Holiday tournaments aside, the coming week figures to be one of the best of the season in terms of compelling matchups. Top-ranked teams playing top-ranked teams, rivalry games, section opponent showdowns ... everything a fan could want and more is on tap this week. Thursday night alone offers a schedule with a dozen or so matchups of must-see quality. Below are our top picks for the week.

Eastview (4-1-0), easily among the handful of top teams in the South Suburban Conference, takes on one of the league's heaviest hitters on Tuesday in No. 9-2A Prior Lake (3-1-0), led by star forward Alex Bump (6 points). ... Red Lake Falls (3-3-0) and Ty Kennett, who shares the state scoring lead with 23 points, head to Hallock on Tuesday to face Northwest Conference rival Kittson County Central (3-1-1) and 21-point scorer Tyler Hennen. ... No. 8-2A Hill-Murray (3-2-0) and No. 5-2A Wayzata (3-2-0) were supposed to meet in the state Class 2A quarterfinals last spring, a matchup that never happened after Hill-Murray was forced to drop out of the tourney because of COVID-19 protocols. The teams meet on Wednesday at Aldrich Arena in a game with, of course, much lower stakes. ... The best of the Northwest Suburban Conference clash on Thursday in Maple Grove as the No. 4-2A Crimson (4-1-1) host No. 6-2A Andover and leading scorer Gavyn Thoreson (13 points). ... One of the better rivalries in northwest Minnesota renews on Thursday when No. 3-1A Warroad (5-0-0) travels to No. 5-1A East Grand Forks (4-2-0) to face the Green Wave and star forward Jaksen Panzer (11 goals, 18 points). ... Edina's three-day, round-robin holiday tourney at Braemar Arena concludes Saturday with No. 11-2A Grand Rapids (5-2-0) and scoring whiz Joey DelGreco (19 points) playing No. 20-2A Elk River/Zimmerman (5-1-0)  followed by the annual finale of No. 16-2A Eden Prairie (2-2-0) squaring off against the host Hornets (No. 1-2A, 4-0-0).