MSHSL Class 6A Football Brackets Released

The MSHSL bracket was released Friday, October 20, 2023 for the largest schools football playoffs which begin Friday, October 27, 2023.

There are 32 teams listed in the Class 6A bracket.   They play weekly until a champion is crowned.

The fewer number of teams is why they don't have to have their players participate in more than one game in a week.  These are the biggest high schools with some rosters over 100 in size.

Meanwhile smaller schools are asked to have their players participate in multiple games in a week.

As an example Faribault Bethlehem Academy has 36 players on their roster grades 9 through 12.

They are scheduled to play Tuesday, October 24, 2023.  If they win they play again on Saturday, October 28 then Friday, November 3 in Section Tournament action if they continue to win.

The regular season ended on Wednesday, October 18, 2023.  That is 4 games in 26 days.  From last regular season game to the Section Semifinals there are 3 games in 10 days.

9-Player football teams number 63 in Minnesota.  There are 57 Class A teams, 55 Class AA, 56 Class AAA, 47 Class AAAA and 45 Class AAAAA teams.

Some people have proposed limiting each section to 6 teams which would bring the total to 48 in each class. Faribault, Northfield and Owatonna are in 5-team sections.

The #7 and #8 seeds would play each other in a "fun" end of season game which in theory at least would be more competitive than a #8 seed going to #1 and #7 to #2.

Just as I expected when asking some area coaches about this I get mixed reactions.  Some like the idea and others point to the instances where a #1 or a #2 was upset (which are very rare).

Player safety should be the #1 concern here.  Football is a violent sport with full speed collisions.  Giving athletes time for their body to get rested between games makes sense to me.

Let's figure out a way to get a few more days between games even if we have to conduct the Prep Bowl a week later or play 7 regular season games instead of 8.

I would love to receive more input on this topic.  You don't have to agree.  I know the schedule has been this way for a number of years.