Bracketology for 2020 NCAAs

[billhoward]

It would be nice to avoid Pedo State in Allentown.

And it would be nice if you stopped calling it that.

Be nicer if Penn State felt remorse and contrition for longer than a freshman stays at Kentucky playing basketball.

[billhoward]

It would be nice to avoid Pedo State in Allentown.

And it would be nice if you stopped calling it that.

You know what would have been even nicer?

+1

[upprdeck]

It becomes even worse i suppose if Minn Duluth becomes the 4.  Then would they really move 2 of then east and leave Denver to play at home and make 2 higher seeded teams come east?  

But if Denver wins out how far up the PWR do they move?

2 losses could have knocked PSU out or down to 12-13ish but the b10 format means they only at worst can lose 1 game.

[Swampy]

It would be nice to avoid Pedo State in Allentown.

Do we imbue Penn State with greater powers than they have? They have failed to win 14 of their 34 games. Tambroni is not coaching hockey. In Albany the bracket du jour would allow only Cornell or Clarkson to get to the FF. I'd like to reprise 1970 in the finals. See if Kaldis is up to a third period hat trick.

I've had quite enough of playing teams at "neutral" sites in their backyard.

If only there was some way Cornell could host a regional and guarantee it stays local. Maybe there's a long list of schools that want to host and we have to wait for a chance.

Regional competition for the DI Men's Ice Hockey Championship will take place March 27-29 at four regional sites. For 2020, the East regional has been awarded to the Times Union Center in Albany, New York, and will be hosted by ECAC Hockey on March 28-29, while the Northeast regional will be held March 27-28 at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts, with Holy Cross serving as the host. The Midwest regional will be hosted by Penn State on March 28-29 at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania, while Denver will be the host school for the West regional March 27-28 at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, Colorado.

Let me just state the obvious questions. This would imply that at least one ECAC team has the "home team right" in Albany. Is this true or not? And if it's true, how is that home team selected?

[upprdeck]

I thought this just meant it was coordinated by the ECAC as a whole and thus no team got the extra benefit?

As to why the Cornell AD staff doesnt bother to even try some years to be the host , I guess they are too busy in any given years doing something?

[Trotsky]

It would be nice to avoid Pedo State in Allentown.

Do we imbue Penn State with greater powers than they have? They have failed to win 14 of their 34 games. Tambroni is not coaching hockey. In Albany the bracket du jour would allow only Cornell or Clarkson to get to the FF. I'd like to reprise 1970 in the finals. See if Kaldis is up to a third period hat trick.

I've had quite enough of playing teams at "neutral" sites in their backyard.

If only there was some way Cornell could host a regional and guarantee it stays local. Maybe there's a long list of schools that want to host and we have to wait for a chance.

Regional competition for the DI Men's Ice Hockey Championship will take place March 27-29 at four regional sites. For 2020, the East regional has been awarded to the Times Union Center in Albany, New York, and will be hosted by ECAC Hockey on March 28-29, while the Northeast regional will be held March 27-28 at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts, with Holy Cross serving as the host. The Midwest regional will be hosted by Penn State on March 28-29 at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania, while Denver will be the host school for the West regional March 27-28 at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, Colorado.

Let me just state the obvious questions. This would imply that at least one ECAC team has the "home team right" in Albany. Is this true or not? And if it's true, how is that home team selected?

I'm sure someone will clarify but in the meantime IIRC when the ECAC hosts there is no team host.  It gives us no protection.

Were I Cornell I would be hosting every regional in New York State.  Apparently there is expense and time involved and god knows a school with our endowment can't afford to hire one FTE to do nothing but make sure the paperwork gets filed correctly.  Or, I dunno, ask me to do it for free.

[billhoward]

I thought this just meant it was coordinated by the ECAC as a whole and thus no team got the extra benefit?

As to why the Cornell AD staff doesnt bother to even try some years to be the host , I guess they are too busy in any given years doing something?

I assumed Albany got no invididual-college volunteers and Cornell like the others looked at the workoad with no benefit - OTHER THAN EVEN AS A FOUR-SEED CORNELL WOULD STAY LOCAL - and didn't volunteer. We all can remember Cornell hosting an NCAA lax regional ~ 10 years ago and there were a couple screwups like Schoellkopf running out of food at the concession stands.

Maybe the Johnson School could take on Albany or Allentown in a future years as a charity case. Then all the involved students could add a sports-marketing line to their resumes.

[RichH]

If it wasn't for the fact that I'd be scared of losing, I would LOVE to see Cornell-Penn State in the NCAAs. The contrasting coaching philosophy is off the charts interesting.

I like the bracketeers who put Clarkson and Penn State in the 2-3 or 3-2 slots in Allentown, and Cornell in Albany. Gives Cornell the possibility of reprising the 1970 final.

As for not running into Penn State until we have to, I'm sure there's a coach or announcer who's prepped to say if you want to be the best you gotta beat the best.

But I'd rather take them on in Detroit than in Allentown.

If there *is* a Detroit. A friend put it out there a few days ago, and I'm starting to worry.

https://www.yardbarker.com/nhl/articles/coronavirus_could_force_cancellation_of_two_major_hockey_tournaments/s1_14825_31451024

[RichH]

If only there was some way Cornell could host a regional and guarantee it stays local. Maybe there's a long list of schools that want to host and we have to wait for a chance.

Our Athletic Department has never indicated it would even consider lifting a finger to host anything. They can't even host a single hockey game at MSG without outside help, and it's basically the same every year.

[upprdeck]

they could have offered to share hosting with the ECAC. its not like making  the cut was a wild long shot. it probably would have required a few phone calls and maybe a trip or 2 all the way to Albany. Huge schools like Holy Cross figured out a way to do it.  
Probably too  overwhelmed by all the other things that they have going on.

[upprdeck]

its also different hosting a world event with travelers than a US event with travelers.

[Trotsky]

If it wasn't for the fact that I'd be scared of losing, I would LOVE to see Cornell-Penn State in the NCAAs. The contrasting coaching philosophy is off the charts interesting.

I like the bracketeers who put Clarkson and Penn State in the 2-3 or 3-2 slots in Allentown, and Cornell in Albany. Gives Cornell the possibility of reprising the 1970 final.

As for not running into Penn State until we have to, I'm sure there's a coach or announcer who's prepped to say if you want to be the best you gotta beat the best.

But I'd rather take them on in Detroit than in Allentown.

If there *is* a Detroit. A friend put it out there a few days ago, and I'm starting to worry.

https://www.yardbarker.com/nhl/articles/coronavirus_could_force_cancellation_of_two_major_hockey_tournaments/s1_14825_31451024

Don't even, muthafucka.  ::cuss::

[Tom Lento]

they could have offered to share hosting with the ECAC. its not like making  the cut was a wild long shot. it probably would have required a few phone calls and maybe a trip or 2 all the way to Albany. Huge schools like Holy Cross figured out a way to do it.  
Probably too  overwhelmed by all the other things that they have going on.

You're assuming the ECAC would've been willing to shoulder the lion's share of the cost and workload just so one specific member team can get a location benefit for the regionals.

More generally, I suspect you all are grossly under-estimating the potential cost outlay and logistical complexity of organizing an event of this scale. This isn't a family reunion on the Jersey Shore (which, incidentally, is much harder to organize without some local connections), it's a multi-day one-off major sporting event featuring a set of participants from four schools of unknown size and location. Doing logistics management with a few phone calls and one or two site visits is a recipe for disaster.

If Cornell was actually in Albany or Syracuse that'd be one thing, but it isn't (although Syracuse is a more reasonable target if their AHL arena is sufficient for NCAA regional purposes). As much as I'd love to see the home ice advantage for the regional I don't see why Cornell would ever take it on, unless it turns out that it really is a few phone calls and some chance of losing $10k or something. I just can't imagine that's the case.

[marty]

they could have offered to share hosting with the ECAC. its not like making  the cut was a wild long shot. it probably would have required a few phone calls and maybe a trip or 2 all the way to Albany. Huge schools like Holy Cross figured out a way to do it.  
Probably too  overwhelmed by all the other things that they have going on.

What is sad is that a small essentially D3 school, RPI, used to host at Albany.  I don't knock them for giving that up but geez Cornell could do it.

[Trotsky]

they could have offered to share hosting with the ECAC. its not like making  the cut was a wild long shot. it probably would have required a few phone calls and maybe a trip or 2 all the way to Albany. Huge schools like Holy Cross figured out a way to do it.  
Probably too  overwhelmed by all the other things that they have going on.

You're assuming the ECAC would've been willing to shoulder the lion's share of the cost and workload just so one specific member team can get a location benefit for the regionals.

More generally, I suspect you all are grossly under-estimating the potential cost outlay and logistical complexity of organizing an event of this scale. This isn't a family reunion on the Jersey Shore (which, incidentally, is much harder to organize without some local connections), it's a multi-day one-off major sporting event featuring a set of participants from four schools of unknown size and location. Doing logistics management with a few phone calls and one or two site visits is a recipe for disaster.

If Cornell was actually in Albany or Syracuse that'd be one thing, but it isn't (although Syracuse is a more reasonable target if their AHL arena is sufficient for NCAA regional purposes). As much as I'd love to see the home ice advantage for the regional I don't see why Cornell would ever take it on, unless it turns out that it really is a few phone calls and some chance of losing $10k or something. I just can't imagine that's the case.

It's money.  All the effort you can (and should) subcontract to somebody who knows what they are doing (emphatically not the Cornell athletic office).

It's just not a priority for throwing money around.  Budget is politics and driven by trophies that political players can put on their walls.  So you get a faddish initiative or a big grant or you destroy some more of Cornell's greenspace for yet another godawful builiding.  Nobody's going to speak for hosting a hockey tournament that doesn't even include the women.  My god, that Trustees meeting is not something anybody would want to try to speak at.  "I'm sorry, you want to what?"

And that's good.  We're fucked enough in what we pour money into that has nothing to do with our academic mission. We shouldn't be in the SEC business of wasting academic resources on jock bullshit.

It just sucks.