Bracket Predictions

[Rita]

[quote Germ]I don't think we could have asked for too much more.  Playing at a neutral site against a team who is leaking oil.  I don't know if we've played in GR before but it has to be better than playing in Minny on their funky sheet of ice.  (Unless GR has the same sheet.) And IF (big IF) we make it to the second round to play ND at least it's not in South Bend.

If we had beaten Yale and gotten a 2 seed wouldn't we have ended up playing UNH @ their crib in the first round?  

I was irked that when they introduced the Midwest region they didn't even announce Cornell.  They stopped at NE. Other than Barry saying we could upset BU we didn't get too much airtime.  I guess when you're a three seed you're not the flavor of the day.[/quote]

Bucci and Melrose know what a puck is and love pro hockey, but their college hockey IQ on a scale of 1-10 is about 2.5.

Instead of asking Parker about the other teams in the field, his current teams strength,  etc. they asked him about championships in 1979, 1995(?).  Auuggghhhh.

But hey, it is late March and we are still playing hockey. That is nice. Very nice. :-)

[dbilmes]

[quote Germ]

I was irked that when they introduced the Midwest region they didn't even announce Cornell.  They stopped at NE. Other than Barry saying we could upset BU we didn't get too much airtime.  I guess when you're a three seed you're not the flavor of the day.[/quote]
But to be fair, when they were talking about Yale's chances, one of the announcers pointed out how impressed he was with the fact that Yale had defeated us three times this season, mentioning that Cornell is an excellent team.

[Germ]

Yeah, I heard that and it was nice.  If I were the show's producer I would have done a segment on how the selection committe hosed Cornell in '05 and '06.

[redGrinch]

Grand Rapids is an AHL rink... so 200x85.

[Jim Hyla]

[quote calgARI '07]Cornell catches big break.  Instead of getting UMD that is playing their best hockey of the season, they get a team that has lost 3 of 5 heading in.  I would have thought the top seed in the regional plays the 4:00 game.[/quote]CHN has our game at 7:30 on ESPNU, USCHO has it as listed at 4. I also thought ND would be at 4.

[Jacob '06]

[quote Jim Hyla][quote calgARI '07]Cornell catches big break.  Instead of getting UMD that is playing their best hockey of the season, they get a team that has lost 3 of 5 heading in.  I would have thought the top seed in the regional plays the 4:00 game.[/quote]CHN has our game at 7:30 on ESPNU, USCHO has it as listed at 4. I also thought ND would be at 4.[/quote]

The selection show showed it at 4 PM, and I'm guessing the committee would tell them the correct thing. Stranger things have happened though.

[Scersk '97]

By the way:  WZHA.  Three teams for them, three teams for us.

[ACM]

[quote Germ]I don't know if we've played in GR before ...[/quote]

We've played four games in Grand Rapids, all of them, oddly enough, in calendar year 1997.

On March 22 and 23, we played in the NCAA West Regional. We beat Miami 4-2 in the regional semis (the first time we'd advanced a round in the NCAA's since 1972), but lost to North Dakota 6-2.

On December 27 and 28 we played in something called the Pepsi Tournament. We lost in the opening round to North Dakota 5-1, but beat Western Michigan in the consolation game, 3-2.

[Jim Hyla]

[quote ACM][quote Germ]I don't know if we've played in GR before ...[/quote]

We've played four games in Grand Rapids, all of them, oddly enough, in calendar year 1997.

On March 22 and 23, we played in the NCAA West Regional. We beat Miami 4-2 in the regional semis (the first time we'd advanced a round in the NCAA's since 1972), but lost to North Dakota 6-2.

On December 27 and 28 we played in something called the Pepsi Tournament. We lost in the opening round to North Dakota 5-1, but beat Western Michigan in the consolation game, 3-2.[/quote]So, since North Dakota is not there we should be in good shape.

As an aside do you know anything about tickets, how many CU will get, etc. I'm torn between buying ticketmaster, before they all go to ND, or waiting for CU in the AM. I don't want to be shut out.

[scoop85]

Nice to know we won't have to face Yale again until the National Championship game :-P

[Scersk '97]

Interesting, of course, interview with the committee chair.

One of the resistances the chair mentions regarding flipping teams between bands is the last change advantage.  It occurs to me, what would be so bad about bracketing #1 vs. #3 and #2 vs. #4 if it makes sense?

You flip Princeton and Miami, as CHN (I'll assume adamw) suggests, and the brackets are (with the "atmosphere" move):

NE  1   (1) BU
    2   ( North Dakota
    3  (10) UNH
    4  (15) OSU

MW  1   (2) Notre Dame
    2   (6) Northeastern
    3  (11) Cornell
    4  (16) Bemidji State

W   1   (3) Denver
    2   (7) Minnesota-Duluth
    3   (9) Vermont
    4  (14) Air Force

E   1   (4) Michigan
   |2   (5) Yale
   |4  (13) Miami
    3  (12) Princeton

Yes, it violates some sort of abstract notion of how brackets "should" work, but I think we're all smart enough to handle this in college hockey.  This isn't squeakball.  Miami gets a marginally easier opponent and Princeton a noticeably more difficult one.  But they get to stay east.  And, though it pains me to argue against it, Yale doesn't get screwed.

Miami is a #3 in practice and #4 in name, and Princeton vice versa.  If, somehow, Miami and Princeton make it through, with the non-traditional first-round pairings but retention of appropriate seeds, Princeton gets the last change.

I think everyone would be a bit happier with those brackets.  Except maybe Vermont... but f*** them.  Splitters.

[Jim Hyla]

[quote Scersk '97]Interesting, of course, interview with the committee chair.

One of the resistances the chair mentions regarding flipping teams between bands is the last change advantage.  It occurs to me, what would be so bad about bracketing #1 vs. #3 and #2 vs. #4 if it makes sense?

You flip Princeton and Miami, as CHN (I'll assume adamw) suggests, and the brackets are (with the "atmosphere" move):

NE  1   (1) BU
    2   ( North Dakota
    3  (10) UNH
    4  (15) OSU

MW  1   (2) Notre Dame
    2   (6) Northeastern
    3  (11) Cornell
    4  (16) Bemidji State

W   1   (3) Denver
    2   (7) Minnesota-Duluth
    3   (9) Vermont
    4  (14) Air Force

E   1   (4) Michigan
   |2   (5) Yale
   |4  (13) Miami
    3  (12) Princeton

Yes, it violates some sort of abstract notion of how brackets "should" work, but I think we're all smart enough to handle this in college hockey.  This isn't squeakball.  Miami gets a marginally easier opponent and Princeton a noticeably more difficult one.  But they get to stay east.  And, though it pains me to argue against it, Yale doesn't get screwed.

Miami is a #3 in practice and #4 in name, and Princeton vice versa.  If, somehow, Miami and Princeton make it through, with the non-traditional first-round pairings but retention of appropriate seeds, Princeton gets the last change.

I think everyone would be a bit happier with those brackets.  Except maybe Vermont... but f*** them.  Splitters.[/quote]Read the article and UMD moved for the fans in Minny. So, you see Dpperk29, we got screwed by Minny again. We get the higher seed NE instead of lower UMD, just so they can have fans in Minny. Now do you understand?:-DNot that I mind the shift.

[Swampy]

You know, given the way this turned out, there's not necessarily much difference for us between being a #2 seed and a #3. As a #3 we play NE, but could have played NoDak or UMD. As a #2, we could have played Vermont, UNH, or Miami, plus one other. All are good competition, as is NEU, but none are teams we could not beat or lose to, depending on if we're on our gamee.

[KeithK]

A #2 seed would have gotten us last change.

[Robb]

There's no comparison between NU and Miami.  I'd take a matchup with Miami every day and twice on Sunday.  None of those teams are easy, but there are different levels of hard, too...