Bracketology 2016-17 Style

[David Harding]

This is as good a place as any to call attention to this recent study of the effect of jet lag on baseball players.  The Chicago Tribune reports on a Northwestern University press release regarding a study published in the   Procedings of the National Academy of Science.  (abstract)

Laboratory studies have demonstrated that circadian clocks align physiology and behavior to 24-h environmental cycles. Examination of athletic performance has been used to discern the functions of these clocks in humans outside of controlled settings. Here, we examined the effects of jet lag, that is, travel that shifts the alignment of 24-h environmental cycles relative to the endogenous circadian clock, on specific performance metrics in Major League Baseball. Accounting for potential differences in home and away performance, travel direction, and team confounding variables, we observed that jet-lag effects were largely evident after eastward travel with very limited effects after westward travel, consistent with the >24-h period length of the human circadian clock. Surprisingly, we found that jet lag impaired major parameters of home-team offensive performance, for example, slugging percentage, but did not similarly affect away-team offensive performance. On the other hand, jet lag impacted both home and away defensive performance. Remarkably, the vast majority of these effects for both home and away teams could be explained by a single measure, home runs allowed. Rather than uniform effects, these results reveal surprisingly specific effects of circadian misalignment on athletic performance under natural conditions.

I don't have the energy to do thorough review, but my gut reaction is that they have looked at enough different measures that you might expect statistical fluctuations to push a few of the measures into the range they have declared to be statistically significant.

[marty]

thats an issue for the bracket at large but this is a conversation about where cornell will go. the top 4 seeds have different bracket integrity rules than the other seeds

Cornell is not a host. If we land 3 or 4 behind two other eastern teams we could be on a plane traveling west! This is all a wonderful dream.

Last night the Deerticks lost to ASU which will hurt the ECAC. OTOH Princeton shocked Penn State which should help us if we get back to winning.

And to further Adam's point, as of this morning Western Michigan as the 4 seed would be traveling east for the regionals.

[CU2007]

I have a feeling we'll be watching championship weekends praying that a team in the top 14 of PWR wins the Hockey East, Big 10 and NCHC tourneys

[ugarte]

I have a feeling we'll be watching championship weekends praying that a team in the top 14 of PWR wins the Hockey East, Big 10 and NCHC tourneys

Oh cool, an optimist.

[Jim Hyla]

Okay here it is. Obviously we're out.

Code Select Expand


This week's brackets

[b][u]East Regional (Providence):[/u][/b]
16 Canisius vs. 2 Denver
11 Providence vs. [b][u]6 Union[/u][/b]

[b][u]Northeast Regional (Manchester):[/u][/b]
14 Wisconsin vs. 3 Boston University
10 Boston College vs. [b][u]8 Harvard[/u][/b]

[b][u]Midwest Regional (Cincinnati):[/u][/b]
13 Massachusetts-Lowell vs. 4 Western Michigan
12 Vermont vs. 5 Penn State

[b][u]West Regional (Fargo):[/u][/b]
15 Bemidji State vs. 1 Minnesota-Duluth
9 North Dakota vs. 7 Minnesota

[b][u]Conference breakdowns[/u][/b]

Hockey East — 5
NCHC — 4
Big Ten — 3
[b][u]ECAC Hockey — 2[/u][/b]
WCHA — 1
Atlantic Hockey – 1
Movement

In: Wisconsin, Providence
Out: Ohio State, [b][u]Cornell[/u][/b]

Read more: http://www.uscho.com/bracketology/2017/02/01/start-of-february-sees-more-tweaks-to-pairwise-rankings/#ixzz4XSpN4hq0

If it were to stay like this, Manchester would be fun to watch.

[marty]

thats an issue for the bracket at large but this is a conversation about where cornell will go. the top 4 seeds have different bracket integrity rules than the other seeds

Cornell is not a host. If we land 3 or 4 behind two other eastern teams we could be on a plane traveling west! This is all a wonderful dream.

Last night the Deerticks lost to ASU which will hurt the ECAC. OTOH Princeton shocked Penn State which should help us if we get back to winning.

And to further Adam's point, as of this morning Western Michigan as the 4 seed would be traveling east for the regionals.

I was wrong and Denver might be pissed if the season ended today but here is why Adam is right:

This week's brackets

East Regional (Providence):
16 Canisius vs. 2 Denver
11 Providence vs. 6 Union

Northeast Regional (Manchester):
14 Wisconsin vs. 3 Boston University
10 Boston College vs. 8 Harvard

Midwest Regional (Cincinnati):
13 Massachusetts-Lowell vs. 4 Western Michigan
12 Vermont vs. 5 Penn State

West Regional (Fargo):
15 Bemidji State vs. 1 Minnesota-Duluth
9 North Dakota vs. 7 Minnesota
[\\QUOTE]

[CU2007]

I have a feeling we'll be watching championship weekends praying that a team in the top 14 of PWR wins the Hockey East, Big 10 and NCHC tourneys

Oh cool, an optimist.

Well given our current position, it wouldn't matter. So yes, you could easily argue that it is optimistic.

[Trotsky]

I have a feeling we'll be watching championship weekends praying that a team in the top 14 of PWR wins the Hockey East, Big 10 and NCHC tourneys

We'll see.  We're not in a deep hole and I firmly believe we will make it to Lake Placid where anything can happen.  The question is are they the guys who took care of an excellent SLU squad or the guys who choked last weekend?  

I really want to believe the former.  The thing is we don't have to guess.  They'll show us.

[marty]

I have a feeling we'll be watching championship weekends praying that a team in the top 14 of PWR wins the Hockey East, Big 10 and NCHC tourneys

We'll see.  We're not in a deep hole and I firmly believe we will make it to Lake Placid where anything can happen.  The question is are they the guys who took care of an excellent SLU squad or the guys who choked last weekend?  

I really want to believe the former.  The thing is we don't have to guess.  They'll show us.

And the up side is that when they "show us" some of us will be watching division one college hockey. I've always enjoyed watching a good hockey game.  ;-)

[Jim Hyla]

Up to 13 and back in the NCAAs.

[CU2007]

Is there any benefit (Pairwise speaking) to finishing fifth in the league and picking up two extra (seemingly easy) wins? I understand the benefit of a bye week and home ice in the quarterfinals, just kind of brain storming.

[nshapiro]

Is there some reason that the RPIs on the USCHO pairwise page are different from the RPIs on the RPI Page?

[ugarte]

Is there any benefit (Pairwise speaking) to finishing fifth in the league and picking up two extra (seemingly easy) wins? I understand the benefit of a bye week and home ice in the quarterfinals, just kind of brain storming.

A FEW TOO MANY ASSUMPTIONS BAKED INTO THIS QUESTION FOR MY HEART!

[andyw2100]

Is there any benefit (Pairwise speaking) to finishing fifth in the league and picking up two extra (seemingly easy) wins? I understand the benefit of a bye week and home ice in the quarterfinals, just kind of brain storming.

There may be "seemingly easy" wins, but there are no "easy wins."

Also finishing high enough to get the bye, vs finishing in 5th place has improved pairwise results built in. I'll take the bye!

[ursusminor]

Is there any benefit (Pairwise speaking) to finishing fifth in the league and picking up two extra (seemingly easy) wins? I understand the benefit of a bye week and home ice in the quarterfinals, just kind of brain storming.

Considering how bad the records of RPI and Brown, one of which will likely be 12th, are. I doubt that those wins would be worth much.