Well, considering our play in Friday nights game, salvaging a split on Saturday doesn't make me feel so bad about things. We certainly still have some question marks though. Most notable in between the pipes.Looking at the PWR, Wisconsin wasn't affected too much, but there was a change at the top over the weekend. Top seeded Miami fell to #2 after a loss to future WCHA member Nebraska-Omaha on Saturday night. Denver, with their sweep over Michigan Tech moved into the top spot in the PWR.
Other big changes in the PWR this week include Colorado College going all the way from 7th overall to out of the tournament in the course of one weekend. They were swept by Minnesota and took a nasty fall. North Dakota took a major step forward over the weekend when they swept Minnesota Duluth and moved up from #13 to #8.
Let's get this thing started.
Step 1: Pick the 16 Tournament teams
1. Denver
2. Miami
3. Wisconsin
4. St. Cloud State
5. Bemidji State
6. Yale
7. Boston College
8. North Dakota
9. New Hampshire
10. Michigan State
11. Alaska
12. Minnesota-Duluth
13. Ferris State
14. Cornell
15. Union
16. Atlantic Hockey Winner
Bubble Teams (Maine, Colorado College, Vermont, Boston University, Northern Michigan, Nebraska-Omaha)
Step 2: Assign the Seeds
No. 1 Seeds: Denver, Miami, Wisconsin, St. Cloud
No. 2 Seeds: Bemidji, Yale, Boston College, North Dakota
No. 3 Seeds: New Hampshire, Michigan State, Alaska, Minnesota Duluth
No. 4 Seeds: Ferris State, Cornell, Union, Atlantic Hockey Winner
Step 3: Place number 1 seeds in regionals
Number 1 seeds are placed based on proximity to regional site.
No. 1 Denver is placed in the West regional in St. Paul
No. 2 Miami is placed in the Mid-West regional in Fort Wayne
No. 3 Wisconsin is placed in the East regional in Albany
No. 4 St. Cloud State is placed in Northeast regional in Worchester
Step 4: Place the other 12 teams avoiding inter-conference match ups if possible
Begin by filling in each bracket by banding groups. Remember that teams are not assigned to the regional closest to their campus sites by ranking order within the banding.
If this is the case, then the committee should seed so that the quarterfinals are seeded such that the four regional championships are played by No. 1 v. No. 8, No. 2 v. No. 7, No. 3 v. No. 6 and No. 4 v. No. 5.
Number 2 Seeds:
No. 7 Boston College is placed in No. 2 Miami's Regional, the Mid-West Regional.
No. 6 Yale is placed in No. 3 Wisconsin's Regional, the East Regional.
No. 5 Bemidji State is placed in No. 4 St. Cloud's Regional, the Northeast Regional.
Number 3 Seeds:
Our bracketing system has one Regional containing seeds 1, 8, 9, and 16, another with 2, 7, 10, 15, another with 3, 6, 11, 14 and another with 4, 5, 12 and 13.
No. 10 Michigan State is placed in No. 7 Boston College's Regional, the Mid-West Regional.
No. 11 Alaska is placed in No. 6 Yale's Regional, the East Regional.
No. 12 Minnesota-Duluth is placed in No. 5 Bemidji State's Regional, the Northeast Regional.
Number 4 seeds:
One more time, taking No. 16 v. No. 1, No. 15 v. No. 2, etc.
No. 16 Atlantic Hockey Winner is sent to No. 1 Denver's Regional, the West Regional.
No. 15 Union is sent to No. 2 Miami's Regional, the Mid-West Regional.
No. 14 Cornell is sent to No. 3 Wisconsin's Regional, the East Regional.
No. 13 Ferris State is sent to No. 4 St. Cloud's Regional, the Northeast Regional.
Our Bracket as we have it set up:
West Regional:
1 Denver vs 16 Atlantic Hockey Champ
8 North Dakota vs 9 New Hampshire
Midwest Regional:
2 Miami vs 15 Union
7 Boston College vs 10 Michigan State
East Regional:
3 Wisconsin vs 14 Cornell
6 Yale vs 11 Alaska
Northeast Regional:
4 St. Cloud State vs 13 Ferris State
5 Bemidji vs 12 Minnesota Duluth
Our first concern is to avoid inter-conference first round match ups. We none for the first time all season.
So how does it look? We have no inter-conference match-ups. Integrity also looks good. We do have some attendance issues. As it stands, we currently have three number 1 seeds that need to fly to their regional. By moving Denver out of St. Paul, only two number 2 seeds need to fly. Attendance would be much better if we switch out Denver's "pod" with St. Cloud's "pod."
So our FINAL tournament now is:
Northeast Regional (Worchester, MA):
1 Denver vs 16 Atlantic Hockey Champ
8 North Dakota vs 9 New Hampshire
Midwest Regional (Fort Wayne, IN):
2 Miami vs 15 Union
7 Boston College vs 10 Michigan State
East Regional (Albany, NY):
3 Wisconsin vs 14 Cornell
6 Yale vs 11 Alaska
West Regional (St. Paul, MN):
4 St. Cloud State vs 13 Ferris State
5 Bemidji vs 12 Minnesota Duluth
I like that bracket a LOT better. Now we have Miami in Fort Wayne, St. Cloud, Bemidji State and Minnesota-Duluth in St. Paul, Cornell, Yale, and Wisconsin in Albany, and North Dakota and New Hampshire in Worchester.
That's my bracket for the week. We'll see what Jayson Moy from USCHO comes up with during the week.
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