Bracketology Starts

[Chris '03]

Bracketology: This week's movement shows Penn State in, Omaha out

I'd suspect quite the crowd for Allentown.

Oh, great, now there's two regional hosts who might get de facto home games against unlucky much higher seeds.

This is such a fucked-up system!!

I have a feeling our attendance would be significantly higher than psu. I would take it.

I have the opposite feeling. It'd probably be a fun atmosphere. But just win, baby.

[adamw]

Oh yeah - this is the area where I usually give Jim grief, not the polls .... I just cannot stand - for decades at this point - the idea of posting "bracketology" articles based on "what it would be if the season ended today" - because ...... it doesn't end today.  I don't see the point in the exercise.

But by all means - keep posting it - don't mean to stop you

FWIW ... I posted an article yesterday where, as I do each year, just write about the different possibilities and caveats. I do make a projection, but at least it's based upon The Matrix, which plays out the rest of the season.

So - have at it.

https://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2018/02/27_Bracket-ABCs-Late-February.php

[Trotsky]

Bracketology: This week's movement shows Penn State in, Omaha out

I'd suspect quite the crowd for Allentown.

Oh, great, now there's two regional hosts who might get de facto home games against unlucky much higher seeds.

This is such a fucked-up system!!

I have a feeling our attendance would be significantly higher than psu. I would take it.

I have the opposite feeling. It'd probably be a fun atmosphere. But just win, baby.

Good question.  No idea whether Pedo State travels for hockey.

As Beeeej said it's a fucked up system.  If we're going to worry so much about $$$ that we cheat for the hosts to ensure attendance I'd rather just chuck the regionals and go to a straight 16 team field with the 1R and QF at home sites best-of-3, no worries about intraconference.  There has never been a men's NC$$ game at Lynah.

By the current Bracketology field that would be:

16 Mercyhurst at 1 St. Cloud State
15 Boston College at 2 Notre Dame
14 North Dakota at 3 Cornell
13 Penn State at 4 Mankato
12 Providence at 5 Denver
11 Northeastern at 6 Ohio State
10 Michigan at 7 Clarkson
9 Minnesota at 8 Minnesota Duluth

With chalk the QF would be:

8 Minnesota Duluth at 1 St. Cloud State
7 Clarkson at 2 Notre Dame
6 Ohio State  at 3 Cornell
5 Denver at 4 Mankato

[adamw]

Good question.  No idea whether Pedo State travels for hockey.

They don't need to travel so much as that there's bazillions of sports-crazed Penn State grads littered throughout the state. When Penn State has games at the Wells Fargo Center (the big arena in Philly) there are usually about 10,000 Penn State people there going nuts, even though it's 3 hours away. And it's not travelling students.

Plus, Penn State has had a head start on ticket sales, knowing they are going to be there (if they make it).  That said, Cornell fans have a much greater opportunity to buy tix and travel to Allentown than Sioux Falls.  And as good as Penn State's following may be in Pennsylvania, it would not match the sheer lunacy of North Dakota fans - who have already sold out Sioux Falls and will be loud. Heck, North Dakota got 8,000 people or so to show up for a mid-season game in New York City.

[Trotsky]

Good question.  No idea whether Pedo State travels for hockey.

They don't need to travel so much as that there's bazillions of sports-crazed Penn State grads littered throughout the state. When Penn State has games at the Wells Fargo Center (the big arena in Philly) there are usually about 10,000 Penn State people there going nuts, even though it's 3 hours away. And it's not travelling students.

Plus, Penn State has had a head start on ticket sales, knowing they are going to be there (if they make it).  That said, Cornell fans have a much greater opportunity to buy tix and travel to Allentown than Sioux Falls.  And as good as Penn State's following may be in Pennsylvania, it would not match the sheer lunacy of North Dakota fans - who have already sold out Sioux Falls and will be loud. Heck, North Dakota got 8,000 people or so to show up for a mid-season game in New York City.

The Sioux are North Dakota's only professional sports team.  Their travel contingent is the equivalent of Packers or Vikings fans.  It's amazing.  Minny and Wisco are impressive but NoDak has to be the most crazy travel contingent I've ever seen.

Point taken on Pedo State.  We don't need any of that if we can avoid it by getting to Worcester or Bridgeport.

But for the moment, just win baby.  "You gotta take it one game at a time and the Good Lord willing things will work out."

[Tcl123]

Random question (as I was not there that year):

How was the penn state turn out for the msg game vs Cornell a few years ago? In regards to percentage of crowd.

[adamw]

Point taken on Pedo State.  We don't need any of that if we can avoid it by getting to Worcester or Bridgeport.

If I'm Cornell, I prefer Allentown.  For one, Penn State might not even make it.  For two, it's much closer from Ithaca or NYC to Allentown than Worcester/Bridgeport is.  Don't worry about the PSU fans.  Cornell can flood the place just the same, if it wants to.  And if it can't, then shame on the Faithful.

[ugarte]

Bracketology: This week's movement shows Penn State in, Omaha out

I'd suspect quite the crowd for Allentown.

Oh, great, now there's two regional hosts who might get de facto home games against unlucky much higher seeds.

This is such a fucked-up system!!

I have a feeling our attendance would be significantly higher than psu. I would take it.

you do not know penn state. they are huge and they are dedicated if the program is any good. if we play penn state at the garden again it will be MUCH harder to get tickets now that the program is more established.

[marty]

Oh yeah - this is the area where I usually give Jim grief, not the polls .... I just cannot stand - for decades at this point - the idea of posting "bracketology" articles based on "what it would be if the season ended today" - because ...... it doesn't end today.  I don't see the point in the exercise.

But by all means - keep posting it - don't mean to stop you

FWIW ... I posted an article yesterday where, as I do each year, just write about the different possibilities and caveats. I do make a projection, but at least it's based upon The Matrix, which plays out the rest of the season.

So - have at it.

https://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2018/02/27_Bracket-ABCs-Late-February.php

As much as the weekly exercise is futile it is brain exercise for those of us that can't remember all the "rules" from one year to another.

That said I haven't tried to work out brackets yet this year.  And I'm overdue to read Adam's article which my friend (who probably has never seen eLynah) brought to my attention yesterday.

[Tcl123]

Bracketology: This week's movement shows Penn State in, Omaha out

I'd suspect quite the crowd for Allentown.

Oh, great, now there's two regional hosts who might get de facto home games against unlucky much higher seeds.

This is such a fucked-up system!!

I have a feeling our attendance would be significantly higher than psu. I would take it.

you do not know penn state. they are huge and they are dedicated if the program is any good. if we play penn state at the garden again it will be MUCH harder to get tickets now that the program is more established.

I'm friends with close to a dozen psu alum. They are all football nuts. When it comes to their hockey team, I am the one keeping them informed. They are all clueless on how their hockey team is doing.

I follow Cornell hockey more than any other Cornell sport (as many here also do), but I know what  other teams are doing well and, more commonly, not so well.

[French Rage]

Bracketology: This week's movement shows Penn State in, Omaha out

I'd suspect quite the crowd for Allentown.

Oh, great, now there's two regional hosts who might get de facto home games against unlucky much higher seeds.

This is such a fucked-up system!!

I have a feeling our attendance would be significantly higher than psu. I would take it.

I have the opposite feeling. It'd probably be a fun atmosphere. But just win, baby.

I dunno, Penn State's pretty good at looking the other way when something important is happening right in their backyard.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

Bracketology: This week's movement shows Penn State in, Omaha out

I'd suspect quite the crowd for Allentown.

Oh, great, now there's two regional hosts who might get de facto home games against unlucky much higher seeds.

This is such a fucked-up system!!

I have a feeling our attendance would be significantly higher than psu. I would take it.

you do not know penn state. they are huge and they are dedicated if the program is any good. if we play penn state at the garden again it will be MUCH harder to get tickets now that the program is more established.

I'm friends with close to a dozen psu alum. They are all football nuts. When it comes to their hockey team, I am the one keeping them informed. They are all clueless on how their hockey team is doing.

I follow Cornell hockey more than any other Cornell sport (as many here also do), but I know what  other teams are doing well and, more commonly, not so well.

I'll echo that.  I work with quite a few PSU alums.   They know the hockey team is doing "well."  But would they lay out money to follow them?  Not so much.  the ones that might are already hockey fans (Flyers, Phantoms) and might go because they already like hockey.  Which is also true for some of the non-PSU Phantoms fans I know.

[dbilmes]

Random question (as I was not there that year):

How was the penn state turn out for the msg game vs Cornell a few years ago? In regards to percentage of crowd.

The Penn State crowd was not big. The breakdown was approximately 70-30 for Cornell.

[LGR14]

PSU sells every single one of its games.  I'm not sure why all of you think that they won't attend an NCAA regional being hosted on their own campus.  The MSG game was on the same day as the biggest football game of the year.  Football season is over.

[Trotsky]

PSU sells every single one of its games.  I'm not sure why all of you think that they won't attend an NCAA regional being hosted on their own campus.

Allentown is 175 miles from State College.  The same distance as Ithaca.