Minnesota high school football isn't just a Friday night ritual. It's a complex, multi-tiered ecosystem where a team from the Iron Range can be just as dominant as a private school powerhouse from the Twin Cities. But when you look at mn high school football rankings, things get messy fast. You've got the AP polls, the QRF (Quality Results Formula), and various computer models like MaxPreps all shouting different things.
The 2025 season just wrapped up, and honestly, it was one of the weirdest years in recent memory. If you only look at the final scores from U.S. Bank Stadium, you're missing half the story.
The Class 6A Chaos: Why Edina Defied the Computer
For most of the season, Maple Grove looked untouchable. They were the unanimous No. 1 in almost every ranking. They had the size, the speed, and a 10-0 record heading into the thick of the playoffs. But then the Prep Bowl happened.
Edina, a team that finished the season 9-4, ended up holding the trophy. How?
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Rankings often fail to account for the "battle-hardened" factor. Edina played a brutal schedule. They lost some games early, which tanked their ranking in the eyes of computer models that favor undefeated records. But by the time they hit the turf at U.S. Bank Stadium, they were ready for anything. In the Class 6A championship, Chase Bjorgaard put on a clinic, rushing for 320 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Hornets to a 42-35 win over a red-hot Moorhead team.
Moorhead's rise was another ranking anomaly. They were competing in 6A for the first time and basically broke the scoreboard every week. Junior QB Jett Feeney threw for 373 yards in the final—a Prep Bowl record. If you were following the rankings in September, you probably didn't have Edina vs. Moorhead on your bingo card for the finals.
Understanding the QRF vs. The Eye Test
In Minnesota, we love the QRF. It’s the math-heavy system used to seed the playoffs. It looks at who you beat, their record, and the class size of your opponent. It's great for objectivity, but it's terrible at predicting momentum.
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Take Spring Lake Park in Class 5A. For a good chunk of the year, they were hovering in the middle of the top 10. They weren't flashy. They just won. Then they hit the state tournament and absolutely dismantled people, eventually beating Chanhassen 24-21 for the title.
The "eye test" usually favors teams like St. Thomas Academy or Alexandria, who often have Division I recruits and highlight-reel plays. But the rankings that really matter—the ones that predict who’s going to be standing in late November—usually reward teams with high-efficiency ground games and disciplined defenses.
Small Town Giants: Class 3A to 9-Player
Don't let the big schools hog the spotlight. Some of the most consistent teams in mn high school football rankings come from the smaller tiers.
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- Annandale (Class 3A): They finished 13-0. Think about that. They were the wire-to-wire favorites and actually lived up to the hype, capping it off with a 17-7 win over Waseca in the Prep Bowl.
- Jackson County Central (Class 2A): Led by Minnesota commit Roman Voss, JCC was a buzzsaw. They beat Eden Valley-Watkins 38-0 in the semifinals and looked like they could have competed with 4A teams.
- Minneota (Class 1A): They are the New England Patriots of Minnesota small-school football. Even when the rankings say someone else might be "hotter," you never bet against them in November.
- Hills-Beaver Creek (9-Player): They capped off a dominant 13-0 season by crushing Hillcrest Lutheran 46-22. In 9-player football, rankings are mostly about survival, and HBC survived everyone.
Why Rankings "Fail" in the Postseason
The biggest misconception about high school rankings is that they are a "power list." They aren't. They are a snapshot of what happened last week.
Injuries are the great equalizer. In high school, you don't have a 53-man roster of pros. If a Class 4A powerhouse loses their starting linebacker and a two-way lineman, they aren't the same team the rankings fell in love with three weeks ago. We saw this with Marshall and Byron. Both had incredible regular seasons, but when the postseason pressure hit, the depth of teams like Kasson-Mantorville (who made a surprise run to the 4A finals) took over.
Actionable Steps for Following the 2026 Season
If you want to stay ahead of the curve for next year, don't just refresh the AP poll every Tuesday. Here is how to actually track who's good:
- Watch the Trenches: Look for teams returning three or more starters on the offensive line. Skill players get the headlines, but in Minnesota weather, the line wins games.
- Follow the Districts: Pay attention to the Suburban East and Lake Conference results. A 2-loss team in the Lake Conference is often better than an undefeated team in a weaker district.
- Monitor the QRF Early: Start checking the Minnesota-Scores QRF rankings around Week 4. It's the first time the data becomes statistically significant.
- Recruit Watch: Keep an eye on players like Emmanuel Karmo (Robbinsdale Cooper) and Meyer Swinney (Edina). Individual talent can't win a title alone, but it can absolutely swing a ranking by 10 spots.
The 2025 season proved that rankings are just a suggestion. Whether it's Edina coming from the middle of the pack or Annandale proving the computers right, the real rankings are decided on the turf at the Bank.