NCAA regionals: Cornell-UNH @ Amherst (Bracketology column)

[billhoward]

This week's USCHO speculation on NCAA seedings (Bracketology, http://www.uscho.com/news/2005/02/21_010036.php ) starts with Cornell as the No. 3 seed overall, meaning one of the four No. 1 regional seeds, and playing this group:

First pass:
Northeast regional, Amherst (on a 200x195 rink)
Dartmouth vs. Cornell
Harvard vs. Michigan

Revised first pass to avoid conference matchups in the first round:
Bemidji State vs. Cornell
UNH vs. Michigan

Second pass applying bonus points for "good" road, neutral, and home wins drops Cornell from No. 3 overall to No. 6 overall but in Jason Moy's analsis still has Cornell in Amherst:

(With bonus for good wins)
1 Denver
2 Colorado College
3 Boston College
4 Minnesota
5 Michigan
6 Cornell
7 Boston University
8 Massachusetts-Lowell
9 New Hampshire
10 Wisconsin
11 Ohio State
12 Harvard
13 North Dakota
14 Colgate
15 Bemidji State
16 Sacred Heart


First pass:
Colgate vs. Boston College
Ohio State vs. Cornell

Second pass to resolve other conflicts:
North Dakota vs. Boston College
UNH vs. Cornell

Applying a stronger bonus for the quality wins, Cornell stays sixth overall (but Colgate falls out and Dartmouth falls back in), still in the Northeast (in JM's estimation), and with this partnering:

Dartmouth vs. Colorado College
Ohio State vs. Cornell

And one final shuffling to avoid some problems elsewhere:
Bemidji State vs. Boston College
UNH vs. Cornell

Playing in Worcester would be slightly better than Amherst (tighter rink) and it's only an hour's drive farther, but then you don't have Smith and Mt. Holyoke in your backyard that weekend. I kind of like the three Ivy schools plus Michigan in one bracket; it's never gonna happen, but that would let Cornell settle a couple Ivy/ECAC scores and then show Al Montoya a thing or two about defense and goaltending. Do we really want to play UNH, or do we figure that jinx can't run forever? Ohio State may not go all the way, but it's going to have incentive since the Final Four is in Columbus.

[edit fixing typo in subject line]

[jeh25]

[Q]billhoward Wrote:
Playing in Worcester would be slightly better than Amherst (tighter rink) and it's only an hour's drive farther, but then you don't have Smith and Mt. Holyoke in your backyard that weekend.
[/q]

...or my hot tub. That, and the Centrum is an absolute dump.  ::yark::

[billhoward]

The Centrum was a monstrous palace for those who lived in the orbit of the Springfield Mass. Civic Center. Or at least it was back when WAAF was the rock 'n' roll air force and we all yearned to shop at Spags for cheap apparel. And its roof never caved in, unlike Hartford.

Either place in Mass. beats getting on a plane. Well, you can get to Minneapolis fairly cheaply (just so long as you don't start your trip in Ithaca or Syracuse). And when you land the Northwest flight attendant person is going to start the departure spiel, "We recognize you have a choice in air travel ... " Not into MSP or PIT or DTW you don't unless you have a fractional share in a Citation.

Mercy on your soul if you have to fly into Grand Rapids. Ain't gonna be cheap.

Isn't Grand Rapids where Dick Bertrand '70 is living now?

[DeltaOne81]

[Q]jeh25 Wrote:

 [Q2]billhoward Wrote:
Playing in Worcester would be slightly better than Amherst (tighter rink) and it's only an hour's drive farther, but then you don't have Smith and Mt. Holyoke in your backyard that weekend.
[/Q]
...or my hot tub. That, and the Centrum is an absolute dump.[/q]
How is the Centrum a dump? Yeah, its not a new multi-hundred million dollar, NHL style palace, but its a perfectly clean, moderately sized, roomy enough minor league arena, similar to Albany (which again isn't great, but isn't a dump).

[Rosey]

[Q]billhoward Wrote:

Northeast regional, Amherst (on a 200x195 rink)
[/q]

200x195!  Man, the D's gonna have a bad weekend... :-)

Kyle

[ninian '72]

I'd rather see Cornell play Michigan than Ohio State.  Granted, Michigan is loaded with some dangerous, creative forwards and has a ton of experience (10 seniors), but their wide-open style game is vulnerable to good defense.  When Ohio State beat them earlier in the year, they kept three and sometimes four skaters at home, playing good positional defense to neutralize Michigan's speed.  Just watched the Friday Michigan - Notre Dame game last night, and although it was a Michigan rout, Montoya did get suckered out of position a few times and gave up one of the few Notre Dame goals as a result.  He can be very good, but his mobile, wide-ranging style can be costly when he makes a mistake.  Ohio State plays a more defense-oriented game and will probably do a better job matching Cornell's strengths.

[jeh25]

[Q]DeltaOne81 Wrote:

  its not a new multi-hundred million dollar, NHL style palace, but its a perfectly clean, moderately sized[/q]

I don't expect the Ritz but c'mon, is it too much to ask for concrete walls that don't leave mold stains on your clothes and bathrooms that don't stink like month old piss?

[Scersk '97]

[Q]ninian '72 Wrote:
Ohio State plays a more defense-oriented game and will probably do a better job matching Cornell's strengths.[/q]

(The) Ohio State is also one of the few clubs that can match us in special teams.

Combined Special Teams:         Totals           PCT
  1 Cornell                    167/285          58.6
  2 Ohio State                 285/506          56.3
  3 Colgate                    217/392          55.4
  4 Colorado College           208/379          54.9
  5 Northern Michigan          225/411          54.7
  6 Dartmouth                  160/295          54.2
  7 Alab-Huntsville            189/350          54.0
  8 Mercyhurst                 227/421          53.9
  9 Quinnipiac                 200/371          53.9
 10 Wisconsin                  198/371          53.4
 11 Boston College             206/387          53.2

From:  http://www.collegehockeystats.net/0405/national/d1m

Notice that Denver, Minnesota, Michigan, BU, and UNH are not on that list.  I figure that the teams above are the most dangerous teams for us to play since I think we can hold any team 5 on 5.  If a team shuts down our power play, though, we're in trouble.

[djs]

[Q]billhoward Wrote:

Playing in Worcester would be slightly better than Amherst (tighter rink) and it's only an hour's drive farther, but then you don't have Smith and Mt. Holyoke in your backyard that weekend.

[/q]

Personally, I'd take Holy Cross girls over MoHo and Smith girls any day.  However, Amherst does have Rafters which has some of the best wings I've had at a place not called Duff's or Anchor Bar.

I'm also very curious to see where BU, BC and UNH end up.  Each of those schools has the potential to fill an arena with their fans.  I just hope that if we end up with one or more of them with us in Amherst/Worcester that enough Ithacans make the drive out.

[CowbellGuy]

Sorry, I missed the memo where BC had fans.

[DeltaOne81]

[Q]djs Wrote:
I'm also very curious to see where BU, BC and UNH end up.  Each of those schools has the potential to fill an arena with their fans.  I just hope that if we end up with one or more of them with us in Amherst/Worcester that enough Ithacans make the drive out.[/q]
There are plenty of us alums in the Boston area too. I can't necessary say that we'll out number a huge school within a couple hours driving distance, but I'm sure we'll hold our own.

[Pete Godenschwager]

I think we definately outnumbered the BC fans in Providence two years back.

[jtwcornell91]

[Q]CowbellGuy Wrote:

 Sorry, I missed the memo where BC had fans.[/q]

The have Superfans.

[Josh '99]

[Q]jtwcornell91 Wrote:
 [Q2]CowbellGuy Wrote:
 Sorry, I missed the memo where BC had fans.[/Q]
The have Superfans.[/q]Actually, I believe that's "Supahfans".  ::rolleyes::

[Mark]

If BU makes the NCAA field, they'll definitely be playing in Worcester, since they're hosting the event.