 3 teams. Give me Mounds View over Osseo.
Section 6: Minnetonka and Hopkins. Need I say more. These are the top 2 teams in the state, write down their 2 regular season meetings and this section final as game you absolutely must see. With Minnetonka getting De La Salle transfer Sedrick McBounds, that puts the final piece in place with their entire team returning. Minneapolis North is probably the 3rd most talented team in this section, but that's mainly because Armstrong and Wayzata lost everything to graduation. Give me Tonka over Hopkins as seniors beat juniors to move on to state.
Section 7: Blaine has been down in recent years and Andover has been the class of this section. I think they'll contend again, but I'll take Duluth East and star sophomore Dyami Starks to move on to state.
Section 2: Eden Prairie has to be the happiest team around after finally getting away from Hopkins and Minnetonka and all the heartbreaking losses the last few years. With Shakopee losing Eric Carlson and Bloomington Jefferson losing Cole Aldrich, EP is the class of this section. Jefferson might still make some noise with Moses Alipate, but EP's Ethan Wragge will finally lead them to state.
Section 3: This is the most wide open section in the metro. Apple Valley and Lakeville S lose most everything. Park is dangerous with Jake Lindstrom back and Rosemount has Andrew Brommer returning in the middle. I'll take Burnsville here, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Eastview make some noise.
Section 4: This is a tough section. Cretin-Derham Hall has a bunch of people back, but they were disappointing last year. Henry Sibley will get better as Jake Kreuser continues to improve and they have plenty of people back. Stillwater will be a tough out with Joel Armstrong in the middle. Ditto for Tartan with their backcourt of Sam Ryan and Marc Sonnen. St. Paul Central could be a tough out as the 5 seed as they have a bunch of people back and they are tall and athletic. We'll see if they learned from their 1-13 non-conference record last year. I'm picking CDH to come out of this section with a tough win over Sibley.
Section 5: 3 teams in here to watch. Mounds View, Osseo and Cooper. Mounds View has everybody back including Mike Schramm and Ziggy Kauls knows how to coach. Osseo has Carrington Tankson and Zach Peterson back and Tim Theisen knows how to coach too. Rodney Williams Jr is a monster for Cooper and they bring in Mpls North transfer Joe Bright so they'll have a couple of very good wing players, but the loss of Dennis Williamson is huge. In addition, they have to find somebody to play the point. This section final is a must see whoever it is among these 3 teams. Give me Mounds View over Osseo.
Section 6: Minnetonka and Hopkins. Need I say more. These are the top 2 teams in the state, write down their 2 regular season meetings and this section final as game you absolutely must see. With Minnetonka getting De La Salle transfer Sedrick McBounds, that puts the final piece in place with their entire team returning. Minneapolis North is probably the 3rd most talented team in this section, but that's mainly because Armstrong and Wayzata lost everything to graduation. Give me Tonka over Hopkins as seniors beat juniors to move on to state.
Section 7: Blaine has been down in recent years and Andover has been the class of this section. I think they'll contend again, but I'll take Duluth East and star sophomore Dyami Starks to move on to state.
Season Preview: Section Winner Predictions for 3A
Labels:
07-08 Previews
Here are my predictions for sections winners in 3A
Section 1: This really isn't a metro section, but since the hands down winner is St. Thomas Academy, I had to mention it.
Section 3: Nothing special in this section, Minneapolis Henry is the easy pick here. Spring Lake Park is traditionally good and Totino-Grace will be OK, but Henry is far and away the best team.
Section 4: This section is bad. I'm picking Johnson to beat Como Park to move on. With new coach Dick Ghizoni and a star big guy in Peter McKeown, Hill-Murray could surprise here.
Section 6: This section is as tough a section as I've seen, absolutely brutal. Benilde-St. Margaret's is the team to beat here with Jordan Taylor and Armond Battle. However, De La Salle and Washburn return just about everybody from very successful teams last year so watch them. Especially Royce White and all the guards that De La Salle returns. Holy Angels and Waconia can make noise here too. Orono loses Jon Leuer and has a new coach, but they'll be respectable. The 4 vs 5 game in this section will be a great game. Last year this game was Orono at De La Salle which DLS won on a last second layup.
Section 1: This really isn't a metro section, but since the hands down winner is St. Thomas Academy, I had to mention it.
Section 3: Nothing special in this section, Minneapolis Henry is the easy pick here. Spring Lake Park is traditionally good and Totino-Grace will be OK, but Henry is far and away the best team.
Section 4: This section is bad. I'm picking Johnson to beat Como Park to move on. With new coach Dick Ghizoni and a star big guy in Peter McKeown, Hill-Murray could surprise here.
Section 6: This section is as tough a section as I've seen, absolutely brutal. Benilde-St. Margaret's is the team to beat here with Jordan Taylor and Armond Battle. However, De La Salle and Washburn return just about everybody from very successful teams last year so watch them. Especially Royce White and all the guards that De La Salle returns. Holy Angels and Waconia can make noise here too. Orono loses Jon Leuer and has a new coach, but they'll be respectable. The 4 vs 5 game in this section will be a great game. Last year this game was Orono at De La Salle which DLS won on a last second layup.
Season Preview: Section Winner Predictions for 1A and 2A
Labels:
07-08 Previews
Here are my predictions for section winners in the metro area sections
1A - Section 4 is the only metro section. This section is abysmal. In the west sub-section, you have Maranatha by default. Heritage might make a little noise there with Stu Herman, but MCA is an easy pick here until beaten.
In the east sub-section, you have the metro lakes schools and a few leftovers. Oh Day Aki vs St. Agnes is my prediction for a quality sub-section final. MCA has been the class team of this sub-section for years, but I'm going out on a limb. Give me St. Agnes going to state over MCA due to a stellar performance by Jordair Jett.
2A - Again Section 4 is the only metro section. In the west sub-section, you have the defending state champions Holy Family and the addition of 2 minneapolis schools, Edison and Roosevelt. This sub-section is terrible, give me Holy Family to defeat Breck by default as the other 6 teams in here aren't any good. Breck is still better than the other 6 teams even after losing Marcus Hill.
The east sub-section is much more difficult. St. Bernard's moves back up to 2A and with Mpls North transfer John Bright, they could make a little noise. St. Croix Lutheran returns Chris Breuer from their section final team of a year ago so they may pull an upset. Minnehaha over Concordia (Roseville) is my selection here as Minnehaha returns their top 8 kids including junior Taylor Sparkman. Junior Zach Towle returns at the point for Concordia and he's one of the most exciting players to watch in the metro. My section pick is Minnehaha over Holy Family in a rematch of a Dec 21st game to move on to state.
1A - Section 4 is the only metro section. This section is abysmal. In the west sub-section, you have Maranatha by default. Heritage might make a little noise there with Stu Herman, but MCA is an easy pick here until beaten.
In the east sub-section, you have the metro lakes schools and a few leftovers. Oh Day Aki vs St. Agnes is my prediction for a quality sub-section final. MCA has been the class team of this sub-section for years, but I'm going out on a limb. Give me St. Agnes going to state over MCA due to a stellar performance by Jordair Jett.
2A - Again Section 4 is the only metro section. In the west sub-section, you have the defending state champions Holy Family and the addition of 2 minneapolis schools, Edison and Roosevelt. This sub-section is terrible, give me Holy Family to defeat Breck by default as the other 6 teams in here aren't any good. Breck is still better than the other 6 teams even after losing Marcus Hill.
The east sub-section is much more difficult. St. Bernard's moves back up to 2A and with Mpls North transfer John Bright, they could make a little noise. St. Croix Lutheran returns Chris Breuer from their section final team of a year ago so they may pull an upset. Minnehaha over Concordia (Roseville) is my selection here as Minnehaha returns their top 8 kids including junior Taylor Sparkman. Junior Zach Towle returns at the point for Concordia and he's one of the most exciting players to watch in the metro. My section pick is Minnehaha over Holy Family in a rematch of a Dec 21st game to move on to state.
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