USCHO Poll 2/10

[Ben Doyle 03]

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

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

[Section A]

Exactly my intention as well :-D

[ugarte]

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.

[Ben Doyle 03]

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. . .::rolleyes::

[Adam \'01]

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? :-P

[nyc94]

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.

[atb9]

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.

[CUlater \'89]

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? :-))

[Greg Berge]

Fine.  Cornell should host a regional in Estero.

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

[marty]

[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.::rolleyes::

[Tom Pasniewski 98]

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.

[ugarte]

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 . . .

[kingpin248]

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

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

http://www.theonion.com/onion3904/north_dakota.html