2020 Better Than Chalk Section Predictions

152 games and 3 months later, it all comes down to this.  Its March and now its tournament time.  So that means prediction time.  A rules refresher.  Any fool can pick nothing but top seeds (aka chalk) and claim they were something like 85-6.  My mission, and I do choose to accept it, is to do better than a bracket with nothing but higher seeds picked. Last year I was +2 thanks to a +4 showing in the seeding wreck known as section 4A.  I've seen all 62 teams in class AAAA this year but was underwater on those picks last year.  Not happy with your pick, #ShockTheCzar is great motivational material online.  So without delay, here we go.

Class A
Section 1: 16 seed United Christian wins their home pigtail game and goes out in round 2 (2-0, +0).  This was prepicked on twitter last weekend.

Section 2: 5 seed Lester Prairie gets the upset on the road at Sleepy Eye St. Mary's but loses in round 2.  This was prepicked on twitter last weekend as well.  SESM won the game by 3.  (0-1, -1)  Next game won't impact the +/-.  So we begin in a hole.

Section 4: My favorite section to pick.  Once again we have the tiered entry system
Monday Round 1: Kaleidoscope over Ubah Medical, Eagle Ridge over Lincoln International.  Upset pick violating my rule of always pick home team in pigtails, give me MTS to win at Groves.

Tuesday Round 2: Give me MTS to pull another upset over HSRA (2-0 head to head this season).  COPA over N Lakes, Trinity over Kaleidoscope.  Eagle Ridge beat LILA by 3 at home, but I'll take LILA in a grudge match here.

Thursday Round 3: Avail over MTS, Liberty over COPA, Heritage over Trinity, PACT over LILA

Saturday Quarterfinals: CHOF over Avail, Hope over Liberty, Heritage and West Lutheran split on each other's home court this year.  Coin flip says West Lutheran.  Legacy over PACT

Tuesday or Wednesday semis: CHOF over Hope, Legacy over West Lutheran (teams split 2 close games).

Friday final at ARCC: CHOF over Legacy.

Class AA
Section 4AA, it too has the tiered entry system
Tuesday Round 1: Mounds Park over Nova, Math and Science over MSCP
Thursday Round 2: Humboldt over Hiawatha in an upset pick. SPA over MPA, Washington over Math and Science, St. Agnes over New Life.
Saturday Quarterfinals: St. Croix Prep over Humboldt, Cristo Rey over SPA, TCA wins a rematch with Washington, Concordia over St. Agnes
Semis: SCPA over Cristo Rey, Concordia over TCA/GR.
Friday Final at St Thomas Academy: SCPA over Concordia.

Section 5AA
Thursday Round of 16: Litchfield over Dassel-Cokato, MCA over Breck, W-M over BC, HLWW over SW Christian, Holy Family over Providence.
Sat Qtrs at STMA: North over Holy Family, Litchfield over Maranatha, Blake over Watertown-Mayer, Rockford over HLWW
Wed Semis at STMA: North over Litchfield, Rockford over Blake
Fri Final at St Cloud St:  North over Rockford.

Class AAA
Section 1: Winona over Simley
Section 3
Monday Pigtail: Sibley over STA for 3rd time this season.
Wednesday Qtrs: Richfield over Sibley, Kennedy over St.Croix Lutheran, AHA over Harding, S St. Paul over Highland Park.
Saturday semis: Richfield over Kennedy, SSP upsets Holy Angels
Thursday final at Jefferson: SSP over Richfield (best SSP season since their last state trip exactly 50 years ago, let the cinderella story continue)

Section 4:
Wednesday qtrs: Minnehaha over Como Park, Columbia Heights as the higher seed goes to Mahtomedi (construction at Heights) and survives again (won by 2 there in early December), TG over Hill-Murray, Johnson over St. Anthony
Saturday semis at Woodbury: TG over Johnson, Minnehaha over Heights.
Thursday final at Woodbury: Minnehaha over TG

Section 5:
Tuesday Qtr: Fridley over St. Francis
Fri semi at STMA: Monticello over Fridley

Section 6:
Wednesday Qtrs: DLS over Roosevelt, Henry over Orono, Mound over Edison, Waconia over BSM.
Sat semis: DLS over Henry, Waconia over Mound-Westonka
Th Final at Chanhassen: DLS over Waconia

Class AAAA
Section 1
Tuesday Qtrs: Lakeville S over New Prague, Owatonna over Farmington, Century over JM, Mayo over Northfield.
Sat Semis: Lakeville South over Owatonna, Mayo over Century
Fri final at Rochester: Lakeville South over Rochester Mayo

Section 2 (SECTION OF DEATH)
Qtrs: EP over Chanhassen, Prior Lake over Tonka, Shako over Edina, Chaska over Jefferson
Sat Semis (highest seed hosts both): EP over Prior Lake, Chaska over Shakopee
Friday Final (high seed): EP over Chaska

Section 3:
Th Qtrs: Eastview over Park, Apple Valley upsets Eagan (2-0 head to head), Lakeville N over Hastings, Burnsville over Rosemount
Tuesday semis: Eastview over Apple Valley, Lakeville North over Burnsville
Friday final at Farmington: Eastview over Lakevile North.

Section 4:
Wed Qtrs: East Ridge over Stillwater, Tartan upsets North (no Damien Johnson), Woodbury survives White Bear Lake, CDH over St. Paul Central
Sat Semis at Hastings: East Ridge over Tartan, CDH over Woodbury
Th Final at Hastings: CDH over East Ridge

Section 5:
Wed Qtrs: Park Center over Centennial, Mounds View over Irondale, Champlin Park survives Osseo, Spring Lake Park over Roseville.
Tues Semis at Coon Rapids: Park Center over Mounds View, Champlin Park over Spring Lake Park
Fri Final at Rogers: Champlin Park over Park Center

Section 6:
Wed Qtrs: Hopkins over South, Wayzata just lost at Armstrong by 5 and Armstrong is rightfully ticked about the 4 seed, I think Wayzata figures it out and pulls an upset.  St. Louis Park over Southwest, Cooper over Washburn.
Fri Semis at Osseo: Hopkins over Wayzata, Cooper over St. Louis Park
Wed Final at Osseo: Hopkins over Cooper

Section 7:
Wed Qtrs: Forest Lake over Blaine, Duluth East over Anoka, Coon Rapids with their 1-3-1 upsets Andover (Coon Rapids won last meeting).
Sat Semis at Elk River: Duluth East over Coon Rapids, Cambridge-Isanti over Forest Lake
Th Final at Elk River: Father beat son in 2 close meetings this year, make it 3 as Cambridge-Isanti uses big game experience to return to state over Duluth East. 

Section 8:
Tues Qtrs: STMA upsets Rogers, Moorhead another home win over Brainerd, Buffalo over Elk River
Sat semis at St Cloud Tech: Maple Grove over STMA, Moorhead over Buffalo
Th final at Monticello: MG continues their state streak as they beat Moorhead.