USCHO Poll 2/10

   Team      (First Place)    Record  Pts   Last Week
 1 Colorado College   (32)    22-3-5  591     1
 2 Maine              ( 5)    22-4-4  543     2
 3 Cornell            ( 2)    19-4-0  492     5
 4 Boston College     ( 1)    18-6-3  483     6
 5 North Dakota               22-5-3  450     3
 6 New Hampshire              18-7-3  404     4
 7 Minnesota                  15-7-7  325     7
 8 Michigan                   20-7-1  307     8
 9 Ferris State               21-8-1  279     9
10 Ohio State                 20-6-3  255    10
11 Boston University         17-10-2  217    12
12 MSU-Mankato                12-7-9  119    14
13 Harvard                    14-7-1  114    13
14 Denver                     17-9-4   85    11
15 St. Cloud State           13-10-3   75    15

Others receiving votes: Michigan State 26, 
Providence 17, Yale 10, Miami 3, Minnesota-Duluth 3,
Alabama-Hunstville 1, Mercyhurst 1

#3 with 2 first-place votes, not bad at all...

And apparently whoever it was that kept voting for Quinnipiac has now decided to vote for Mercyhurst instead.

The top four mirror PWR before tonight's Beanpot action right?

So...go BU!

(did I really just say that? )

No, Maine currently wins the comparison with CC (along with all of their other comparisons) by a margin of 0.0005 in their RPI.

Nonetheless, as Avash said, go BU, and (*wince*) go Harvard.

There is no problem cheering for BU and Harvard, if they're not playing against us. BU has some of the classiest fans in the nation and are an honored rival. As for Harvard, the fans they do have really aren't that bad and we need to support the ECAC in all non-conference match ups.

We do need to support the ECAC, but let's get something straight... Hahvahd doens't have fans

Sorry, Delta, I meant "casual onlookers."

DeltaOne81 '03 wrote:

We do need to support the ECAC, but let's get something straight... Hahvahd doens't have fans

Not true; everyone knows they have six.

And, next weekend, routing for Providence and St. Cloud State might be fun too

D-G Morris' parents, Nowak's parents, and Welch's parents. Yep, that's six )

I hear that JR's mom still shows her support from time to time too.

So much for the idea of staying where we were unless we lost. I guess the pollsters rely pretty heavily on the PWR now. Still those were two big wins last week. And we had some help from other teams.

How long has it been since we scored 14 goals in one weekend?

[Q]How long has it been since we scored 14 goals in one weekend?[/Q]

That question is answered by Tom P. in this thread:
[elf.hockey.cornell.edu]

[Q]So much for the idea of staying where we were unless we lost. I guess the pollsters rely pretty heavily on the PWR now. Still those were two big wins last week. And we had some help from other teams.[/Q]
I don't think anyone counted on *everyone* above us losing, and to Mich Tech and Merrimack among others. We don't move up unless others lose.

Very few teams in NCAA history haven't had unexpected losses. Ours just came a week early compared to the other members of last week's top 5.

> Very few teams in NCAA history haven't had unexpected losses.

I can name one who didn't.

Actually, I can name plenty. None of our losses in 1992-3 through 1994-5 were "unexpected."

For the record:

+ This is the first time Cornell has gotten 2+ first place votes in either the USCHO or USA Today poll -- in the last two years (which means in the last 10 years, and probably ever as these polls are not that old).

+ This is the first time I can recall only three ECAC teams getting votes in the USCHO poll. Usually most of the .500ish teams hang around the 1-5 range in the "also receiving votes." It's really been a tough year for the conference.

Anyone else find it interesting that BC got a #1 vote? 6 losses and 3 ties? Anyone want to venture a guess as to what would happen if we went 0-2-3 over the next 5? We'd be down out of the top 10...but they got a first place vote. I know they're up to 4th with the PWR, having a more difficult schedule...and they likely deserve the 4th place spot in the poll. I'm just kind of shocked at the 1st place vote.

Actually, I'm pretty shocked at our two first place votes. I think CC is pretty much the definite #1 right now....didnt' expect any other 1st place votes except for them. But I'll take it. Interesting to see CU rated that high...seems kind of surreal. I guess it's because I've only seen the Red in action once this year, and that was the season opener at OSU; I don't know exactly HOW good they really look. Sorry if this post kind of rambled a bit....

Jordan

Yep, I was suprised BC went from being 6th last week to getting a first place vote.

If you're shocked by the 2 first place votes, go look at the USA Today.

You could make a case for Maine as #1. They're #1 in RPI and PWR (but not KRACH).

and don't forget the stupid drunken souls who harassed us at placid in our section last year...

> the stupid drunken souls

Er, wasn't that us?

True, BC has 6 losses and 3 ties, but BC's woes seem to be behind them now; after all, they are 8-1 in their last 9 games, and "you're only as good as your last game" etc. etc.

Meanwhile, BU/BC is underway now.

i wouldn't call us stupid.
i was referring to the obnoxious guys with the signs who wandered into the cornell section and started yelling at us...to be kicked out by the ushers.

And who inspired the "Hey Dov, all six of your jerk fans called" cheer. Those were indeed the six I was referring to.

We were sad drunken souls. There's a difference.

wow. . .somebody remembered that? i feel famous!

Anyone else worried about a very good Minnesota team slipping under the radar and into our ncaa region?

Adam '01 wrote:

Anyone else worried about a very good Minnesota team slipping under the radar and into our ncaa region?

Not unless we get sent West. They're hosting one of the regionals, so they're not coming here.

Avash '05 wrote:

...but BC's woes seem to be behind them now...

Meanwhile, BU/BC is underway now.

Wow, you jinxed BC!
BU's win, combined with Hahvahd's win, boosted our RPI (rating) over Minnesota's

Does "hosting" a regional really mean you get to play in it? Basketball doesn't follow that convention does it? I assumed that the school and conference were the hosts, separate from the team.

Yup, if you are the hosting school and you make the cut, you play at your "home " rink.

The Centrum Centre, Worcester, Mass - Boston University
Providence Civic Center, Providence, R.I. - Providence College
Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor, Mich. - University of Michigan
Mariucci Arena, Minneapolis, Minn - University of Minnesota

Exactly my intention as well

Men's basketball has exactly the opposite rule. A team can't play in its home arena for the early round games. I don't know how long that rule holds (it obviously doesn't apply to the Final Four, so Syracuse could play in a final (and probably a regional) in the Carrier Dome). You still get quasi-home field advantage when, say, Tulsa plays in Ok. City or Duke plays in Greensboro. It is hard to tell if the seeding committee tries to avoid that sort of thing.

I think women's bball has this rule now also, though for a long time the top seeds used to host the early rounds - fans didn't travel to see their teams in sufficient numbers, and arenas with no local teams were expected to be empty.

Holding the "home team" hosting rule constant, I think the seeding committee is more concerned with avoiding previous match-ups in the early rounds. I could be wrong. . .

Well unless Canisius makes the tourney, by geographic default, Buffalo is our "home" rink. Does that mean we get an automatic bye to the Frozen Four?

That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard. BU isn't even in Worcester. The logical thing would be for BC, BU, Northeastern, Harvard, UMass, etc. to get together and co-sponsor the event thus covering all of their interests. Maybe we should sponsor one at Madison Square Garden. There is no competing Division I hockey program in New York. And I wouldn't have to travel. Or maybe Princeton should look into that when they crack the 15 win season barrier. It's less than an hour by train to Penn Station, conveniently located under MSG.

You're right, mens basketball does have the opposite rule. A lot of times, if a team thinks it can make the tourney as a top seed and they are hosting, then they will hand over the hosting duties to their respective conference--this allows them to circumvent the rule and possibly play at home come tourney time.

Interestingly, next season, when the Frozen Four is at the Fleet Center, BU will also serve as the host there. Of course, given BU's success in the Beanpot recently, that makes some sense.

BTW, next season, the Pepsi Center will host one of the regionals, and RPI and the ECAC serve as the hosts -- so will all ECAC teams be playing there? )

Fine. Cornell should host a regional in Estero.

(On second thought, we suck there, so forget it...)

[Q]BTW, next season, the Pepsi Center will host one of the regionals, and RPI and the ECAC serve as the hosts -- so will all ECAC teams be playing there?[/Q]

I'm not sure, but I am relatively sure that RIP won't be playing there. They do get a nice "sky" box though.

You don't get to host a Regional for free. You have to bid, perhaps in conjunction with a venue (somebody help me here) and one only needs to look at the new arena going up on Comm. Ave. to see that BU has money which is a good thing. Not sure though why BC, which has an even bigger arena and an all-around more familiar name in sports, never hosts in Worcester.

It probably isn't just to promote the conference that RIP teams with the ECAC as they did for the 2001 FF and previous Soft Drink Arena regionals and why the MAAC is a sponsor of the FF this year.

There was tons of discussion surrounding last year's FF how the 'home' crowd tipped the games in Minnesota's favor. On a related note, there was also discussion about how not enough schools are bidding to host so the NCAA has to go back to places like Ann Arbor, Worcester, Grand Rapids and Albany over and over. The west seems to have gotten a little creative with Grand Forks and Colorado Springs on the slate in the future and hopefully now with four regionals the east will get creative too beyond Albany and cities that are an hour's drive from Boston.

Can't say I'm surprised that Grand Forks is going to be hosting. That arena is drool-worthy and Sioux fans are sure to give a good showing whether or not NoDak makes the tournament the year that they host.


What else are they going to do? (rim shot) Thanks, folks. You've been a great crowd . . .

big red apple said:
[Q]What else are they going to do?[/Q]

Tend to their weapons of mass destruction, of course!!

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