First, let's talk about the changes in this weeks PWR. There were no changes within the top 4 overall seeds in the tournament. It still goes Miami, Denver, Wisconsin, and St. Cloud State despite St. Cloud being absolutely demolished by North Dakota on Saturday night. Maine took a HUGE fall in the rankings over the weekend when they were swept at Boston University this weekend. Maine fell from 7th overall to 17th, and out of the tournament. UMass also took a big hit going from 9th to 15th and barely still in the tournament. Yale took the biggest step forward this weekend. They beat Cornell and Colgate and went from the outside looking in, to 9th overall in the pairwise.
Let's get this thing started.
Step 1: Pick the 16 Tournament teams
1. Miami
2. Denver
3. Wisconsin
4. St. Cloud State
5. Bemidji State
6. Boston College
7. Colorado Collge
8. Yale
9. Minnesota-Duluth
10. New Hampshire
11. Michigan State
12. Vermont
13. North Dakota
14. Cornell
15. UMass
16. Atlantic Hockey Winner
Bubble Teams (Ferris State, Maine, Alaska, Boston University, Northeastern, Union)
Step 2: Assign the Seeds
No. 1 Seeds: Miami, Denver, Wisconsin, St. Cloud
No. 2 Seeds: Bemidji, Boston College, Colorado College, Yale
No. 3 Seeds: Minnesota-Duluth, New Hampshire, Michigan State, Vermont
No. 4 Seeds: North Dakota, Cornell, UMass, Atlantic Hockey Winner
Step 3: Place number 1 seeds in regionals
Number 1 seeds are placed based on proximity to regional site.
No. 1 Miami is placed in the Mid-West regional in Fort Wayne
No. 2 Denver is placed in the West regional in St. Paul
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 Colorado College is placed in No. 2 Denver's Regional, the West Regional.
No. 6 Boston College 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 New Hampshire is placed in No. 7 Colorado College's, the West Regional.
No. 11 Michigan State is placed in No. 6 Boston College's Regional, the East Regional.
No. 12 Vermont 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 Miami's Regional, the Midwest Regional.
No. 15 UMass is sent to No. 2 Denver's Regional, the West Regional.
No. 14 Cornell is sent to No. 3 Wisconsin's Regional, the East Regional.
No. 13 North Dakota is sent to No. 4 St. Cloud's Regional, the Northeast Regional.
Our Bracket as we have it set up:
Midwest Regional:
1 Miami vs 16 Atlantic Hockey Champ
8 Yale vs 9 Minnesota-Duluth
West Regional:
2 Denver vs 15 UMass
7 Colorado College vs 10 New Hampshire
East Regional:
3 Wisconsin vs 14 Cornell
6 Boston College vs 11 Michigan State
Northeast Regional:
4 St. Cloud State vs 13 North Dakota
5 Bemidji vs 12 Vermont
Our first concern is to avoid inter-conference first round match ups. We have one with St. Cloud and North Dakota. With three WCHA teams as number one seeds, the only place to switch out North Dakota is with the Atlantic Hockey Champion.
So our new tournament now is:
Midwest Regional:
1 Miami vs 13 North Dakota
8 Yale vs 9 Minnesota-Duluth
West Regional:
2 Denver vs 15 UMass
7 Colorado College vs 10 New Hampshire
East Regional:
3 Wisconsin vs 14 Cornell
6 Boston College vs 11 Michigan State
Northeast Regional:
4 St. Cloud State vs 16 Atlantic Hockey Champ
5 Bemidji vs 12 Vermont
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 regionals. By moving Denver out of St. Paul, only tow 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:
Midwest Regional:
1 Miami vs 13 North Dakota
8 Yale vs 9 Minnesota-Duluth
West Regional:
4 St. Cloud State vs 16 Atlantic Hockey Champ
5 Bemidji vs 12 Vermont
East Regional:
3 Wisconsin vs 14 Cornell
6 Boston College vs 11 Michigan State
Northeast Regional:
2 Denver vs 15 UMass
7 Colorado College vs 10 New Hampshire
I like that bracket a LOT better. Now we have Miami and North Dakota in Fort Wayne, St. Cloud and Bemidji State in St. Paul, Cornell and Boston College in Albany, and UMass 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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