Rankings Update: 4A Hopkins and 3A Cooper are still on top

<p>The more things change, the more they stay the same. At least that&#39;s the case at the pinnacle of the 4A rankings this week. Hopkins remains on top after defeating Robbinsdale Cooper and Edina by an average of 29 points. Number 2 Wayzata ran its record to 7-0 with a win over Eden Prairie, while #3 Eastview (6-0) dodged a bullet with an overtime win against Lakeville North. Spots 4 and 5 remain status quo, as well, as St. Michael-Albertville and Centennial each won a pair. There are now five undefeated teams in 4A, including #14 Farmington and #16 Hastings, who are both 5-0.</p> <p>Why, you may ask, aren&#39;t those two teams ranked higher? The answer is simple: strength of schedule (or lack thereof). Simply put, the Tigers and Raiders haven&#39;t faced much opposition so far. Farmington has played just one team with a winning record, that being Owatonna at 5-3. The other four opponents are a combined 5-22. Hastings defeated 4-2 St. Croix Lutheran but its other foes are 5-23. By comparison, Lakeville North (4-3) is still hanging on at #8. Why? Their losses were in overtime to both Wayzata (#2) and Eastview (#3) and their third loss was to Centennial, the #5 team in the state.</p> <p>If either Farmington or Hastings had played the Panthers&#39; schedule, they would have at least three losses and probably more. We&#39;ll have a better idea of just how good Farmington is when they face Edina on Thursday and Grand Rapids on Dec. 28. Hastings could very well be 9-0 when they play Eastview Dec. 30 at the St. Olaf Tournament.</p> <p><strong>Going Up</strong></p> <ul> <li>Maple Grove at 5-1 rises from #13 to #10. Their only loss is to #2 Wayzata by just 6 points.</li> <li>Moorhead is up one spot to 7th, Park Center moves up one to 9th.</li> <li>Minneapolis South won three times and moves ahead to #20.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Going Down</strong></p> <ul> <li>Champlin Park suffered a pair of defeats this week, to Minnetonka and Maple Grove, enough to drop the Rebels four spots to #13.</li> <li>In addition to a good spanking from Hopkins, the Edina Hornets suffered a perplexing loss to Chisago Lakes and dropped to 18th.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Welcome Back</strong></p> <ul> <li>We said last week that the Minnetonka Skippers might well return to the rankings. They made good on that prediction by knocking off Champlin Park and are back at #25.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Going Away</strong></p> <ul> <li>Some pundits had Forest Lake as high as #7 in their preseason polls, but we placed them substantially lower. At 3-4, the Stumne-less Rangers have been mediocre at best and a loss to Woodbury hastened their exit.</li> </ul> <p><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>Marshall now in the top 10 with three other undefeateds</strong></span></p> <p>When the #1 team in class AAA gets blown off the floor by 27 points, it would be reasonable to assume they would topple from their lofty perch. That&#39;s what happened to #1 Robbinsdale Cooper this week, yet the Hawks are still on top. That&#39;s because that loss was against 4A #1 Hopkins. Enough said. The Hawks backed up their ranking later in the week with a solid win over Grand Rapids by 15.</p> <p>Holy Angels and Mahtomedi are firmly entrenched at numbers 2 and 3, while Waseca ran its record to 7-1 and supplanted Grand Rapids at the #4 position. The big news in AAA is the rise of Marshall and the decline of Hutchinson. The Tigers are now 6-0, one of just four undefeated teams in the state, good enough to jump from #16 to #9. The other Tigers from Hutchinson went in the other direction with a loss to Buffalo, and now reside in the #16 spot.</p> <p><strong>Others rising</strong></p> <ul> <li>Alexandria is up from 21 to 18 with a record of 5-1</li> <li>Mankato West, with a record of 4-2, jumped five spots to #20</li> </ul> <p><strong>Others falling</strong></p> <ul> <li>St. Paul Como Park had the week off. While the Cougars were resting, they got leapfrogged.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Off the cliff</strong></p> <ul> <li>Much was expected of North Branch, but the Vikings are limping along at 1-3 and are now on the outside looking in.</li> <li>Becker got a reprieve one week ago, largely because they had the courage to play Hopkins. Now 2-3, we had to show them the door.</li> <li>We gave Zimmerman one last chance last week, as well, an opportunity they squandered while dropping to 0-3. See ya.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Welcome Aboard</strong></p> <ul> <li>Fergus Falls was a bubble team last week, but with a record of 5-2 that includes a win over a tough Alexandria squad, we welcome the Otters at #19.</li> <li>Big Lake makes its debut at #25. We can&#39;t find a score anywhere from their encounter with Holy Family last Friday but we&#39;ll give them the benefit of the doubt since there aren&#39;t a lot of others worthy of the caboose.</li> <li>Welcome back Chisago Lakes. They slipped out of the poll last week but earned their way back in by beating Edina. The Wildcats are now at #21.</li> </ul>