WTF???

[AdamGanderson]

Did the mysterious bonus point values get stated anywhere?  Or is that still a secret so we can be just as mystified next season?

[jtwcornell91]

The only complaint I have with the "by the numbers" excuse is that St. Cloud should have been a 3 seed, not a 4 seed.  The only reason they're behind OSU in the PWR is that they lose the comparison to Dartmouth.  Why should a comparison of SCSU with Dartmouth according to the selection criteria have anything to do with whether SCSU or Ohio State or Harvard is a 3 or 4 seed, when Dartmouth's not even in the tournament?  At this point, I think the committee has to admit they've abandoned the idea of individual pairwise comparisons and are just using the PWR (which was not the case in the past).  And if they're just trying to get a 1-29 ordering of all the TUCs, why not drop PWR altogether and go to some method that actually gives them a straight ordering?

Also, they didn't go by the numbers when it came to putting the top four teams in order in the closest regional.  (Although I think that was done to make up for putting too strong a 4-seed in our bracket.)

[JordanCS]

At least we don't have to worry about the team overlooking the first round.  They should be fired up to prove their talent on big stage.

[Tub(a)]

[q]At least it'll stop the UND assholes from whining about how easy we have it.[/q]

And that's all that matters... ::rolleyes::

[min \'97]

at the end of the day, why wasn't the rpi "bonus" system mentioned (better yet, explained) at all during the selection show? it seems to me that the brackets as drawn could very well be predicted by the "unmodified rpi."

let's go red.

[ugarte]

I'm disappointed, but I am not surprised or angry.  We knew going in that avoiding conference matchups in the first round was mandatory.  We got the right draw under the rules as they drew them up.

But they have to get rid of the conference matchup rule.  There are not enough conferences or bids to allow the committee to reconcile so many conflicting rules and preferences.  The dramatic difference between #14 and #15 gives deep conferences an unfair advantage in the first round of the tournament.  This would be just as much a ripoff if BU finished #4 and the #13 and 14 teams were Providence and UMass.

I've got my tickets to Providence, so I will just enjoy the games.



Post Edited (03-23-03 19:07)

[Jeff Hopkins \'82]

Guys:

We all knew this would be a possibility.  Get over it.  Move on.  Bring 'em on.

Now to talk about Mankato.  They got hot late in the year but they are inconsistent.  Sure they can beat the elite of the WCHA, but they've tied Bemidji, Omaha, and lost to Providence twice.  One encouraging thing is they give up a lot of goals.  One more thing in our favor.  They play on a big rink.  The Dunk is an NHL rink.  That's one for us.

LGR!!!!

[Josh '99]

Jordan Steele '01 wrote:
In all honesty, I'd swap with Harvard in an instant...I think they have an easier draw, and truly, probably just as tough a first round.

More relevantly, I'd swap with UNH just as quickly.

[Winnabago]

I was down at the Boatyard for all of this, and the mood among the team was  more of confusion than anger.  I saw many of the guys sitting next to Schafer  asking him about this team.  The look on his face during the commerical said it all, though.  He was looking straight ahead shaking his head.  The ridiculous answers from the committee on ESPN basically prove that the objectivity of the process is flawed.  My problem is that host teams get both the $$ benefits of national exposure AND a possible home game.  A good percentage of teams can never be a host - would a Cornell hosted regional be in Syracuse?  If anything-the host team should be EXCLUDED like in basketball.

[q]"Why Cornell's bracket couldn't have been in Worcester and thus cheaper and also avoiding the second round BU-UNH, I don't know."[/q]

Good point, but second round matchups were "not considered" is what I thought I heard.  

Regardless, the scouting process will be the same.  MSU will also have travel and a time change to worry about for the afternoon game.  Does anyone know what size rink they play on-and how big Dunkin Donuts' surface is?  I can't wait to see Doug and Charlie clogging up the blue line again.

[Tub(a)]

The Providence rink is 200x85.

The Midwest Wireless Civic Center is 200x100(!).

[Mike Steinfeld]

All else aside, the bracket isn't as terrible as it looks. Yeah Mankato is going to be rough. Other than the tournament, the last time they lost to someone other than CC was November. Then again, they've tied some pretty poor teams as well, so they're a wildcard. I think the one thing that they haven't faced, is a very physical, very talented defensive team. Yeah, they beat CC, in a shootout.  Look at their scores, they are almost all offense. If our defense can hold them down, they won't be able to do a damned thing. One thing peopel, especially the arrogant asses over on USCHO's boards forget is that the ECAC has some of the most stifling defense and goaltending around. There's no way in hell Mankato's going to be able to post it's usual numbers against any of them, especially us.

As for BC and Ohio. I might be wrong here, but at a cursory glance, Ohio has won -one- game against a team in the tournament. ONE. And that was us, in Florida, with Marr in the net. Marr did an excellent job, only letting in one goal, but there's no way in hell anybody can say that team was the same one that'll be playing in Providence.

BC is still missing Eaves, and make no mistake about it, they could give us a fight, but in the last month and a half, the only teams they've beaten are Merrimack, and our favorite nose-diver, Maine. They give BU a fight the same way Dartmouth's been giving us a fight. I think the bracket sucks, and I'd definitely be happier if we were to be swapped with UNH, but I hardly believe this isn't anything we could concievably roll right if we stay focused and concentrate on shutting down other team's (Mankato especially) offense.

[Alan]

[Q] Yeah, the #1 seed didn't get us anything special. All I can say is. . . . bring it on. [/Q]
This is the best post in response to the teams we drew. I'm with you Tom!

[Lowell '99]

Regarding Ohio State:

On the positive side, we beat them on their home ice early in the season.

On the negative side, although the score was close in Florida, they really outplayed us.  It looked like we were on our heels almost the entire game.  We couldn't get any offense going.  Perhaps it was just a let down from our well-played game against Maine the previous day, but it didn't look good.

Still, that was a while ago.  The games should be good.  I can't wait!

[FRED\'83]

LOOK, THEY WERE LAST IN PK AND 8TH IN TEAM D.
THEY HAVE 2 PLAYERS THAT CAN SCORE BUT THEY HAVE NOT PLAYED A D ANYTHING LIKE OURS.
WE WILL BE ABLE TO SCORE ON THEM!

LGR

[scoop85]

I agree with those who have said that while our first game is more of a challenge than we deserve, I believe the potential second round game would be more favorable for us than the projected matchups in the other regions.