Bracketology for 2020 NCAAs

[billhoward]

Unfortunately, the NC$$ is driven primarily by money. If it were otherwise, ....

Seems like an unnecessary qualifier. It's all about three things:
* The money
* Prefacing athlete with student and keeping a straight face when talking about, say, Louisville basketball
* Nice hotels for officialdom at tournaments and off-season conferences

[billhoward]

State College is 164 miles from Allentown. Seems to me quite a bit different than Providence playing a few miles from its campus.

That actually makes me feel a lot better.  Thank you.  I thought they were closer. That's the distance from Ithaca to Albany.  We'll be fine.

Ithaca distances to driveable regionals:

167 Albany
181 Allentown
293 Worcester

First two can be day trips for Ithacans. I hope Cornell sets up buses for students and EV owners.

All three are day-trip distances from metro New York. You go out day one. If we have the early game on day one, you have the option if things go well to do a last-minute hotel if there is a second game for Cornell, and if not, shed tears on the drive back and still be  home by midnight.

I like to think Worcester would more likely go to the 1-seed from New England so their semi-loyal fans don't have to drive so far. This if BC can be the fourth 1-seed as the only strong Hockey East team this year.

Does the Cornell team fear Penn State, or is it just those of us here online? Will we be more confident if we take down Penn State lax this Saturday?

There is so much what-iffing on this thread (me, guilty, too) that it was nice to see a just-the-facts scenario laid out by Adam Wodon in his CHN  column. It does feel like Allentown or Albany is where we'll go barring, say, being swept in the ECAC QFs.

[billhoward]

Does anybody from Cornell have the opinion that Providence played better on that day last spring?

[billhoward]

Is it now time for the annual conversation about how endowments work?

Hosting a hockey regional is just like anything else you want Cornell to do that they don't already do. Someone external needs to come up with the money, the will, and the way of getting it done, and they might consider it.

Cornell has over a billion in the general purpose fund. Someone in Athletics can make a pitch to the Trustees.

People in the athletics department who are, or believe they are, fully engaged, won't jump at the opportunity to do more work on the chance that Cornell qualifies for the NCAAs and that not being sent west improves the likely outome for the hockey team. The other advantage is that more Cornell fans go to an Albany, Bridgeport, Providence, Worcester or Allentown event than someplace in Michigan or the Rockies.

[Jim Hyla]

Unfortunately, the NC$$ is driven primarily by money. If it were otherwise, to level the playing field hosting teams making the tournament would automatically be located away from the host city. If the school is enthusiastic enough to host the event, its supporters should be enthusiastic enough to travel to the event.

So let me get this straight. You want CU to host a regional, in say Binghamton. Then you want the team sent to Manchester, so that all the fans leave Ithaca.

And CU's supposed to take the risk and make money on that.

I'll take the bet against that, if you'll take the bet for it.

[Dafatone]

Do we need hosts? Is the Frozen Four "hosted"?

[Weder]

Do we need hosts? Is the Frozen Four "hosted"?

Yes.

[ugarte]

do i want cornell in albany, where i have a place to stay for free? or in allentown, which turns out to be a closer drive. hmm

[RichH]

Do we need hosts? Is the Frozen Four "hosted"?

The FF is most definitely hosted.

This year's hosts are Michigan State and Detroit Sports Commission. The University of Wisconsin hosted the most recent FF in Tampa. The University of Alaska Anchorage hosted the first Frozen Four I attended in Anaheim, CA.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

Is it now time for the annual conversation about how endowments work?

Hosting a hockey regional is just like anything else you want Cornell to do that they don't already do. Someone external needs to come up with the money, the will, and the way of getting it done, and they might consider it.

Cornell has over a billion in the general purpose fund. Someone in Athletics can make a pitch to the Trustees.

I nominate Greg.

I'm obnoxious and disliked, did you know that?

I hadn't heard.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

State College is 164 miles from Allentown. Seems to me quite a bit different than Providence playing a few miles from its campus.

That actually makes me feel a lot better.  Thank you.  I thought they were closer. That's the distance from Ithaca to Albany.  We'll be fine.

Ithaca distances to driveable regionals:

167 Albany
181 Allentown
293 Worcester

And let me tell you, getting from Ithaca to Albany is a lot more straightforward than getting from State College to Allentown.

[Iceberg]

Albany to Ithaca is one of the easiest drives ever. I've done it in a little over 2.5 hours without being pulled over (I-88 often has several state troopers)

[billhoward]

Do we need hosts? Is the Frozen Four "hosted"?

Yes.

Cripe! As per the link, the 2021 regional sites are:

East, Bridgeport (hosts Yale, Sacred Heart) - 250 miles
Midwest, Fargo (N Dakota) - 1300 miles
NEast, Manchester (UNH) - 400 miles
West, Loveland CO [same site as this year] (Denver) - 1640 miles

FINALS Pittsburgh (Sports Pittsburgh) - 340 miles

... so only Bridgeport is a reasonable drive.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

do i want Cornell in Albany, where i have a place to stay for free? or in Allentown, which turns out to be a closer drive. hmm

I have places to stay for free in both Allentown and Worcester.  I'll even get free food in Worcester since my sister will cook  ::whistle::   But I'd still be perfectly happy going to Albany.

And for those worrying about PPL Center being full of Penn State Fans, as of now it looks like there have been very few tickets sold.  Most of the lower bowl (other than those sections being reserved for the schools) and much of the upper sections are still available for both sessions.  So either the Penn State alumni aren't interested or they don't understand that Penn State is likely guaranteed to be playing there.  But they are advertising it at the Phantoms games and on both the Phantoms and Flyers broadcasts, so if there are general hockey fans who are also Penn State alums, they should be aware of it.

Lastly, when Penn State played Princeton in Philly in 2018, the attendance was about 8500.  So they don't bring the numbers like we do at MSG even in Philly.  And the last time they were in the NCAAs in Allentown (2018), the semifinal attendance was 7500 in an arena that seats 8500 plus.  So I don't think this will be as much of a Penn State home game as people are making out.

[Swampy]

Let me just clarify a few things:
[list=1]

• I am simply arguing that home-ice advantage goes beyond the number of fans who show up at the event. In particular, easy access to home athletic support systems can confer a huge advantage.


• Trying to figure out a way to negate this unfair advantage, I initially proposed (at 09:12) requiring the host teams to play at "foreign" sites, like everyone else does. Then (at 10:18) I rethought what I said in my earlier post and proposed instead (what I currently think is) a better solution. Currently, even the home teams have to stay in hotels for the weekend: they're forbidden from sleeping in their usual digs. So I proposed extending this to forbidding all teams from using any athletics-related facilities that are not available to all teams participating in the event. If enforced, this would solve, for example, the problem of, say, BU hosting the event but Harvard going back to Bright between games to pop steroids behind the stands. :-P
  
  
• Marty, I'm not sure what you're asking. Yes, the PC team slept in a hotel. But they also went back to campus where they could use the "coaches offices, shooting room, ... meeting rooms, athletic training room, ... video boards, video ribbon boards, ... and a strength and conditioning facility" at Schneider Arena, or they could go over to the Ruane Athletic Development Center where they could use:
  

  sleep pods, flotation pools, cryogenic therapy, electronic massage, body fat testing, plus access to sports psychologists, team doctors, and x-ray machines when needed. In short, whether it is sleep, hydration, nutrition, or mental health, the athletic staff is clearly taking a holistic approach to meeting the needs of their student athletes.

  The article also mentions:
  

  .. two practice [basketball] courts that are being recorded at all times. That means the coaching staff ... [can] integrate everything they are doing from a technology standpoint. When a play happens during practice, the team is immediately able to review it, as the live feed is processed to multiple computers and screens instantaneously, including one big screen that is mounted to the wall next to the court. This also [sic..allows] the staff to not just tell the players what corrections they need to make, but literally show them on screen without having to leave the court or interrupt the flow of practice.
  

  Schneider Arena was renovated in 2013, and I wouldn't be surprised if by now similar technology has been installed there. Imagine the advantage if you give up a goal on the PK in your first game and then can go over to campus for an hour practice where you can study what you did and then work on correcting it.
  
  
• Bill, you make good points. I also appreciate Adam's clear, intelligent writing on college hockey. I was just pointing out that fan base in only one advantage local teams -- not just hosts -- have, and perhaps it's not even the most important one.

And yes, Providence did play better that day. They whupped us. The question is how did they do it? There probably are a bunch of answers to this question that are legitimate and deserve a tip of the hat from us, but we'll never know if an hour in cryogenic therapy or a film session on ice, for example, didn't confer an unfair advantage that was unavailable to the other teams. I'm simply arguing (a) not to ignore such advantages (I'm looking at you, Adam) and (b) to find ways to minimize such unfair advantages.

• Bill's point about 2021 is also a good one. But it highlights the inherent advantage New England teams have. For a long time New England and Minnesota were the hotbeds of hockey, and this led to them having several schools with strong hockey traditions. Now there's a fan base and, especially in New England, relatively short distances and lots of schools that can host with little financial risk (if the committee chooses wisely which schools it sends to the venue). This is an inherent geo-historical advantage that probably won't ever be overcome, at least not in our lifetimes. I just think we shouldn't ignore it, and where possible those who govern the sport should do everything possible to minimize unfair advantages.