2010 NCAA Tournament selections

Selection show underway on ESPN2. I'll update this post as the pairings are announced. Barry Melrose talked up Cornell as the East was unveiled, and picked them to win the region. And he just said Scrivens would win the Hobey Baker.

Midwest (Fort Wayne)

1 Miami v. 4 UAH
2 Bemidji State v. 3 Michigan

East (Albany)

1 Denver v. 4 RIT
2 Cornell v. 3 New Hampshire

West (St. Paul)

1 Wisconsin v. 4 Vermont
2 St. Cloud v. 3 Northern Michigan

Northeast (Worcester)

1 Boston College v. 4 Alaska
2 North Dakota v. 3 Yale

Frozen Four: MW v. NE and E v. W.

And they've already messed with the natural pairings, michigan moved to Miami's bracket.

With the Michigan move, maybe they'll continue the attendance game and we'll get UNH.

And a rematch with UHN it is.

WOOOT! UNH and then possibly Denver!

Let's get em boys!

Interesting that they messed with all the 3 seeds to improve attendance (I assume Yale goes to Worcester now). But left everything else the same. So much for bracket integrity - putting attendance ahead of it is a distinct change from the past is it not?

sah67
And a rematch with UHN it is.

3rd time's a charm?

Barry Melrose is speaking very highly of us right now. Says contrary to popular belief Cornell really can skate. He likes us in the bracket. He also corrected the other commentator who thought Chevrie is the best goalie in the nation. Barry likes Scrivens and put up Scrivens' stats to back himself up.

Barry Melrose talking up Cornell and Scrivens.

Repent ye sinners for the end is night!

Anyone catch what tim the said the Cornell/UHN game is on Friday?

Good news, maybe great news for Cornell being in Albany and up against a team it has played and handled earlier this year in what may have been Cornell's most dominant performance. That also gives UNH incentive to prove it's not as bad as the first time out.

If seeding / bracket integrity got messed with a little to help attendance, if this benefits Cornell, it makes up for some poor seedings / regions in the past.

Thank you, Barry Melrose, for annointing Ben Scrivens the nation's best goalie. I think his seeing Scrivens at Cornell-UNH hame focused his attention and he's drawing from the college games he's seen.

Yale gets helped with its 3-seed into the Worcester / Northeast section.

Should be a great atmosphere with RIT, UNH, and Cornell within driving distance. After 7 years of staying home or traveling out west we finally got our wish. Let's make it count!

I am looking forward to seeing Denver play since I was one of few people who voted for them in the poll above.

Too soon to ask about tickets?

LGR!

Josh 03
Anyone catch what tim the said the Cornell/UHN game is on Friday?

6:30 on ESPNU

Too much manipulation. Why is attendance so important? Why are they so greedy?

Barry just picked Ben for the Hobey, too.

I think Barry Melrose has a kid applying to Cornell. Ben Scrivens winning Hobey, Cornell in the final... I don't mind it.

If the only game I saw this year was UNH v Cornell I would think like him too.

cth95

sah67
And a rematch with UHN it is.

3rd time's a charm?

Barry Melrose is speaking very highly of us right now. Says contrary to popular belief Cornell really can skate. He likes us in the bracket. He also corrected the other commentator who thought Chevrie is the best goalie in the nation. Barry likes Scrivens and put up Scrivens' stats to back himself up.

....and picks Scrivens for Hobey too

Oat
Too much manipulation. Why is attendance so important? Why are they so greedy?

Do you really think there's much difference between 9 through 12 that it's "too much manipulation" to move them around?

Jacob '06

Josh 03
Anyone catch what tim the said the Cornell/UHN game is on Friday?

6:30 on ESPNU

6:30 at the TU Center. Be there if at all possible.

Oat
Too much manipulation. Why is attendance so important? Why are they so greedy?

Rather than look at it as greed, why not look at it as allowing their fans to see them. It's done in March Madness where they try and put the number one seeds close to home for the first round. Of course with all the sites it's easier with b'ball. I certainly wouldn't have complained over the last x number of years if they had done it for us.

Does it really matter that we play UNH instead of NMU? Or UND gets UM instead of Yale? By doing it, those fans will get a chance and the games will be a lot more exciting.

billhoward
Good news, maybe great news for Cornell being in Albany and up against a team it has played and handled earlier this year in what may have been Cornell's most dominant performance. That also gives UNH incentive to prove it's not as bad as the first time out.

I'm thinking Northern Michigan might have been a better draw. UHN knows what they're getting into. Northern wouldn't have.

Oat
Too much manipulation. Why is attendance so important? Why are they so greedy?

This gives more fans a chance to see the game with a drive of a couple hours. A bigger turnout helps the game of hockey. I was thinking last night how our title would have been even more awesome if it was in the old ECAC in front of 15,000 in the old Boston Garden. (And, no offense, Union, but taking down BU or BC for the title had a special feel, too.) That was a building where it seeemed as if you could feel the balcony rock when the fans came to their feet.

billhoward

Oat
Too much manipulation. Why is attendance so important? Why are they so greedy?

This gives more fans a chance to see the game with a drive of a couple hours. A bigger turnout helps the game of hockey. I was thinking last night how our title would have been even more awesome if it was in the old ECAC in front of 15,000 in the old Boston Garden. (And, no offense, Union, but taking down BU or BC for the title had a special feel, too.) That was a building where it seeemed as if you could feel the balcony rock when the fans came to their feet.

So then why are we moving the ECAC tournament to Atlantic City?

The amount of manipulation is obviously in the eye of the beholder, but my concern is more about precedence setting. As many of you have pointed out, for the first time in years (maybe ever) the committee has ZERO intra-conference games in the first round, and what did they do? They had to mess with it. So we have #8 plays #12, #5 plays #9, and etc.

KeithK
Do you really think there's much difference between 9 through 12 that it's "too much manipulation" to move them around?

In fact, I am of the opinion that any manipulation at all would be too much. Integrity and fair play should should never be compromised.

min
The amount of manipulation is obviously in the eye of the beholder, but my concern is more about precedence setting. As many of you have pointed out, for the first time in years (maybe ever) the committee has ZERO intra-conference games in the first round, and what did they do? They had to mess with it. So we have #8 plays #12, #5 plays #9, and etc.

Don't think of it that way. We still have 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3 in every regional. That means more than whether it's a perfect bracket. Anyone who has followed PWR knows it's volatile, which means the differences between closely ranked teams are small and probably insignificant.

AI've said this before. Use a mechanical system to decide who gets in but some judgement is fine for seeding.

Michigan's the biggest beneficiary here. Not only closer to home, but get #8 Bemidji rather than #5 No. Dakota. And a second round match up against Miami probably wouldn't be tougher than playing BC in Worcester.

Al DeFlorio

billhoward
Good news, maybe great news for Cornell being in Albany and up against a team it has played and handled earlier this year in what may have been Cornell's most dominant performance. That also gives UNH incentive to prove it's not as bad as the first time out.

I'm thinking Northern Michigan might have been a better draw. UHN knows what they're getting into. Northern wouldn't have.

OTOH, having had some success against an opponent, and knowing what worked to get it, may not be a bad thing -- as long as you don't expect a repeat without the same amount of effort.

Oat
Too much manipulation. Why is attendance so important? Why are they so greedy?

Although the committee tries to balance schedules, attendance, and interesting matchups, it doesn't factor in incessant, impotent whining. To win a championship we might actually have to play a good team or two along the way. LGR!

Edit: We already beat UNH in their barn (granted it was the game of the year, but still) and Denver looks vulnerable (I didn't realize that sieve was a position eligible for winning a Hobey Baker.) You'd rather take NMU? Look how Bemidji State turned out for us last year, they utterly embarrassed us on the national stage, don't think it can't happen again.

People on here are incessant complainers, and although everyone is entitled to an opinion, it's hard to take it seriously. The classic whine-and-cheese story is "why do we always get sent out West", even though in 2006 we took eventual winner Bucky to triple OT. Two years ago it was "how can a .500 team make it in (Wiconsin)" and they not only won their first game but were up 3-1 halfway through the second game before choking. This year it's "Vermont doesn't deserve to make it" even though they beat Denver, Yale, and UNH twice in their barn, and they didn't make the HE tournament because there were a band of 4-5 teams all within two points on the last weekend of play. The only time no one complained was last year when we got Bemidji State, and look how that turned out.

tl;dr - Quit yer whining, and LGR!

I like this. I like even more that I may be going to the UHN game. I can't stay overnight even if we win but just one NCAA game is more than I thought I'd be able to attend. Fingers crossed.

Some brilliant analysis by Melrose during the show (these are not exact quotes):

Melrose:
"North Dakota probably wouldn't have made the NCAA's had they not won the coference tournament."
"Riley Nash, a 1st round draft choice of St. Louis, I think"

John Buccigross, on the other hand, knew that Michigan's win eliminated Ferris and that Maine's loss put in Vermont, which is exactly how the PWR worked out.
At least I'll be in Albany and not have to listen to Barry's misstatements this weekend, even though he loves us.

Melrose: "Riley Nash, a 1st round draft choice of St. Louis, I think"

So I did hear that right.

Schafer, to no one's surprise, likes being out east:

Cornell coach Mike Schafer said he was pleased to stay East for a change — the team's last three NCAA appearances were out West.

"We're familiar with UNH, and obviously that gives our guys some confidence," Schafer said. His team also just won a championship in the same building, the Times Union Center. "It helps us having been in this rink. It's a good feeling coming back here, and just winning. But it's back to the drawing board. Guys are banged up. We need to revamp and get re-energized. New Hampshire had the weekend off. Last year, three of the four teams that made the Frozen Four didn't play this weekend. They get recharged."

NY Times blog has some praise for Scrivens.

Ben Scrivens - NY Times

I didn't see this posted elsewhere......apologies if duplicative.

INCH has the lines for every NCAA team, which may be of interest to some people here.

[insidecollegehockey.com]

ebilmes
INCH has the lines for every NCAA team, which may be of interest to some people here.

[insidecollegehockey.com]

That's actually pretty dang cool. Thanks for pointing it out!

Article about Yale staying east, from New Haven Register.

Instead of a flight to the midwest, the Bulldogs will stay close to home. Worcester — hometown of Yale coach Keith Allain — is a two-hour bus ride from Ingalls Rink and gives Yale’s strong New Haven fan base the opportunity to make the short trip. Last March, Yale’s game against Vermont in the East Regional was a sellout at the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport.

OK, anybody at Bridgeport last year? If they have a strong fan base, what's ours?

Jim Hyla
Article about Yale staying east, from New Haven Register.

Instead of a flight to the midwest, the Bulldogs will stay close to home. Worcester — hometown of Yale coach Keith Allain — is a two-hour bus ride from Ingalls Rink and gives Yale’s strong New Haven fan base the opportunity to make the short trip. Last March, Yale’s game against Vermont in the East Regional was a sellout at the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport.

OK, anybody at Bridgeport last year? If they have a strong fan base, what's ours?

Bridgeport has a capacity of 8500 for hockey. A little different than trying to fill Albany or Worcester.