Midwest Regional: Minnesota State, Nebraska-Omaha, Harvard, RIT

[purpleinnebraska]

When is the last time an AHA team actually made the tourney with a legit top 16 pairwise ranking?

Niagara, 2 years ago

[dpm105]

Re: Midwest Regional: Minnesota State, Nebraska-Omaha, Harvard, RIT

You are the one who is saying too few OOC games hurts you. You do need to win OOC games. I used for my example 2 games that RIT could have won. We get the same number of OOC games (actually 2 more because we travel to Alaska), and you have admitted that your conference opponents have a terrible pairwise.

OOC wins are not as vital for you to have a decent pairwise, they are the only chance an AHC team has to make a dent in the ranking.

And did you forget that RIT won the conference tournament. They are in whether their pairwise ranking is 1st, 17th, or 50th. That is the way that every single team can make the tournament. Has nothing to do with Pairwise.

You are correct, although I'm not sure I ever refuted that fact.

Look, Minnesota State should absolutely be the heavy favorite in almost every way possible, they have earned the top seed and should make a good run. If you guys want to get all bent out of shape should RIT find a way to win because they lost to the "38th" team in the country be my guest. All I was trying to illustrate is that the gap between 1 and 38 might be a bit misleading.

[Crimson on the Glass]

Re: Midwest Regional: Minnesota State, Nebraska-Omaha, Harvard, RIT

All I was trying to illustrate is that the gap between 1 and 38 might be a bit misleading.

OK I give up.

Beat the #1 seed, though, and the credit will go entirely to RIT, with no excuses necessary for the PWR system.

[MavsFan19]

According to that hopeless shill Dave Starman, if you are not in the nacho you are losing. sigh. Is objectivity too much to ask for?
Though in his defense he said uno would only win if Massa played, which of course he is.

Yea the selection show coverage was awful. Starman really does believe it's NCHC and maybe BU... Everyone else is not worth mentioning.

[Red Cows]

Re: Midwest Regional: Minnesota State, Nebraska-Omaha, Harvard, RIT

According to that hopeless shill Dave Starman, if you are not in the nacho you are losing. sigh. Is objectivity too much to ask for?
Though in his defense he said uno would only win if Massa played, which of course he is.

Better still is that it appears UNO captain Dominic Zombo may as well:

http://www.ketv.com/sports/ketv-sports-at-10/31998090

.........but, they are going to limit him to 3 shifts per period and no special teams......if he does play.

Glad Massa is O.K. to go, too. Without him we'd be one and done, I agree with Starman. He is a large part of why we are even in the tourney in the first place.

Since we have not been quite the same without him, particularly on offense, I will be happy to see him on the ice. His absence messed up our lines.

[dpm105]

Re: Midwest Regional: Minnesota State, Nebraska-Omaha, Harvard, RIT

OK I give up.

Same, there is some great hockey to look forward to this weekend, time for me to focus on that.

In other news, ND still trying to pump the tires on this weekend. http://pacmail.em.marketinghq.net/fu...q_v=041e826ee6

I'm guessing similar notes on the other teams are to follow.

[Red Cows]

Re: Midwest Regional: Minnesota State, Nebraska-Omaha, Harvard, RIT

I believe the AHC's OOC record this year was dismal.

AHA out of conference was 12-51-4

WCHA out of conference was 30-29-9

ECAC out of conference was 46-50-9


NCHC out of conference was 53-25-4 (UNO was 6-2-2)

[Stauber1]

Re: Midwest Regional: Minnesota State, Nebraska-Omaha, Harvard, RIT

If you don't acknowledge that the PWR's reliance on RPI creates a bias against individual teams within AH, then I would suggest you are either being disingenuous or don't fully understand how the rankings are formulated.
It's the same reasoning used when it is suggested that not all the NCHC teams may be as good as their PWR indicates, and fans of the NCHC just stick bananas in their ears while humming My Country Tis Of Thee.
When it is suggested that not all the teams in AH are as bad as their PWR indicates, fans of the WCHA stick bananas in their ears while either humming the Copper Country Anthem or ringing their cowbells.

That being said, RIT went 1-5 in non-conference play this year, so it is reasonable to assert that they helped to exacerbate the AH problem rather than falling victim to it.
I don't care what conference you are in, if you go 1-5 OOC your PWR is going to take a serious hit and your conference-mates are going to be cursing you.

And Harvard fans are ugly.


How's THAT for offending all corners!

[Red Cows]

Re: Midwest Regional: Minnesota State, Nebraska-Omaha, Harvard, RIT

Im a bit surprised that so many are overlooking UNO.

I am, too, but only in the context of how everyone seems to have forgotten that our Hobey Baker candidate senior goalie is going to be back in goal this weekend and our senior captain is also, apparently, going to play, too.

The two of them have combined to miss 18 games since the beginning of the year.

With as many underclassmen as UNO has (17), coupled with the loss of these two players, in particular, for as much of the 2nd half as they have, I thought our guys held their collective heads above the water fairly well given that Zombo and Massa's disappearance(s) coincided with the meat of the conference schedule getting under way. A reminder, we are an NCHC team, in case anyone forgot. We weren't exactly playing chopped liver since January 1st or so. UNO has played the 4th toughest schedule in the nation this season.

Leading up to when those guys started missing games, UNO was #2 in Pairwise and led the NCHC. We didn't exactly suck. We went 6-5-3 against the 7 teams ahead of us in the final Pairwise this season.

We might lay an egg come Saturday but at least it looks like we might have our full compliment of guys on the ice again, finally.

[7outof10]

It isn't support, it is the cost of the bus. Way out of line! I can get a hotel, gas and tickets for half the expense.

That was way to much for what you got

[MavHockey14]

I am, too, but only in the context of how everyone seems to have forgotten that our Hobey Baker candidate senior goalie is going to be back in goal this weekend and our senior captain is also, apparently, going to play, too.

The two of them have combined to miss 18 games since the beginning of the year.

With as many underclassmen as UNO has (17), coupled with the loss of these two players, in particular, for as much of the 2nd half as they have, I thought our guys held their collective heads above the water fairly well given that Zombo and Massa's disappearance(s) coincided with the meat of the conference schedule getting under way. A reminder, we are an NCHC team, in case anyone forgot. We weren't exactly playing chopped liver since January 1st or so. UNO has played the 4th toughest schedule in the nation this season.

Leading up to when those guys started missing games, UNO was #2 in Pairwise and led the NCHC. We didn't exactly suck. We went 6-5-3 against the 7 teams ahead of us in the final Pairwise this season.

We might lay an egg come Saturday but at least it looks like we might have our full compliment of guys on the ice again, finally.

I think it may have less to do with UNO and more to do with how attractive Harvard is.

[Red Cows]

Re: Midwest Regional: Minnesota State, Nebraska-Omaha, Harvard, RIT

I think it may have less to do with UNO and more to do with how attractive Harvard is.

I just hope we play well with a full compliment, finally, and let the chips fall where they may. I think UNO has better defense and goaltending than Harvard does, but Harvard is a better offensive team. My late father always used to say "Good defense beats good offense every time". UNO just set a school record this season in fewest goals allowed, by a ton, at 85, which was also the fewest in the NCHC. I think the Harvard game isn't likely to be a high scoring affair. I predict this is a one goal nail biter.

[Crimson on the Glass]

Re: Midwest Regional: Minnesota State, Nebraska-Omaha, Harvard, RIT

I just hope we play well with a full compliment, finally, and let the chips fall where they may. I think UNO has better defense and goaltending than Harvard does, but Harvard is a better offensive team. My late father always used to say "Good defense beats good offense every time". UNO just set a school record this season in fewest goals allowed, by a ton, at 85, which was also the fewest in the NCHC. I think the Harvard game isn't likely to be a high scoring affair. I predict this is a one goal nail biter.

Harvard beat the best defense in the country on the road to South Bend - just not every time.

Good defense does beat good offense, except all those times when it doesn't.

And Harvard doesn't often win by one, there is usually an empty net goal or two near the end.

If Harvard had had the good fortune to have only 2 top players miss only 18 games total, they would probably be a top 4 seed today.

[komey1]

Re: Midwest Regional: Minnesota State, Nebraska-Omaha, Harvard, RIT

If you don't acknowledge that the PWR's reliance on RPI creates a bias against individual teams within AH, then I would suggest you are either being disingenuous or don't fully understand how the rankings are formulated.
It's the same reasoning used when it is suggested that not all the NCHC teams may be as good as their PWR indicates, and fans of the NCHC just stick bananas in their ears while humming My Country Tis Of Thee.
When it is suggested that not all the teams in AH are as bad as their PWR indicates, fans of the WCHA stick bananas in their ears while either humming the Copper Country Anthem or ringing their cowbells.

That being said, RIT went 1-5 in non-conference play this year, so it is reasonable to assert that they helped to exacerbate the AH problem rather than falling victim to it.
I don't care what conference you are in, if you go 1-5 OOC your PWR is going to take a serious hit and your conference-mates are going to be cursing you.

And Harvard fans are ugly.


How's THAT for offending all corners!

Actually, that's pretty accurate. Let's add to it that Atlantic Hockey hardly ever gets home OOC games. RIT is a rare exception as they had 2 (3 if you count the Blue Cross Arena game).

The problem with any ranking system is that there are too few OOC games to get good data. When there are less than 70 OOC games for a conference, that severely limits opportunities to compare teams. That St. Cloud State was on the verge of being in the tournament in spite of barely being over .500 should show that. I will admit - maybe they are that good but their record is hampered by playing in strong conference, but I suspect they should not have been in any serious discussion of at large berths, yet the only thing that stopped that was the discussion of if they would be over .500.

[MavsFan19]

A few days left. I'm excited, even the 6 to 7 hour drive will be awesome as it's with old college friends. Our mode of transportation used to be a Chevy beretta. Now with khakis, jobs we have upgraded to a nicer ride. This is going to be a great trip!!

Warning: my tune will change if we lose