Bracketology: Feb. 12, 2008

[USCHO Newsbot]

It doesn't get any easier for Jayson Moy, who this week must navigate a flood of WCHA teams to set up the NCAA tournament brackets.

Read more at uscho.com ...

[Gibber]

Originally Posted by USCHO Newsbot

It doesn't get any easier for Jayson Moy, who this week must navigate a flood of WCHA teams to set up the NCAA tournament brackets.

Read more at uscho.com ...

obviously knowing that it's over a month away until the final PWR and this doesn't really mean that much, but would UNH really get double screwed (a #1 playing a #3 AND playing Wisco in their barn?) Please tell me that that isn't how it would shake down because even Mike Schaefer would get some sympathy if that were his team getting double screwed like that.

Thankfully there's still a lot of hockey to be played, because AY CARUMBA!!!

[MPLS Gopher Fan]

Originally Posted by Gibber

... because even Mike Schaefer would get some sympathy if that were his team getting double screwed like that...

Let's not get carried away here.

[Craig P.]

If you're already pulling Michigan out of Madison, I think a bracket that looks like the one below works out the best. It has the first-round WCHA matchup, but the handbook allows that when there are five teams from the conference, and Jayson shows that all manner of contortions are needed to deal with attendance issues.


Albany
1. Michigan
8. Boston College
9. Minnesota State
16. AHA

Madison
2. Miami
7. Michigan State
12. Wisconsin
15. Bemidji State

Worcester
3. New Hampshire
6. North Dakota
10. Minnesota-Duluth
14. Quinnipiac

Colorado Springs
4. Colorado College
5. Denver
11. Notre Dame
13. Clarkson


Positives: Each regional has a headliner who should bring a reasonable number of fans. The overall #1 won't see Wisconsin in their barn. The #2 seed faces that prospect, but the Badgers will need to go through a higher-seeded team first. Only one team (Wisconsin) is more than one spot out of bracketing; I shifted them two spots and rotated tUMD and ND down to avoid having three WCHA teams in the Colorado Springs regional, rather than doing a straight swap with tUMD.

Negatives: The #2 (rather than #3) overall seed may face Wisconsin in their barn. There's going to be a problem with this happening to a top seed as long as the Badgers are in the field (because they're not going all the way up to a #1 seed at this point). I think it's better if that happens in the regional final rather than the opening game, though.

[UNHBlue]

I am so tired of New Hampshire not getting the respect or recognition it is worthy of.... hmm....perhaps this is the year we 'earn' that respect??!!! Lets go guys; keep up the good work. Seniors, continue your strong lead. GO BLUE!!

[Stefj3]

Originally Posted by UNHBlue

I am so tired of New Hampshire not getting the respect or recognition it is worthy of.... hmm....perhaps this is the year we 'earn' that respect??!!! Lets go guys; keep up the good work. Seniors, continue your strong lead. GO BLUE!!

You may wish to inquire with UM, Michigan, or BC fans about meeting North Dakota in the regionals, regardless of location. Their record against opponents in regional matchups is the equivalent of a buzz saw on fresh wood.

[Blearyman]

At this rate if the logic behind these projections continue, If UNH were to remain #1 in HE at the conclusion of the regular season, and then win the HE tournament, maybe they will be rewarded, with a trip out to Colorado Springs.

[muredhawks2008]

I like this pairing much better than the last few. While I wouldn't mind Miami heading out west for a change, it makes sense to send them to New York after last week's performance. The only change that doesn't make sense to be is Michigan to Worcester and NH to Madison. Those two should be flipped. I can see why they were placed in their current location, but the #1 team in the nation should not have to travel half way across the country to play an away game in someone else's backyard....especially when another site is a mere 6 hrs away.

[yuber]

Again....I'm a Terrier fan, but it makes no sense to put BC in Worcester, and UNH far from home.

The rules need to be revised if you send a one seed and champion of a conference to a cross country location.

Under the Moy analysis, UNH is the HEA champion. They should be closest to home.

BC is good, but should probably be sent packing, since they came in second place.

Plus, I don't think BC and UNH are interchangeable as far as attendance goes.

I think UNH draws better in Worcester than BC would.

That said, I understand there are problems given the WCHA has five teams penciled in thus far.

We should all be glad this is just an exercise, because if the weekly analysis proves anything, it's that things change week to week.

[Clark-Hislop-Cox]

Originally Posted by yuber

Again....I'm a Terrier fan, but it makes no sense to put BC in Worcester, and UNH far from home.

The rules need to be revised if you send a one seed and champion of a conference to a cross country location.

Under the Moy analysis, UNH is the HEA champion. They should be closest to home.

BC is good, but should probably be sent packing, since they came in second place.

Plus, I don't think BC and UNH are interchangeable as far as attendance goes.

I think UNH draws better in Worcester than BC would.

That said, I understand there are problems given the WCHA has five teams penciled in thus far.

We should all be glad this is just an exercise, because if the weekly analysis proves anything, it's that things change week to week.

Could Jayson be a BC moy-toy?

[Craig P.]

Originally Posted by yuber

The rules need to be revised if you send a one seed and champion of a conference to a cross country location.

UNH is already adequately compensated by being a #1 seed. The committee will try to keep them close to home, but there are multiple competing objectives and it may not be possible to meet them all.

(It could be worse... in 1994, WCHA champion Colorado College missed the tournament entirely, and I suspect that it's at least theoretically possible for similar circumstances to produce the same result. That's an issue with the selection metrics, not the rules.)

Under the Moy analysis, UNH is the HEA champion. They should be closest to home.

What's this about "under the Moy analysis"? Jayson suggests no such thing.

BC is good, but should probably be sent packing, since they came in second place.

If BC is not in the same seed band as UNH, their disposition will be settled independently.

[streaker]

Exactly, Craig. I like your scenario, even if it puts Miami in the difficult task to play in Madison. This case could very well be Michigan in a month, too.

It's pick your poison for UNH. Stay close to home and have a potential match-up with one of two very good WCHA teams (w/o being sarcastic, I think Sioux fans should not assume they automatically would advance on the basis of what they think of the rest of the teams out there) OR, be moved out west and deal with a possible match up with the defending National Champs or a very good WCHA team on their home ice. Of course this is assuming that they get past Q or a good BSU team. Based on previous tourney history that isn't automatic.

[WildShawn]

Originally Posted by Craig P.

UNH is already adequately compensated by being a #1 seed.

how do you figure? In the situation Jayson Moy proposes, he drops Wisconsin from a 3 seed to a 4 seed, so UNH is 'compensated' by playing a 3 seed instead of a 4 seed, and in that team's home building.

I'd rather see them play in ColoSprings with CC waiting in the 2nd round (or in Madison with the Badgers waiting in the second round than having to open with them. Too much hockey to play to be all that concerned right now though. Go 'Cats!

[The Hallucination]

I don't like the decision to break the Clarkson-Wisconsin tie arbitrarily rather than by RPI. From a Badger fan perspective, of course, I don't like being made a 4 (playing a number 1 seed) rather than a 3 (playing a 2). However, trying to look at it from another perspective, it seems that Wisconsin at home is not perceived as an easy match up, so why would you want to make WI a 4 and make a 1 play them in the first round if you don't have to?

And finally, a biased and slightly whiny comment: we didn't really lose to Denver like Schmidthead said we did, so if you're not gonna break the tie with RPI, can't we have just a little smidge of tie-breaking consideration out of that DU debacle?

Ah well, the big concern is that the Badgers win some more games so they don't bounce out altogether. In the end, as long as we get in, I'll remind myself not to whine too much about seeding- we'd get to play NCAA regionals at home.

Craig's bracket looks a bit better to me though.

[lostigres]

Originally Posted by Gibber

obviously knowing that it's over a month away until the final PWR and this doesn't really mean that much, but would UNH really get double screwed (a #1 playing a #3 AND playing Wisco in their barn?) Please tell me that that isn't how it would shake down because even Mike Schaefer would get some sympathy if that were his team getting double screwed like that.

Thankfully there's still a lot of hockey to be played, because AY CARUMBA!!!

The Badgers are a bubble team at best now. As a CC Tigers fan, I must say Wisconsin looks to be having a down year. They would have to advance pretty far in the WCHA tourney to make the big dance, I think. In any event, CC had a lot of trouble with New Hampshire early in the season, and didn't have much trouble with the Badgers in 4 games. New Hampshire is better. The really dangerous teams in the WCHA right now are Mankato and Dakota. The one partisan comment I'll make is that CC, hosting a regional, has played very well at home this year -- 14-1. Teams must be prepared to skate the Olympic sheet at 6,000 feet of altitude in Colorado Springs. I think the altitude generally makes more difference on Saturday nights than Friday nights, because it takes a day or so to have an effect. If CC wins in the first round, their run and gun style will be tough to keep up with on Saturday night.

[Craig P.]

Originally Posted by WildShawn

how do you figure? In the situation Jayson Moy proposes, he drops Wisconsin from a 3 seed to a 4 seed, so UNH is 'compensated' by playing a 3 seed instead of a 4 seed, and in that team's home building.

I was responding to someone who said something about the conference champion and #1 seed getting shipped across the country, nothing more than that — someone's gotta play Wisconsin, and it may even be a #1 seed in the first round. The payoff for being a #1 seed is you get to play one of the bottom four seeds in the first round, and the committee will try to keep you close to home if nothing else gets in the way.

[manurespreader]

All good points. But remember college hockey is so flat now that most of the number 4 seeds can play with the number 1 seeds. The WCHA might have more teams in, but they are not necessarily the dominant league they think they are. I say the top four get to be close to home, and you seed the rest by rank with less emphasis on attendance. That means Miami has to go to Albany, and UNH gets Worcester.

After that if you have to travel too bad, maybe you should have played better.

[dead_rabbits]

That's hilarious that anyone would think that Moy has it out for Denver. I'm pretty sure that any #2 seed teams would happily switch spots with Denver.

[wxmike]

After all the years of Michigan playing host, and getting "home" ice in the various regionals, I don't think having to go to Madison to face Bucky would be all that bad. In fact, it would be a nice turn of events...

BTW...in looking for the latest and greatest Bracketology issue, I stumbled across the Wiki page. All it talks about is Squeak-ball. Somebody needs to get on there and straighten out all of those pumpkin-pushers...

[blue&red]

Originally Posted by wxmike

After all the years of Michigan playing host, and getting "home" ice in the various regionals, I don't think having to go to Madison to face Bucky would be all that bad. In fact, it would be a nice turn of events...

BTW...in looking for the latest and greatest Bracketology issue, I stumbled across the Wiki page. All it talks about is Squeak-ball. Somebody needs to get on there and straighten out all of those pumpkin-pushers...

Michigan has hosted three times at Yost in their current 17-year tourney run so if that is considered all the years, then you're right.

The other 14 years, Michigan has traveled to Wisconsin to play Wisconsin, New Hampshire to play UNH, Massachusetts to play BC, North Dakota to play UND, among others. There have been other regionals hosted in Michigan, Grand Rapids with WMU the host and Munn with MSU the host and the GR games you could consider as home games for Michgan (and they were home games for MSU last year as well) but certainly that's not the same as playing at Yost.

For some reason, there are people that think Michigan has hosted regionals at Yost every year.