Spring Break Bracketology: Week 17 3/8/11

Apologize for the late bracketology this week, I'm enjoying my spring break.

Despite splitting with Colorado College, Wisconsin dropped two more spots in the PWR this week to #23. The unsettling part to think about is if Wisconsin didn't lose on Friday night they would be sitting at #15 in the PWR right now. The good thing is that Wisconsin has 2 more games against CC this weekend and a sweep puts them right back in contention for an at large bid.

The WCHA didn't gain or drop any bids this week. The WCHA is sitting with 5 at large bids right now with Minnesota-Duluth, North Dakota, Denver, and UNO and Colorado College in as of right now. Minnesota, St Cloud and Wisconsin still have a shot at at large bids but most likely will have to win the Final Five to make it in the tournament.

Step 1: Pick the 16 tournament teams

1. Yale
2. Boston College
3. North Dakota
4. Michigan
5. Denver
6. Union
7. Nebraska-Omaha
8. Merrimack
9. Miami
10. Notre Dame
11. Minnesota-Duluth
12. New Hampshire
13. Dartmouth
14. Western Michigan
15. Colorado College
16. Atlantic Hockey Champion (RIT)

Bubble Teams (in order): Boston University, RPI, Maine, Minnesota, St. Cloud State

Step 2: Assign the seeds

No. 1 seeds: Yale, Boston College, North Dakota, Michigan
No. 2 seeds: Denver, Union, Nebraska-Omaha, Merrimack
No. 3 seeds: Miami, Notre Dame, Minnesota-Duluth, New Hampshire
No. 4 seeds: Dartmouth, Western Michigan, Colorado College, RIT

Step 3: Place host teams in regionals

Right now we have two host schools in the tournament. New Hampshire is hosting the Northeast Regional in Manchester, and Yale is hosting the East Regional in Bridgeport. Therefore, UNH is placed as the #3 seed in Manchester and Yale is the #1 seed in Bridgeport.

Step 4: Place number 1 seeds in regionals

Number 1 seeds are placed based on proximity to regional site.

No. 1 Yale (host) is placed in the East Regional in Bridgeport
No. 2 Boston College is placed in the Northeast Regional in Manchester
No. 3 North Dakota is placed in the West Regional in St. Louis
No. 4 Michigan is placed in the Mid-West Regional in Green Bay

Step 5: Place the other 12 teams avoiding intra-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. 8 Merrimack is placed in No. 1 Yale's Regional, the East Region
No. 7 UNO is placed in No. 2 BC's Regional, the Northeast Regional
No. 6 Union is placed in No. 3 North Dakota's Regional, the West Regional
No. 5 Denver is placed in No. 4 Michigan's Regional, the Mid-West Regional

Number 3 seeds:

No. 9 Miami is placed No. 8 Merrimack's Regional, the East Regional
No. 10 Notre Dame is placed in No. 6 Union's Regional, the West Regional
No. 11 UMD is placed in No. 5 Denver's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 12 UNH (host) is placed in No. 7 UNO's Regional, the Northeast Regional

Number 4 seeds:

No. 13 Dartmouth is placed in No. 4 Michigan's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 14 Western Mich. is placed in No. 3 UND's Regional, the West Regional
No. 15 Colorado College is placed in No. 2 BC's Regional, the Northeast Regional
No. 16 RIT is placed in No. 1 Yale's Regional, the East Regional

Our bracket as we have it set up:

East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
1 Yale vs 16 RIT
8 Merrimack vs 9 Miami

Mid-West Regional (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
4 Michigan vs 13 Dartmouth
5 Denver vs 11 Minnesota-Duluth

Northeast Regional (Manchester, New Hampshire)
2 Boston College vs 15 Colorado College
7 Nebraska-Omaha vs 12 New Hampshire

West Regional (St. Louis, Missouri)
3 North Dakota vs 14 Western Michigan
6 Union vs 10 Notre Dame

Our first concern is to avoid intra-conference first round match ups. This week we have one with Minnesota-Duluth and Denver in the Mid-West Regional. We know we can't make a flip with the Northeast regional because that would create another intra-conference match up with Nebraska-Omaha and also New Hampshire can't be moved out of Manchester since they are a host school.

We can either flip UMD and Miami or Denver and Union. Denver/Union makes more since because it keeps bracket integrity intact and keeps UMD in Green Bay for attendance.

Our bracket as we have it set up now:

East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
1 Yale vs 16 RIT
8 Merrimack vs 9 Miami

Mid-West Regional (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
4 Michigan vs 13 Dartmouth
6 Union vs 11 Minnesota-Duluth

Northeast Regional (Manchester, New Hampshire)
2 Boston College vs 15 Colorado College
7 Nebraska-Omaha vs 12 New Hampshire

West Regional (St. Louis, Missouri)
3 North Dakota vs 14 Western Michigan
5 Denver vs 10 Notre Dame

Can we do anything to improve attendance? One that stands out to me is moving Dartmouth to Manchester and flipping them with Colorado College.

Our bracket as we have it set up now:

East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
1 Yale vs 16 RIT
8 Merrimack vs 9 Miami

Mid-West Regional (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
4 Michigan vs 15 Colorado College
6 Union vs 11 Minnesota-Duluth

Northeast Regional (Manchester, New Hampshire)
2 Boston College vs 13 Dartmouth
7 Nebraska-Omaha vs 12 New Hampshire

West Regional (St. Louis, Missouri)
3 North Dakota vs 14 Western Michigan
5 Denver vs 10 Notre Dame

Bracket integrity looks strong. Attendance looks decent. There isn't anything else we can do to improve it.

That's what I'll go with for the week.

Week by week Wisconsin tournament tracker:
Week 1: #12 overall seed vs Michigan in Mid-West Regional in Green Bay
Week 2: First team out of the tournament, #16 in the PWR
Week 3: Falling further away from the tournament, #24 in the PWR
Week 4: Stopped the bleeding, moved up to #18 in the PWR
Week 5: Still hovering in the bubble, dropped a spot to #19 in PWR
Week 6: Gaining some ground, moved up to #17 in the PWR
Week 7: Stalemate, still at #17 in the PWR on a bye week.
Week 8: Back in the game, #12 overall seed in Northeast Regional in Manchester
Week 9: Moving on up, to the east side. #9 overall seed in the East Regional.
Week 10a: All the way up to the #8 overall seed vs Maine in the East Regional.
Week 10b: With the PWR tweak we drop a spot. Now playing BC in Green Bay.
Week 11: Keep winning, keep moving up. #7 overall seed vs Western Mich in Green Bay.
Week 12: #7 overall seed once again. This week vs Merrimack in Green Bay.
Week 13: #8 overall seed, taking on #9 Union in the Mid-West Regional in GB.
Week 14: #15 overall seed, in the Northeast Regional vs Boston College.
Week 15: Moved up a spot after sliding the past 3 weeks. #14 overall seed in GB.
Week 16: Dropped out of the tournament completely. #21 in the PWR.
Week 17: Falling further from the tourney. #23 in the PWR. Need 2 wins this week.

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Monday Morning Bracketology: Week 16 2/28/11

Wisconsin's tournament chances took a serious hit with their oh-fer in St. Cloud. They dropped from #14 in the Pairwise to #21. The Badgers are going to need to go on a serious run here to get an at large bid. Wisconsin would like to get to at least 12 or 13 in the PWR to feel safe.

The WCHA lost a bid this week with Wisconsin dropping out but picked up a bid when Colorado College moved in to the tournament. The WCHA is sitting with 5 at large bids right now with Minnesota-Duluth, North Dakota, Denver, and UNO and Colorado College in as of right now. Minnesota (19), St Cloud (20) and Wisconsin (21) still have a shot at at large bids if they can go on a run.

Step 1: Pick the 16 tournament teams

1. Yale
2. North Dakota
3. Boston College
4. Michigan
5. Denver
6. Union
7. Merrimack
8. Nebraska-Omaha
9. Notre Dame
10. Miami
11. Minnesota-Duluth
12. New Hampshire
13. RPI
14. Colorado College
15. Boston University
16. Atlantic Hockey Champion (RIT)

Bubble Teams (in order): Maine, Dartmouth, Western Michigan, Minnesota, St. Cloud State

Step 2: Assign the seeds

No. 1 seeds: Yale, North Dakota, Boston College, Michigan
No. 2 seeds: Denver, Union, Merrimack, Nebraska-Omaha
No. 3 seeds: Notre Dame, Miami, Minnesota-Duluth, New Hampshire
No. 4 seeds: RPI, Colorado College, Boston University, RIT

Step 3: Place host teams in regionals

Right now we have two host schools in the tournament. New Hampshire is hosting the Northeast Regional in Manchester, and Yale is hosting the East Regional in Bridgeport. Therefore, UNH is placed as the #3 seed in Manchester and Yale is the #1 seed in Bridgeport.

Step 4: Place number 1 seeds in regionals

Number 1 seeds are placed based on proximity to regional site.

No. 1 Yale (host) is placed in the East Regional in Bridgeport
No. 2 North Dakota is placed in the West Regional in St. Louis
No. 3 Boston College is placed in the Northeast Regional in Manchester
No. 4 Michigan is placed in the Mid-West Regional in Green Bay

Step 5: Place the other 12 teams avoiding intra-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. 8 UNO is placed in No. 1 Yale's Regional, the East Region
No. 7 Merrimack is placed in No. 2 North Dakota's Regional, the West Regional
No. 6 Union is placed in No. 3 BC's Regional, the Northeast Regional
No. 5 Denver is placed in No. 4 Merrimack's Regional, the Mid-West Regional

Number 3 seeds:

No. 9 Notre Dame is placed No. 8 UNO's Regional, the East Regional
No. 10 Miami is placed in No. 7 Merrimack's Regional, the West Regional
No. 11 UMD is placed in No. 5 Denver's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 12 UNH (host) is placed in No. 6 Union's Regional, the Northeast Regional

Number 4 seeds:

No. 13 RPI is placed in No. 4 Michigan's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 14 Colorado College is placed in No. 3 BC's Regional, the Northeast Regional
No. 15 Boston University is placed in No. 2 UND's Regional, the West Regional
No. 16 RIT is placed in No. 1 Yale's Regional, the East Regional

Our bracket as we have it set up:

East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
1 Yale vs 16 RIT
8 Nebraska-Omaha vs 9 Notre Dame

Mid-West Regional (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
4 Michigan vs 13 RPI
5 Denver vs 11 Minnesota-Duluth

Northeast Regional (Manchester, New Hampshire)
3 Boston College vs 14 Colorado College
6 Union vs 12 New Hampshire

West Regional (St. Louis, Missouri)
2 North Dakota vs 15 Boston University
7 Merrimack vs 10 Miami

Our first concern is to avoid intra-conference first round match ups. This week we have one with Minnesota-Duluth and Denver in the Mid-West Regional. We know we can't make a flip with the East regional because that would create another intra-conference match up with Nebraska-Omaha. We also can't flip UMD with UNH because UNH is a host in Manchester. Easiest move will be to flip Union and Denver and keep UMD in Green Bay.

Our bracket as we have it set up now:

East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
1 Yale vs 16 RIT
8 Nebraska-Omaha vs 9 Notre Dame

Mid-West Regional (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
4 Michigan vs 13 RPI
6 Union vs 11 Minnesota-Duluth

Northeast Regional (Manchester, New Hampshire)
3 Boston College vs 14 Colorado College
5 Denver vs 12 New Hampshire

West Regional (St. Louis, Missouri)
2 North Dakota vs 15 Boston University
7 Merrimack vs 10 Miami

Can we do anything to improve attendance? One that stands out to me is moving UNO to St. Louis and Merrimack back East. It's an easy switch.

Another move we could make would be to get RPI to Manchester by flipping them with Colorado College who would go to Green Bay.

Our bracket as we have it set up now:

East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
1 Yale vs 16 RIT
7 Merrimack vs 9 Notre Dame

Mid-West Regional (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
4 Michigan vs 14 Colorado College
6 Union vs 11 Minnesota-Duluth

Northeast Regional (Manchester, New Hampshire)
3 Boston College vs 13 RPI
5 Denver vs 12 New Hampshire

West Regional (St. Louis, Missouri)
2 North Dakota vs 15 Boston University
8 Nebraska-Omaha vs 10 Miami

Bracket integrity looks strong. Attendance looks strong. UNO and UND in St. Louis, BC, RPI and UNH in Manchester, Michigan and UMD in Green Bay, and Yale, RIT and Merrimack in Bridgeport. Not a bad bracket.

That's what I'll go with for the week.

Week by week Wisconsin tournament tracker:
Week 1: #12 overall seed vs Michigan in Mid-West Regional in Green Bay
Week 2: First team out of the tournament, #16 in the PWR
Week 3: Falling further away from the tournament, #24 in the PWR
Week 4: Stopped the bleeding, moved up to #18 in the PWR
Week 5: Still hovering in the bubble, dropped a spot to #19 in PWR
Week 6: Gaining some ground, moved up to #17 in the PWR
Week 7: Stalemate, still at #17 in the PWR on a bye week.
Week 8: Back in the game, #12 overall seed in Northeast Regional in Manchester
Week 9: Moving on up, to the east side. #9 overall seed in the East Regional.
Week 10a: All the way up to the #8 overall seed vs Maine in the East Regional.
Week 10b: With the PWR tweak we drop a spot. Now playing BC in Green Bay.
Week 11: Keep winning, keep moving up. #7 overall seed vs Western Mich in Green Bay.
Week 12: #7 overall seed once again. This week vs Merrimack in Green Bay.
Week 13: #8 overall seed, taking on #9 Union in the Mid-West Regional in GB.
Week 14: #15 overall seed, in the Northeast Regional vs Boston College.
Week 15: Moved up a spot after sliding the past 3 weeks. #14 overall seed in GB.
Week 16: Dropped out of the tournament completely. #21 in the PWR.

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Monday Night Bracketology: Week 15 2/21/2011

Despite only coming up with 1 point in a key home series against Minnesota, the Badgers actually found a way to move up in the PWR to #14 with some timely losses by the teams around them. Remember that 16 teams make the tournament, and Atlantic Hockey will take away one of the at large bids since they don't have a team in the top 16. For every team that's not in the top 15 of the PWR that wins a conference tournament, that number of at large bids goes down. Wisconsin would like to get to at least 12 or 13 in the PWR to feel safe.

The WCHA still holds 5 at large bids by my count right now with Minnesota-Duluth, North Dakota, Denver, Wisconsin, and UNO. Colorado College (19), and Minnesota (18) still have a shot at at large bids if they can go on a run throughout he last few weeks of the season.

Step 1: Pick the 16 tournament teams

1. Yale
2. North Dakota
3. Boston College
4. Merrimack
5. Denver
6. Michigan
7. Minnesota-Duluth
8. Union
9. Nebraska-Omaha
10. Notre Dame
11. New Hampshire
12. Miami
13. RPI
14. Wisconsin
15. Western Michigan
16. Atlantic Hockey Champion (RIT)

Bubble Teams (in order): Boston University, Dartmouth, Minnesota, Colorado College, Maine

Step 2: Assign the seeds

No. 1 seeds: Yale, North Dakota, Boston College, Merrimack
No. 2 seeds: Denver, Michigan, Minnesota-Duluth, Union
No. 3 seeds: Nebraska-Omaha, Notre Dame, New Hampshire, Miami
No. 4 seeds: RPI, Wisconsin, Western Michigan, RIT

Step 3: Place host teams in regionals

Right now we have two host schools in the tournament. New Hampshire is hosting the Northeast Regional in Manchester, and Yale is hosting the East Regional in Bridgeport. Therefore, UNH is placed as the #3 seed in Manchester and Yale is the #1 seed in Bridgeport.

Step 4: Place number 1 seeds in regionals

Number 1 seeds are placed based on proximity to regional site.

No. 1 Yale (host) is placed in the East Regional in Bridgeport
No. 2 North Dakota is placed in the Mid-West Regional in Green Bay
No. 3 Boston College is placed in the Northeast Regional in Manchester
No. 4 Merrimack is placed in the West Regional in St. Louis

Step 5: Place the other 12 teams avoiding intra-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. 8 Union is placed in No. 1 Yale's Regional, the East Region
No. 7 UMD is placed in No. 2 North Dakota's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 6 Michigan is placed in No. 3 BC's Regional, the Northeast Regional
No. 5 Denver is placed in No. 4 Merrimack's Regional, the West Regional

Number 3 seeds:

No. 9 Nebraska Omaha is placed No. 8 Union's Regional, the East Regional
No. 10 Notre Dame is placed in No. 7 UMD's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 11 UNH (host) is placed in No. 6 Michigan's Regional, the Northeast Regional
No. 12 Miami is placed in No. 5 Denver's Regional, the West Regional

Number 4 seeds:

No. 13 RPI is placed in No. 4 Merrimack's Regional, the West Regional
No. 14 Wisconsin is placed in No. 3 BC's Regional, the Northeast Regional
No. 15 Western Michigan is placed in No. 2 UND's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 16 RIT is placed in No. 1 Yale's Regional, the East Regional

Our bracket as we have it set up:

East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
1 Yale vs 16 RIT
8 Union vs 9 Nebraska-Omaha

Mid-West Regional (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
2 North Dakota vs 15 Western Michigan
7 Minnesota-Duluth vs 10 Notre Dame

Northeast Regional (Manchester, New Hampshire)
3 Boston College vs 14 Wisconsin
6 Michigan vs 11 New Hampshire

West Regional (St. Louis, Missouri)
4 Merrimack vs 13 RPI
5 Denver vs 12 Miami

Our first concern is to avoid intra-conference first round match ups. This week we have none so that's a positive.

Can we do anything to improve attendance? Wisconsin can't be moved to Green Bay the way we have it set up because it will cause an intra-conference match up. The one option that stands out to me involves North Dakota.

I've placed UND in Green Bay as it's technically the closest location to Grand Forks. But it's still 9 hours away and they have to fly no matter what. So what if we have UND as the #1 in the West Regional in St. Louis and have Merrimack as the #1 seed in Green Bay instead? That would open up the move for Wisconsin to Green Bay.

If we move the whole match up between UND and Western Michigan to St. Louis, things look a lot better. We then can flip RPI and Wisconsin bringing UW to Green Bay and RPI to Manchester, improving attendance in both regionals in the process.

Our bracket as we have it set up now:

East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
1 Yale vs 16 RIT
8 Union vs 9 Nebraska-Omaha

Mid-West Regional (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
4 Merrimack vs 14 Wisconsin
7 Minnesota-Duluth vs 10 Notre Dame

Northeast Regional (Manchester, New Hampshire)
3 Boston College vs 13 RPI
6 Michigan vs 11 New Hampshire

West Regional (St. Louis, Missouri)
2 North Dakota vs 15 Western Michigan
5 Denver vs 12 Miami

That's one of the best brackets we've had this season. Attendance looks great with Yale, RIT, and Union in Bridgeport, Wisconsin, UMD, and Notre Dame in Green Bay, BC, RPI, and UNH in Manchester, and UND in St. Louis.

That's my bracket for the week.

Week by week Wisconsin tournament tracker:
Week 1: #12 overall seed vs Michigan in Mid-West Regional in Green Bay
Week 2: First team out of the tournament, #16 in the PWR
Week 3: Falling further away from the tournament, #24 in the PWR
Week 4: Stopped the bleeding, moved up to #18 in the PWR
Week 5: Still hovering in the bubble, dropped a spot to #19 in PWR
Week 6: Gaining some ground, moved up to #17 in the PWR
Week 7: Stalemate, still at #17 in the PWR on a bye week.
Week 8: Back in the game, #12 overall seed in Northeast Regional in Manchester
Week 9: Moving on up, to the east side. #9 overall seed in the East Regional.
Week 10a: All the way up to the #8 overall seed vs Maine in the East Regional.
Week 10b: With the PWR tweak we drop a spot. Now playing BC in Green Bay.
Week 11: Keep winning, keep moving up. #7 overall seed vs Western Mich in Green Bay.
Week 12: #7 overall seed once again. This week vs Merrimack in Green Bay.
Week 13: #8 overall seed, taking on #9 Union in the Mid-West Regional in GB.
Week 14: #15 overall seed, in the Northeast Regional vs Boston College.
Week 15: Moved up a spot after sliding the past 3 weeks. #14 overall seed in GB.

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Tuesday Afternoon Bracketology Week 14: 2/15/11

What a difference a week makes. Wisconsin went from a tie for 7th place in the Pairwise to 15th in the Pairwise with their pair of losses on the road at Nebraska-Omaha. Wisconsin's 15th overall ranking has them as the last at-large team to get into the tournament. It's amazing that in the matter of two games you can go from feeling like a lock to be in the tournament to hanging on by a thread.

The WCHA still holds 5 at large bids by my count with Minnesota-Duluth, North Dakota, Denver, Wisconsin, and UNO. Colorado College (18), Minnesota (t19), Minnesota State (23), St. Cloud (t26) and Alaska-Anchorage (t28) are all on the outside looking in.

Step 1: Pick the 16 tournament teams

1. Yale
2. Boston College
3. North Dakota
4. Denver
5. Merrimack
6. Minnesota-Duluth
7. Union
8. Nebraska-Omaha
9. New Hampshire
10. Michigan
11. Miami
12. Notre Dame
13. Dartmouth
14. RPI
15. Wisconsin
16. Atlantic Hockey Champion (RIT)

Bubble Teams (in order): Western Michigan, Boston University, Colorado College, Maine, Minnesota

Step 2: Assign the seeds

No. 1 seeds: Yale, Boston College, North Dakota, Denver
No. 2 seeds: Merrimack, Minnesota-Duluth, Union, Nebraska-Omaha
No. 3 seeds: New Hampshire, Michigan, Miami, Notre Dame
No. 4 seeds: Dartmouth, RPI, Wisconsin, RIT

Step 3: Place host teams in regionals

Right now we have two host schools in the tournament. New Hampshire is hosting the Northeast Regional in Manchester, and Yale is hosting the East Regional in Bridgeport. Therefore, UNH is placed as the #3 seed in Manchester and Yale is the #1 seed in Bridgeport.

Step 4: Place number 1 seeds in regionals

Number 1 seeds are placed based on proximity to regional site.

No. 1 Yale (host) is placed in the East Regional in Bridgeport
No. 2 Boston College is placed in the Northeast Regional in Manchester
No. 3 North Dakota is placed in the Mid-West Regional in Green Bay
No. 4 Denver is placed in the West Regional in St. Louis

Step 5: Place the other 12 teams avoiding intra-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. 8 Nebraska-Omaha is placed in No. 1 Yale's Regional, the East Region
No. 7 Union is placed in No. 2 Boston College's Regional, the Northeast Regional
No. 6 Minnesota-Duluth is placed in No. 3 North Dakota's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 5 Merrimack is placed in No. 4 Denver's Regional, the West Regional

Number 3 seeds:

No. 9 New Hampshire (host) is placed No. 7 Union's Regional, the Northeast Regional
No. 10 Michigan is placed in No. 8 UNO's Regional, the East Regional
No. 11 Miami is placed in No. 6 UMD's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 12 Notre Dame is placed in No. 5 Merrimack's Regional, the West Regional

Number 4 seeds:

No. 13 Dartmouth is placed in No. 4 Denver's Regional, the West Regional
No. 14 RPI is placed in No. 3 North Dakota's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 15 Wisconsin is placed in No. 2 BC's Regional, the Northeast Regional
No. 16 RIT is placed in No. 1 Yale's Regional, the East Regional

Our bracket as we have it set up:

East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
1 Yale vs 16 RIT
8 Nebraska-Omaha vs 10 Michigan

Mid-West Regional (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
3 North Dakota vs 14 RPI
6 Minnesota-Duluth vs 11 Miami

Northeast Regional (Manchester, New Hampshire)
2 Boston College vs 15 Wisconsin
7 Union vs 9 New Hampshire

West Regional (St. Louis, Missouri)
4 Denver vs 13 Dartmouth
5 Merrimack vs 12 Notre Dame

Our first concern is to avoid intra-conference first round match ups. This week we have none so that's a positive. Can we do anything to improve attendance? Wisconsin can't be moved to Green Bay because it will cause an intra-conference match up. Really I don't see any other moves we can make to make things better so that's what I'll go with for this week.


Week by week Wisconsin tournament tracker:
Week 1: #12 overall seed vs Michigan in Mid-West Regional in Green Bay
Week 2: First team out of the tournament, #16 in the PWR
Week 3: Falling further away from the tournament, #24 in the PWR
Week 4: Stopped the bleeding, moved up to #18 in the PWR
Week 5: Still hovering in the bubble, dropped a spot to #19 in PWR
Week 6: Gaining some ground, moved up to #17 in the PWR
Week 7: Stalemate, still at #17 in the PWR on a bye week.
Week 8: Back in the game, #12 overall seed in Northeast Regional in Manchester
Week 9: Moving on up, to the east side. #9 overall seed in the East Regional.
Week 10a: All the way up to the #8 overall seed vs Maine in the East Regional.
Week 10b: With the PWR tweak we drop a spot. Now playing BC in Green Bay.
Week 11: Keep winning, keep moving up. #7 overall seed vs Western Mich in Green Bay.
Week 12: #7 overall seed once again. This week vs Merrimack in Green Bay.
Week 13: #8 overall seed, taking on #9 Union in the Mid-West Regional in GB.
Week 14: #15 overall seed, in the Northeast Regional vs Boston College.

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Super Sunday Bracketology Week 13: 2/6/2011

I've gotten basically no sleep due to being so excited for tonight's Super Bowl so I figured I'd pump out a bracketology post while everyone else is sleeping. Wisconsin had a bye week and dropped spot in the PWR (well, they are actually tied for 7th but lose the tie breaker).

The WCHA picked up a bid this week with the resurgence of Nebraska-Omaha. The Mavericks swept St. Cloud State over the weekend and grabbed the last at large bid in this weeks projections. The WCHA now holds 5 at large bids by my count with Minnesota-Duluth, North Dakota, Denver, Wisconsin, and UNO. Colorado College (18), Minnesota (22), Minnesota State (t23), and Alaska-Anchorage (25) are all on the outside looking in.

Step 1: Pick the 16 tournament teams

1. Yale
2. Minnesota-Duluth
3. North Dakota
4. Boston College
5. New Hampshire
6. Denver
7. RPI
8. Wisconsin
9. Union
10. Merrimack
11. Notre Dame
12. Michigan
13. Western Michigan
14. Boston University
15. Nebraska-Omaha
16. Atlantic Hockey Champion (RIT)

Bubble Teams (in order): Dartmouth, Miami, Colorado College, Princeton, Alaska

Step 2: Assign the seeds

No. 1 seeds: Yale, Minnesota-Duluth, North Dakota, Boston College
No. 2 seeds: New Hampshire, Denver, RPI, Wisconsin
No. 3 seeds: Union, Merrimack, Notre Dame, Michigan
No. 4 seeds: Western Michigan, Boston University, Nebraska-Omaha, RIT

Step 3: Place host teams in regionals

Right now we have two host schools in the tournament. New Hampshire is hosting the Northeast Regional in Manchester, and Yale is hosting the East Regional in Bridgeport. Therefore, UNH is placed as the #2 seed in Manchester and Yale is the #1 seed in Bridgeport.

Step 4: Place number 1 seeds in regionals

Number 1 seeds are placed based on proximity to regional site.

No. 1 Yale (host) is placed in the East Regional in Bridgeport
No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth is placed in the Mid-West Regional in Green Bay
No. 3 North Dakota is placed in the West Regional in St. Louis
No. 4 Boston College is placed in the Northeast Regional in Manchester

Step 5: Place the other 12 teams avoiding intra-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. 8 Wisconsin is placed in No. 1 Yale's Regional, the East Region
No. 7 RPI is placed in No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 6 Denver is placed in No. 3 North Dakota's Regional, the West Regional
No. 5 New Hampshire is placed in No. 4 BC's Regional, the Northeast Regional

Number 3 seeds:

No. 9 Union is placed No. 8 Wisconsin's Regional, the East Regional
No. 10 Merrimack is placed in No. 7 RPI's Regional, the Mid-West
No. 11 Notre Dame is placed in No. 6 Denver's Regional, the West Regional
No. 12 Michigan is placed in No. 5 New Hampshire's Regional, the Northeast Regional

Number 4 seeds:

No. 13 Western Michigan is placed in No. 4 BC's Regional, the Northeast Regional
No. 14 BU is placed in No. 3 North Dakota's Regional, the West Regional
No. 15 Nebraska-Omaha is placed in No. 2 UMD's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 16 RIT is placed in No. 1 Yale's Regional, the East Regional

Our bracket as we have it set up:

East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
1 Yale vs 16 RIT
8 Wisconsin vs 9 Union

Mid-West Regional (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
2 Minnesota-Duluth vs 15 Nebraska-Omaha
7 RPI vs 10 Merrimack

Northeast Regional (Manchester, New Hampshire)
4 Boston College vs 13 Western Michigan
5 New Hampshire vs 12 Michigan

West Regional (St. Louis, Missouri)
3 North Dakota vs 14 Boston University
6 Denver vs 11 Notre Dame

Our first concern is to avoid intra-conference first round match ups. This week we one with Minnesota-Duluth facing Nebraska-Omaha. We have two options for moving Nebraska-Omaha. We can't send them to the West because that would create another intra-conference match up with North Dakota. We could ship them to the East but the committee usually tries to protect the #1 overall seed (Yale) by keeping them with the #16 (RIT) unless it's unavoidable. Therefore, I will flip UNO with Western Michigan.

Our NEW bracket:

East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
1 Yale vs 16 RIT
8 Wisconsin vs 9 Union

Mid-West Regional (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
2 Minnesota-Duluth vs 13 Western Michigan
7 RPI vs 10 Merrimack

Northeast Regional (Manchester, New Hampshire)
4 Boston College vs 15 Nebraska-Omaha
5 New Hampshire vs 12 Michigan

West Regional (St. Louis, Missouri)
3 North Dakota vs 14 Boston University
6 Denver vs 11 Notre Dame

What can we do to improve attendance at the regionals? Like we've talked about in the past here, if the committee can move Wisconsin to Green Bay without creating an intra-conference match up or totally ruining bracket integrity, they will. So we'll move the entire match up with Wisconsin vs Union to Green Bay to avoid the intra-conference game between RPI and Union. Obviously the RPI/Merrimack game is now in the East which helps out attendance in Bridgeport as well.

Our NEWEST bracket:

East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
1 Yale vs 16 RIT
7 RPI vs 10 Merrimack

Mid-West Regional (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
2 Minnesota-Duluth vs 13 Western Michigan
8 Wisconsin vs 9 Union

Northeast Regional (Manchester, New Hampshire)
4 Boston College vs 15 Nebraska-Omaha
5 New Hampshire vs 12 Michigan

West Regional (St. Louis, Missouri)
3 North Dakota vs 14 Boston University
6 Denver vs 11 Notre Dame

I don't know if it gets any better than this. We've got 4 Eastern teams in Bridgeport, UMD and Wisconsin in Green Bay. UNH, Boston College, and Michigan in Manchester, and North Dakota and Denver in St. Louis. If the NCAA could end the season right now I think they would and print this tournament. It looks great from all angles so that's what I'll go with for today.

There are games on Monday with the bean pot so I'll probably do another bracketolgy later in the week with the adjustments.

Week by week Wisconsin tournament tracker:
Week 1: #12 overall seed vs Michigan in Mid-West Regional in Green Bay
Week 2: First team out of the tournament, #16 in the PWR
Week 3: Falling further away from the tournament, #24 in the PWR
Week 4: Stopped the bleeding, moved up to #18 in the PWR
Week 5: Still hovering in the bubble, dropped a spot to #19 in PWR
Week 6: Gaining some ground, moved up to #17 in the PWR
Week 7: Stalemate, still at #17 in the PWR on a bye week.
Week 8: Back in the game, #12 overall seed in Northeast Regional in Manchester
Week 9: Moving on up, to the east side. #9 overall seed in the East Regional.
Week 10a: All the way up to the #8 overall seed vs Maine in the East Regional.
Week 10b: With the PWR tweak we drop a spot. Now playing BC in Green Bay.
Week 11: Keep winning, keep moving up. #7 overall seed vs Western Mich in Green Bay.
Week 12: #7 overall seed once again. This week vs Merrimack in Green Bay.
Week 13: #8 overall seed, taking on #9 Union in the Mid-West Regional in GB.

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Monday Morning Bracketology Week 12: 1/31/11

I'm back again for this weeks installment of Bracketology. The Badgers took all four points from the reeling Michigan Tech Huskies and maintained their position in the Pairwise. Wisconsin took a hit after Friday nights games and dropped to #8 but with Michigan's 2-1 loss to rival Michigan State we were able to flip our comparison in our favor with the Wolverines.

There was one bid lost by the WCHA this week. Nebraska-Omaha, which has been a projected tournament team for the past 11 weeks dropped out of the projections after dropping a game to Alabama-Huntsville on Saturday night. The problem with scheduling teams like Huntsville is that if you win they don't help you at all, but if you lose it can really hurt.

Colorado College is still sitting on the doorstep. Their win over North Dakota helped a little bit and they are at #18 in the PWR. The Tigers have series with Denver, UMD, and Wisconsin left so if they can manage to find some W's in there they have a great shot at getting a bid.

So this week we have 4 WCHA teams currently projected to get at large bids with Denver (2), North Dakota (3), Minnesota-Duluth (4), and Wisconsin (7). Then we have Nebraska-Omaha (17), CC (18), Minnesota (22), Minnesota State (26), St. Cloud (30) and Alaska-Anchorage (31) on the outside looking in.

Step 1: Pick the 16 tournament teams

1. Yale
2. North Dakota
3. Denver
4. Minnesota-Duluth
5. Boston College
6. RPI
7. Wisconsin
8. New Hampshire
9. Michigan
10. Merrimack
11. Western Michigan
12. Notre Dame
13. Union
14. Dartmouth
15. Boston University
16. Atlantic Hockey Champion (RIT)

Bubble Teams (in order): Princeton, Nebraska-Omaha, Colorado College, Maine, Miami

Step 2: Assign the seeds

No. 1 seeds: Yale, North Dakota, Denver, Minnesota-Duluth
No. 2 seeds: Boston College, RPI, Wisconsin, New Hampshire
No. 3 seeds: Michigan, Merrimack, Western Michigan, Note Dame
No. 4 seeds: Union, Dartmouth, Boston University, RIT

Step 3: Place host teams in regionals

Right now we have two host schools in the tournament. New Hampshire is hosting the Northeast Regional in Manchester, and Yale is hosting the East Regional in Bridgeport. Therefore, UNH is placed as the #2 seed in Manchester and Yale is the #1 seed in Bridgeport.

Step 4: Place number 1 seeds in regionals

Number 1 seeds are placed based on proximity to regional site.

No. 1 Yale (Host) is placed in the East Regional in Bridgeport
No. 2 North Dakota is placed in the Mid-West Regional in Green Bay
No. 3 Denver is placed in the West Regional in St. Louis
No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth is placed in the Northeast Regional in Manchester

Step 5: Place the other 12 teams avoiding intra-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. 8 UNH (host) is placed in No. 4 UMD's Regional, the Northeast Regional
No. 7 Wisconsin is placed in No. 1 Yale's Regional, the East Regional
No. 6 RPI is placed in No. 2 North Dakota's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 5 Boston College is placed in No. 3 Denver's Regional, the West Regional

Number 3 seeds:

No. 9 Michigan is placed No. 8 UNH's Regional, the Northeast Regional
No. 10 Merrimack is placed in No. 7 Wisconsin's regional, the East Regional
No. 11 Western Michigan is placed in No. 6 RPI's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 12 Notre Dame is placed in No. 5 Boston College's Regional, the West Regional

Number 4 seeds:

No. 13 Union is placed in No. 4 UMD's Regional, the Northeast Regional
No. 14 Dartmouth is placed in No. 3 Denver's Regional, the West Regional
No. 15 BU is placed in No. 2 North Dakota's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 16 RIT is placed in No. 1 Yale's Regional, the East Regional

Our bracket as we have it set up:

East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
1 Yale vs 16 RIT
7 Wisconsin vs 10 Merrimack

Mid-West Regional (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
2 North Dakota vs 15 Boston University
6 RPI vs 11 Western Michigan

Northeast Regional (Manchester, New Hampshire)
4 Minnesota-Duluth vs 13 Union
8 New Hampshire vs 9 Michigan

West Regional (St. Louis, Missouri)
3 Denver vs 14 Dartmouth
5 Boston College vs 12 Notre Dame

Our first concern is to avoid intra-conference first round match ups. This week we have none so we're good on that front.

What about attendance? As we all know $ is the almighty in the eyes of the NCAA so they will get creative when it comes to moving teams. The first easy switch is Wisconsin and RPI. #7 Wisconsin gets flipped with #6 RPI therefore moving Wisconsin to Green Bay and keeping RPI in the Northeast.

Anything else? The more I think about it, I have a feeling that UMD if they stay a #1 seed will find their way to Green Bay. Like I've mentioned in the past, in the eyes of the committee, a flight is a flight and any team that has to go over 400 miles has to fly. Therefore, looking at #1 seeds not counting Yale since they are a host school, both Denver and North Dakota have to fly to any regional they are placed in but UMD can bus to Green Bay.

So I'm going to put UMD in Green Bay, North Dakota since they are a higher seed than Denver will get the #1 seed in St. Louis, Denver goes to Manchester and Yale is still the host in Bridgeport.

Our bracket as we have it set up now:

East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
1 Yale vs 16 RIT
7 Wisconsin vs 10 Merrimack

Mid-West Regional (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
4 Minnesota-Duluth vs 13 Union
5 Boston College vs 12 Notre Dame

Northeast Regional (Manchester, New Hampshire)
3 Denver vs 14 Dartmouth
8 New Hampshire vs 9 Michigan

West Regional (St. Louis, Missouri)
3 North Dakota vs 15 Boston University
6 RPI vs 11 Western Michigan

Then to help attendance in Green Bay we flip Boston College and Wisconsin. We can't just flip the individual teams because that would create an intra-conference match up between BC and Merrimack and it would also create a pretty big difference in bracket integrity so we'll take the entire Wisconsin/Merrimack match up and flip it with Boston College/Notre Dame.

Now we have:

East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
1 Yale vs 16 RIT
5 Boston College vs 12 Notre Dame

Mid-West Regional (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
4 Minnesota-Duluth vs 13 Union
7 Wisconsin vs 10 Merrimack

Northeast Regional (Manchester, New Hampshire)
3 Denver vs 14 Dartmouth
8 New Hampshire vs 9 Michigan

West Regional (St. Louis, Missouri)
3 North Dakota vs 15 Boston University
6 RPI vs 11 Western Michigan

That helps out attendance as we have Yale and BC in Bridgeport, Duluth and Wisconsin in Green Bay, New Hampshire and Dartmouth in Manchester, and North Dakota in St. Louis.

So that's what I'll go with for week 12. Check out USCHO.com later this week for Jayson Moy's version.

Week by week Wisconsin tournament tracker:
Week 1: #12 overall seed vs Michigan in Mid-West Regional in Green Bay
Week 2: First team out of the tournament, #16 in the PWR
Week 3: Falling further away from the tournament, #24 in the PWR
Week 4: Stopped the bleeding, moved up to #18 in the PWR
Week 5: Still hovering in the bubble, dropped a spot to #19 in PWR
Week 6: Gaining some ground, moved up to #17 in the PWR
Week 7: Stalemate, still at #17 in the PWR on a bye week.
Week 8: Back in the game, #12 overall seed in Northeast Regional in Manchester
Week 9: Moving on up, to the east side. #9 overall seed in the East Regional.
Week 10a: All the way up to the #8 overall seed vs Maine in the East Regional.
Week 10b: With the PWR tweak we drop a spot. Now playing BC in Green Bay.
Week 11: Keep winning, keep moving up. #7 overall seed vs Western Mich in Green Bay.
Week 12: #7 overall seed once again. This week vs Merrimack in Green Bay.

chuckschwartz(at)live.com
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Super (bowl) Monday Morning Bracketology Week 11

I'm up early this morning so I figured I might as well pump out bracketology for you as you're waking up.

With a home sweep of Minnesota State, the Badgers improved two places in the PWR all the way up to #7 this week. You keep winning games, and you get rewarded. This week finds the Badgers playing Western Michigan in the Green Bay regional.

There were no bids won or lost by the WCHA this week. Colorado College is still sitting on the doorstep. They are going to need to reel off some W's down the stretch here if they want a shot at an at large bid. Just like last week, there are 5 WCHA teams currently projected to get at large bids and CC (19), Minnesota (21), St. Cloud (25), Minnesota State (29), and Bemidji State (30) on the outside looking in.

Step 1: Pick the 16 tournament teams

1. Yale
2. Minnesota-Duluth
3. North Dakota
4. Denver
5. Boston College
6. Michigan
7. Wisconsin
8. RPI
9. Notre Dame
10. New Hampshire
11. Western Michigan
12. Nebraska-Omaha
13. Dartmouth
14. Merrimack
15. Union
16. Atlantic Hockey Champion (RIT)

Bubble Teams (in order): Miami, Maine, Boston University, Colorado College, Princeton

Step 2: Assign the seeds

No. 1 seeds: Yale, Minnesota-Duluth, North Dakota, Denver
No. 2 seeds: Boston College, Michigan, Wisconsin, RPI
No. 3 seeds: Notre Dame, UNH, Western Michigan, UNO
No. 4 seeds: Dartmouth, Union, Merrimack, RIT

Step 3: Place host teams in regionals

Right now we have two host schools in the tournament. New Hampshire is hosting the Northeast Regional in Manchester, and Yale is hosting the East Regional in Bridgeport. Therefore, UNH is placed as the #3 seed in Manchester and Yale is the #1 seed in Bridgeport.

Step 4: Place number 1 seeds in regionals

Number 1 seeds are placed based on proximity to regional site.

No. 1 Yale (Host) is placed in the East Regional in Bridgeport
No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth is placed in the Mid-West Regional in Green Bay
No. 3 North Dakota is placed in the West Regional in St. Louis
No. 4 Denver is placed in the Northeast Regional in Manchester

Step 5: Place the other 12 teams avoiding intra-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. 8 RPI is placed in No. 1 Yale's Regional, the East Regional
No. 7 Wisconsin is placed in No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 6 Michigan is placed in No. 3 North Dakota's Regional, the West Regional
No. 5 Boston College is placed in No. 4 Denver's Regional, the Northeast Regional

Number 3 seeds:

No. 9 Notre Dame is placed No. 8 RPI's Regional, the East Regional
No. 10 UNH (host) is placed in No. 5 Boston College's Regional, the Northeast Regional
No. 11 Western Michigan is placed in No. 7 Wisconsin's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 12 UNO is placed in No. 6 Michigan's Regional, the West Regional

Number 4 seeds:

No. 13 Dartmouth is placed in No. 4 Denver's Regional, the Northeast Regional
No. 14 Merrimack is placed in No. 3 North Dakota's Regional, the West Regional
No. 15 Union is placed in No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 16 RIT is placed in No. 1 Yale's Regional, the East Regional

Our bracket as we have it set up:

East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
1 Yale vs 16 RIT
8. RPI vs 9 Notre Dame

Mid-West Regional (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
2 Minnesota-Duluth vs 15 Union
7 Wisconsin vs 11 Western Michigan

Northeast Regional (Manchester, New Hampshire)
4 Denver vs 13 Dartmouth
5 Boston College vs 10 New Hampshire

West Regional (St. Louis, Missouri)
3 North Dakota vs 14 Merrimack
6 Michigan vs 12 Nebraska-Omaha

Our first concern is to avoid intra-conference first round match ups. This week we have one, Boston College vs New Hampshire

We're not going to switch BC out with Wisconsin and hurt attendance in Green Bay so we have two options, the first is to flip Boston College and Michigan. That would be the best for bracket integrity. Another consideration would be to flip Boston College and RPI. That would keep Boston College a few hours from home and boost attendance at the Bridgeport Regional.

At first I wanted to flip BC and RPI and originally posted as such here. The NCAA does love $, but I think it's just going to affect bracket integrity too much so I'm going to change out Michigan and Boston College.

Our bracket as we have it set up now:

East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
1 Yale vs 16 RIT
8 RPI vs 9 Notre Dame

Mid-West Regional (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
2 Minnesota-Duluth vs 15 Union
7 Wisconsin vs 11 Western Michigan

Northeast Regional (Manchester, New Hampshire)
4 Denver vs 13 Dartmouth
6 Michigan vs 10 New Hampshire

West Regional (St. Louis, Missouri)
3 North Dakota vs 14 Merrimack
5 Boston Collegevs 12 Nebraska-Omaha


Week by week Wisconsin tournament tracker:
Week 1: #12 overall seed vs Michigan in Mid-West Regional in Green Bay
Week 2: First team out of the tournament, #16 in the PWR
Week 3: Falling further away from the tournament, #24 in the PWR
Week 4: Stopped the bleeding, moved up to #18 in the PWR
Week 5: Still hovering in the bubble, dropped a spot to #19 in PWR
Week 6: Gaining some ground, moved up to #17 in the PWR
Week 7: Stalemate, still at #17 in the PWR on a bye week.
Week 8: Back in the game, #12 overall seed in Northeast Regional in Manchester
Week 9: Moving on up, to the east side. #9 overall seed in the East Regional.
Week 10a: All the way up to the #8 overall seed vs Maine in the East Regional.
Week 10b: With the PWR tweak we drop a spot. Now playing BC in Green Bay.
Week 11: Keep winning, keep moving up. #7 overall seed vs Western Mich in Green Bay.

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Updated Week 10 Bracketology

We already did our weekly Monday morning bracketology but with the update that the NCAA has tweaked the formula for at large bids I thought we better update the bracket to see how much it affected Wisconsin.

The Badgers dropped a spot in the PWR but in my opinion gained an advantage because with an easy switch we now have the Badgers in the Mid-West regional in Green Bay vs Boston College.

No bids were won or lost for the WCHA this week but Colorado College took a significant hit with after being swept by Alaska-Anchorage. CC dropped about 7 places in the PWR with the sweep. There are a few other WCHA teams currently lurking in the "Teams under consideration" area. Minnesota (21), Bemidji (22), CC (23), and Minnesota State (24) could all put themselves in tournament consideration with a few good weeks.

Step 1: Pick the 16 tournament teams

1. Yale
2. North Dakota
3. Minnesota-Duluth
4. Denver
5. Michigan
6. New Hampshire
7. Boston College
8. Notre Dame
9. Wisconsin
10. Merrimack
11. Western Michigan
12. Dartmouth
13. Union
14. Nebraska-Omaha
15. RPI
16. Atlantic Hockey Champion (RIT)

Bubble Teams (in order): Miami, Maine, Boston University, Alaska, Princeton

Step 2: Assign the seeds

No. 1 seeds: Yale, North Dakota, Minnesota-Duluth, Denver
No. 2 seeds: Michigan, UNH, BC, Notre Dame
No. 3 seeds: Wisconsin, Merrimack, Western Michigan, Dartmouth
No. 4 seeds: Union, Nebraska-Omaha, RPI, RIT

Step 3: Place host teams in regionals

Right now we have two host schools in the tournament. New Hampshire is hosting the Northeast Regional in Manchester, and Yale is hosting the East Regional in Bridgeport. Therefore, UNH is placed as the #3 seed in Manchester and Yale is the #1 seed in Bridgeport.

Step 4: Place number 1 seeds in regionals

Number 1 seeds are placed based on proximity to regional site.

No. 1 Yale (Host) is placed in the East Regional in Bridgeport
No. 2 North Dakota is placed in the Mid-West Regional in Green Bay
No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth is placed in the West Regional in St. Louis
No. 4 Denver is placed in the Northeast Regional in Manchester

Step 5: Place the other 12 teams avoiding intra-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. 8 Nore Dame is placed in No. 1 Yale's Regional, the East Regional
No. 7 Boston College is placed in No. 2 North Dakota's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 5 Michigan is placed in No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth's Regional, the West Regional
No. 6 UNH (Host) is placed in No. 4 Denver's Regional, the Northeast Regional

Number 3 seeds:

No. 9 Wisconsin is placed No. 8 Notre Dame's Regional, the East Regional
No. 10 Merrimack is placed in No. 7 Boston College's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 11 Western Michigan is placed in No. 6 UNH's Regional, The Northeast Regional
No. 12 Dartmouth is placed in No. 5 Michigan's Regional, the West Regional

Number 4 seeds:

No. 13 Union is placed in No. 4 Denver's Regional, the Northeast Regional
No. 14 UNO is placed in No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth's Regional, the West Regional
No. 15 RPI is placed in No. 2 North Dakota's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 16 RIT is placed in No. 1 Yale's Regional, the East Regional

Our bracket as we have it set up:

East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
1 Yale vs 16 RIT
8. Notre Dame vs 9 Wisconsin


Mid-West Regional (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
2 North Dakota vs 15 RPI
7 Boston College vs 10 Merrimack

Northeast Regional (Manchester, New Hampshire)
4 Denver vs 13 Union
6 New Hampshire vs 11 Western Michigan

West Regional (St. Louis, Missouri)
3 Minnesota-Duluth vs 14 Nebraska-Omaha
5 Michigan vs 12 Dartmouth

Our first concern is to avoid intra-conference first round match ups. This week we have two, Boston College vs Merrimack and Minnesota-Duluth vs Nebraska-Omaha.

The Nebraska-Omaha flip is the easy one since we only have one option. Since UNO has to be a 4 seed, and they can't play first round games against 1 seeds North Dakota, Denver, or Minnesota-Duluth they MUST be flipped with RIT to the East Regional. As for BC/Merrimack, an easy switch of Merrimack and Wisconsin eliminates an intra-conference match up and boosts attendance by putting the Badgers in Green Bay.


Our bracket as we have it set up now:

East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
1 Yale vs 15 Nebraska-Omaha
8. Notre Dame vs 10 Merrimack

Mid-West Regional (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
2 North Dakota vs 15 RPI
7 Boston College vs 9 Wisconsin

Northeast Regional (Manchester, New Hampshire)
4 Denver vs 13 Union
6 New Hampshire vs 11 Western Michigan

West Regional (St. Louis, Missouri)
3 Minnesota-Duluth vs 16 RIT
5 Michigan vs 12 Dartmouth

Attendance actually improved with the PWR tweak because an easy switch puts Wisconsin in Green Bay

Week by week Wisconsin tournament tracker:
Week 1: #12 overall seed vs Michigan in Mid-West Regional in Green Bay
Week 2: First team out of the tournament, #16 in the PWR
Week 3: Falling further away from the tournament, #24 in the PWR
Week 4: Stopped the bleeding, moved up to #18 in the PWR
Week 5: Still hovering in the bubble, dropped a spot to #19 in PWR
Week 6: Gaining some ground, moved up to #17 in the PWR
Week 7: Stalemate, still at #17 in the PWR on a bye week.
Week 8: Back in the game, #12 overall seed in Northeast Regional in Manchester
Week 9: Moving on up, to the east side. #9 overall seed in the East Regional.
Week 10: All the way up to the #8 overall seed vs Maine in the East Regional.
Week 10b: With the PWR tweak we drop a spot. Now playing BC in Green Bay.

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Monday Morning Bracketology Week 10: 1/17/11

It's time once again for our weekly installment of Bracketology. This week finds the Badgers moving on up once again. For the third week in a row the Badgers are projected to be tournament bound. Last week Wisconsin checked in at #9, this week we're at #8 in the PWR following our road split at Minnesota-Duluth. Remember, we'd like to get to at least #13 or #14 to lock in an at large bid.

No bids were won or lost for the WCHA this week but Colorado College took a significant hit with after being swept by Alaska-Anchorage. CC dropped about 7 places in the PWR with the sweep. There are a few other WCHA teams currently lurking in the "Teams under consideration" area. Minnesota (21), Bemidji (22), CC (23), and Minnesota State (24) could all put themselves in tournament consideration with a few good weeks.

Step 1: Pick the 16 tournament teams

1. Yale
2. North Dakota
3. Denver
4. Minnesota-Duluth
5. Boston College
6. Michigan
7. Notre Dame
8. Wisconsin
9. New Hampshire
10. Maine
11. Dartmouth
12. Union
13. Boston University
14. Merrimack
15. Nebraska-Omaha
16. Atlantic Hockey Champion (RIT)

Bubble Teams (in order): Western Michigan, RPI, Miami, Alaska, Princeton

Step 2: Assign the seeds

No. 1 seeds: Yale, North Dakota, Denver, Minnesota-Duluth
No. 2 seeds: Boston College, Michigan, Notre Dame, Wisconsin
No. 3 seeds: New Hampshire, Maine, Dartmouth, Union
No. 4 seeds: BU, Merrimack, Nebraska-Omaha, RIT

Step 3: Place host teams in regionals

Right now we have two host schools in the tournament. New Hampshire is hosting the Northeast Regional in Manchester, and Yale is hosting the East Regional in Bridgeport. Therefore, UNH is placed as the #3 seed in Manchester and Yale is the #1 seed in Bridgeport.

Step 4: Place number 1 seeds in regionals

Number 1 seeds are placed based on proximity to regional site.

No. 1 Yale (Host) is placed in the East Regional in Bridgeport
No. 2 North Dakota is placed in the Mid-West Regional in Green Bay
No. 3 Denver is placed in the West Regional in St. Louis
No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth is placed in the Northeast Regional in Manchester

Step 5: Place the other 12 teams avoiding intra-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. 8 Wisconsin is placed in No. 1 Yale's Regional, the East Regional
No. 7 Notre Dame is placed in No. 2 North Dakota's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 6 Michigan is placed in No. 3 Denver's Regional, the West Regional
No. 5 Boston College is placed in No. 4 UMD's Regional, the Northeast Regional

Number 3 seeds:

No. 9 UNH (Host) is placed No. 5 BC's Regional, the Northeast Regional
No. 10 Maine is placed in No. 8 Wisconsin's Regional, the East Regional
No. 11 Dartmouth is placed in No. 7 Notre Dame's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 12 Union is placed in No. 6 Michigan's Regional, the West Regional

Number 4 seeds:

No. 13 BU is placed in No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth's, the Northeast Regional
No. 14 Merrimack is placed in No. 3 Denver's Regional, the West Regional
No. 15 Nebraska-Omaha is placed in No. 2 North Dakota's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 16 RIT is placed in No. 1 Yale's Regional, the East Regional

Our bracket as we have it set up:

East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
1 Yale vs 16 RIT
8. Wisconsin vs 10 Maine

Mid-West Regional (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
2 North Dakota vs 15 Nebraska-Omaha
7 Notre Dame vs 11 Dartmouth

Northeast Regional (Manchester, New Hampshire)
4 Minnesota-Duluth vs 13 Boston University
5 Boston College vs 9 New Hampshire

West Regional (St. Louis, Missouri)
3 Denver vs 14 Merrimack
6 Michigan vs 12 Union

Our first concern is to avoid intra-conference first round match ups. This week we have two, Boston College vs New Hampshire and North Dakota vs Nebraska-Omaha. We're in a tricky situation here because we can only move teams between bands but New Hampshire must stay in Manchester since it's a host school.

The Nebraska-Omaha flip is the easy one since we only have one option. Since UNO has to be a 4 seed, and they can't play first round games against 1 seeds North Dakota, Denver, or Minnesota-Duluth they MUST be flipped with RIT to the East Regional. As for New Hampshire/BC, UNH MUST stay in Manchester so we'll flip Note Dame and BC. It hurts attendance taking BC out of the East but we didn't have a choice. Flipping BC and Wisconsin would cause another intra-conference matchup so this is the best route. It creates more bracket ingtegrity as well.

Our bracket as we have it set up now:

East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
1 Yale vs 15 Nebraska-Omaha

8. Wisconsin vs 10 Maine

Mid-West Regional (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
2 North Dakota vs 16 RIT

5 Boston College vs 11 Dartmouth

Northeast Regional (Manchester, New Hampshire)
4 Minnesota-Duluth vs 13 Boston University
7 Notre Dame vs 9 New Hampshire

West Regional (St. Louis, Missouri)
3 Denver vs 14 Merrimack
6 Michigan vs 12 Union

It's not our best week attendance wise but it's certainly not our worst. Realistically there is nothing we can do to make it better either. So that's what we'll go with.

Week by week Wisconsin tournament tracker:
Week 1: #12 overall seed vs Michigan in Mid-West Regional in Green Bay
Week 2: First team out of the tournament, #16 in the PWR
Week 3: Falling further away from the tournament, #24 in the PWR
Week 4: Stopped the bleeding, moved up to #18 in the PWR
Week 5: Still hovering in the bubble, dropped a spot to #19 in PWR
Week 6: Gaining some ground, moved up to #17 in the PWR
Week 7: Stalemate, still at #17 in the PWR on a bye week.
Week 8: Back in the game, #12 overall seed in Northeast Regional in Manchester
Week 9: Moving on up, to the east side. #9 overall seed in the East Regional.

Week 10: All the way up to the #8 overall seeed vs Maine in the East Regional.

chuckschwartz(at)live.com
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Tuesday Afternoon Bracketology Week 9: 1/11/11

It's time once again for our weekly installment of Bracketology. This week finds the Badgers moving on up once again. For the second week in a row the Badgers are projected to be tournament bound. Last week Wisconsin checked in at #12, this week we're at #9 in the PWR. Remember, we'd like to get to at least #13 or #14 to lock in an at large bid.

The WCHA dropped 1 bid this week with Colorado College dropping to #16 in the PWR. If the season ended today, the WCHA would have five teams in the tournament. The five currently in the tournament right now: North Dakota, Denver, Minnesota-Duluth, Nebraska-Omaha, Wisconsin. Colorado College, Minnesota State, and Minnesota are all within striking distance of an at large bid.

Step 1: Pick the 16 tournament teams

1. Yale
2. North Dakota
3. Minnesota-Duluth
4. Boston College
5. Denver
6. New Hampshire
7. Michigan
8. Notre Dame
9. Wisconsin
10. Nebraska-Omaha
11. RPI
12. Merrimack
13. Union
14. Western Michigan
15. Boston University
16. Atlantic Hockey Champion (Robert Morris)

Bubble Teams (in order): Colorado College, Maine, Alakska, Dartmouth, Miami

Step 2: Assign the seeds

No. 1 seeds: Yale, North Dakota, Minnesota-Duluth, Boston College
No. 2 seeds: Denver, New Hampshire, Michigan, Notre Dame
No. 3 seeds: Wisconsin, Nebraska-Omaha, RPI, Merrimack
No. 4 seeds: Union, Western Michigan, Boston University, Robert Morris

Step 3: Place host teams in regionals

Right now we have two host schools in the tournament. New Hampshire is hosting the Northeast Regional in Manchester, and Yale is hosting the East Regional in Bridgeport. Therefore, UNH is placed as the #2 seed in Manchester and Yale is the #1 seed in Bridgeport.

Step 4: Place number 1 seeds in regionals
Number 1 seeds are placed based on proximity to regional site.

No. 1 Yale (Host) is placed in the East Regional in Bridgeport
No. 2 North Dakota is placed in the Mid-West Regional in Green Bay
No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth is placed in the West Regional in St. Louis
No. 4 Boston College is placed in the Northeast Regional in Manchester

Step 5: Place the other 12 teams avoiding intra-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. 8 Notre Dame is placed in No. 1 Yale's Regional, the East Regional
No. 7 Michigan is placed in No. 2 North Dakota's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 6 UNH (host) is placed in No. 4 Boston College's Regional, the Northeast Regional
No. 5 Denver is placed in No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth's Regional, the West Regional

Number 3 seeds:

No. 9 Wisconsin is placed No. 8 Notre Dame's Regional, the East Regional
No. 10 Nebraska-Omaha is placed in No. 7 Michigan's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 11 RPI is placed in No. 6 New Hampshire's Regional, the Northeast Regional
No. 12 Merrimack is placed in No. 5 Denver's Regional, the West Regional

Number 4 seeds:

No. 13 Union is placed in No. 4 Boston College's Regional, the Northeast Regional
No. 14 Western Michigan is placed in No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth's Regional, the West Regional
No. 15 Boston University is placed in No. 2 North Dakota's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 16 Robert Morris is placed in No. 1 Yale's Regional, the East Regional

Our bracket as we have it set up:

East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
1 Yale vs 16 Robert Morris
8 Notre Dame vs 9 Wisconsin

Mid-West Regional (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
2 North Dakota vs 15 Boston University
7 Michigan vs 10 Nebraska-Omaha

Northeast Regional (Manchester, New Hampshire)
4 Boston College vs 13 Union
6 New Hampshire vs 11 RPI

West Regional (St. Louis, Missouri)
3 Minnesota-Duluth vs 14 Western Michigan
5 Denver vs 12 Merrimack

Our first concern is to avoid intra-conference first round match ups. This week we have none so we're good.

Attendance looks fairly strong across the board. There are a few changes we could make to make it better. One thing we could do would be to have Minnesota-Duluth in Green Bay instead of North Dakota. I could very well see the NCAA doing this. I'm guessing North Dakota will have to fly no matter if they go to Green Bay or St. Louis and Duluth can bus to Green Bay. It was a similar situation last season where the committee shipped Denver out East and had Wisconsin in St. Paul because Wisconsin could bus to St. Paul.

Another thing we could do is flip the match up between Norte Dame and Wisconsin to the Green Bay regional and flip the Michigan/Nebraska-Omaha match up out east. That would give the Green Bay attendance a significant boost.

I'm not confident in either move right now so I'm going to leave it as is.

Week by week Wisconsin tournament tracker:
Week 1: #12 overall seed vs Michigan in Mid-West Regional in Green Bay
Week 2: First team out of the tournament, #16 in the PWR
Week 3: Falling further away from the tournament, #24 in the PWR
Week 4: Stopped the bleeding, moved up to #18 in the PWR
Week 5: Still hovering in the bubble, dropped a spot to #19 in PWR

Week 6: Gaining some ground, moved up to #17 in the PWR
Week 7: Stalemate, still at #17 in the PWR on a bye week.
Week 8: Back in the game, #12 overall seed in Northeast Regional in Manchester
Week 9: Moving on up, to the east side. #9 overall seed in the East Regional.

chuckschwartz@live.com
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Tuesday Morning Bracketology Week 8: 1/4/11

It's time once again for our weekly installment of Bracketology. This week finds the Wisconsin Badgers in the tournament for the first time in the past 6 weeks. After a sweep of the UMass Minutemen, the Badgers jumped up five places from #17 to #12 in the PWR. Remember, we'd like to get to at least #13 or #14 to lock in an at large bid.

The WCHA gained two bids this week with Wisconsin and Colorado College playing themselves into the tournament. If the season ended today, the WCHA would have six teams in the tournament. Having half your league qualify as at large teams is impressive indeed. The six currently in the tournament right now: North Dakota, Denver, Minnesota-Duluth, Nebraska-Omaha, Wisconsin, Colorado College.

Step 1: Pick the 16 tournament teams

1. Yale
2. North Dakota
3. Denver
4. Boston College
5. New Hampshire
6. Minnesota-Duluth
7. RPI
8. Michigan
9. Nebraska-Omaha
10. Miami
11. Notre Dame
12. Wisconsin
13. Alaska
14. Colorado College
15. Maine
16. Atlantic Hockey Champion (Robert Morris)

Bubble Teams (in order): Union, Merrimack, Princeton, Boston University, Dartmouth

Step 2: Assign the seeds

No. 1 seeds: Yale, North Dakota, Denver, Boston College
No. 2 seeds: New Hampshire, Minnesota-Duluth, RPI, Michigan
No. 3 seeds: Nebraska-Omaha, Miami, Notre Dame, Wisconsin
No. 4 seeds: Alaska, Colorado College, Maine, Robert Morris

Step 3: Place host teams in regionals

Right now we have two host schools in the tournament. New Hampshire is hosting the Northeast Regional in Manchester, and Yale is hosting the East Regional in Bridgeport. Therefore, UNH is placed as the #2 seed in Manchester and Yale is the #1 seed in Bridgeport.

Step 4: Place number 1 seeds in regionals
Number 1 seeds are placed based on proximity to regional site.

No. 1 Yale (Host) is placed in the East Regional in Bridgeport
No. 2 North Dakota is placed in the Mid-West Regional in Green Bay
No. 3 Denver is placed in the West Regional in St. Louis
No. 4 Boston College is placed in the Northeast Regional in Manchester

Step 5: Place the other 12 teams avoiding intra-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. 8 Michigan is placed in No. 1 Yale's Regional, the East Regional
No. 7 RPI is placed in No. 2 North Dakota's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 6 Minnesota-Duluth is placed in No. 3 Denver's Regional, the West Regional
No. 5 UNH (host) is placed in No. 4 Boston College's Regional, the Northeast Regional

Number 3 seeds:

No. 9 Nebraska-Omaha is placed No. 8 Michigan's Regional, the East Regional
No. 10 Miami is placed in No. 7 RPI's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 11 Notre Dame is placed in No. 6 UMD's Regional, the West Regional
No. 12 Wisconsin is placed in No. 5 New Hampshire's Regional, the Northeast Regional

Number 4 seeds:

No. 13 Alaska is placed in No. 4 Boston College's Regional, the Northeast Regional
No. 14 Colorado College is placed in No. 3 Denver's Regional, the West Regional
No. 15 Maine is placed in No. 2 North Dakota's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 16 Robert Morris is placed in No. 1 Yale's Regional, the East Regional

Our bracket as we have it set up:

East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
1 Yale vs 16 Robert Morris
8 Michigan vs 9 Nebraska-Omaha

Mid-West Regional (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
2 North Dakota vs 15 Maine
7 RPI vs 10 Miami

Northeast Regional (Manchester, New Hampshire)
4 Boston College vs 13 Alaska
5 New Hampshire vs 12 Wisconsin

West Regional (St. Louis, Missouri)
3 Denver vs 14 Colorado College
6 Minnesota-Duluth vs 11 Notre Dame

This week we only have one and it's an easy switch. We have Denver playing Colorado College. Keep in mind teams can only be moved within their own band. Therefore, we're going to flip #13 Alaska with #14 CC.

Our new tournament:
East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
1 Yale vs 16 Robert Morris
8 Michigan vs 9 Nebraska-Omaha

Mid-West Regional (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
2 North Dakota vs 15 Maine
7 RPI vs 10 Miami

Northeast Regional (Manchester, New Hampshire)
4 Boston College vs 14 Colorado College
5 New Hampshire vs 12 Wisconsin

West Regional (St. Louis, Missouri)
3 Denver vs 13 Alaska
6 Minnesota-Duluth vs 11 Notre Dame

Bracket integrity looks strong.

There are no swaps that jump out at me to improve attendance without creating an intra-conference match up or ruining bracket integrity. Attendance looks strong in most of the regionals which should make the NCAA happy.

So that's what we'll go with for this week.

Week by week Wisconsin tournament tracker:
Week 1: #12 overall seed vs Michigan in Mid-West Regional in Green Bay
Week 2: First team out of the tournament, #16 in the PWR
Week 3: Falling further away from the tournament, #24 in the PWR
Week 4: Stopped the bleeding, moved up to #18 in the PWR
Week 5: Still hovering in the bubble, dropped a spot to #19 in PWR

Week 6: Gaining some ground, moved up to #17 in the PWR
Week 7: Stalemate, still at #17 in the PWR on a bye week.
Week 8: Back in the game, #12 overall seed in Northeast Regional in Manchester

chuckschwartz@live.com
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Monday Morning Bracketology Week 7: 12/20/10

It's time once again for our weekly installment of Bracketology. This week finds the Wisconsin Badgers sitting at home once again come tournament time for the sixth week in a row. Similar to last week, we're hovering around the bubble. There weren't many games this week and we had a bye, so we end up #17 in the PWR in back to back weeks. Remember, we'd like to get to at least #13 or #14 to lock in an at large bid.

The WCHA lost an at large bid this week with Alaska leap frogging Colorado College. That means that the WCHA is projected to have 4 teams (North Dakota, Denver, Nebraska-Omaha, and Minnesota-Duluth) in the tournament with Colorado College, Wisconsin and Minnesota within striking distance.

Step 1: Pick the 16 tournament teams

1. Yale
2. Minnesota-Duluth
3. North Dakota
4. New Hampshire
5. Boston College
6. Denver
7. Nebraska-Omaha
8. Notre Dame
9. RPI
10. Miami
11. Michigan
12. Boston University
13. Maine
14. Union
15. Alaska
16. Atlantic Hockey Champion (Robert Morris)

Bubble Teams (in order): Colorado College, Wisconsin, Merrimack, Western Michigan, Minnesota

Step 2: Assign the seeds

No. 1 seeds: Yale, Minnesota-Duluth, North Dakota, New Hampshire
No. 2 seeds: Boston College, Denver, Nebraska-Omaha, Notre Dame
No. 3 seeds: RPI, Miami, Michigan, Boston University
No. 4 seeds: Maine, Union, Alaska, Robert Morris

Step 3: Place host teams in regionals

Right now we have two host schools in the tournament. New Hampshire is hosting the Northeast Regional in Manchester, and Yale is hosting the East Regional in Bridgeport. Therefore, UNH is placed as the #1 seed in Manchester and Yale is the #1 seed in Bridgeport.

Step 4: Place number 1 seeds in regionals
Number 1 seeds are placed based on proximity to regional site.

No. 1 Yale (Host) is placed in the East Regional in Bridgeport
No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth is placed in the Mid-West Regional in Green Bay
No. 3 North Dakota is placed in the West Regional in St. Louis
No. 4 UNH (Host) is placed in the Northeast Regional in Manchester

Step 5: Place the other 12 teams avoiding intra-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. 8 Notre Dame is placed in No. 1 Yale's Regional, the East Regional
No. 7 UNO is placed in No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 6 Denver is placed in No. 3 North Dakota's Regional, the West Regional
No. 5 Boston College is placed in No. 4 New Hampshire's Regional, the Northeast Regional

Number 3 seeds:

No. 9 RPI is placed No. 8 Notre Dame's Regional, the East Regional
No. 10 Miami is placed in No. 7 UNO's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 11 Michigan is placed in No. 6 Denver's Regional, the West Regional
No. 12 BU is placed in No. 5 Boston College's Regional, the Northeast Regional

Number 4 seeds:

No. 13 Maine is placed in No. 4 UNH's Regional, the Northeast Regional
No. 14 Union is placed in No. 3 North Dakota's Regional, the West Regional
No. 15 Alaska is placed in No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 16 Robert Morris is placed in No. 1 Yale's Regional, the East Regional

Our bracket as we have it set up:

East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
1 Yale vs 16 Robert Morris
8 Notre Dame vs 9 RPI

Mid-West Regional (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
2 Minnesota-Duluth vs 15 Alaska
7 Nebraska-Omaha vs 10 Miami

Northeast Regional (Manchester, New Hampshire)
4 New Hampshire vs 13 Maine
5 Boston College vs 12 Boston University

West Regional (St. Louis, Missouri)
3 North Dakota vs 14 Union
6 Denver vs 11 Michigan

Our first concern is to avoid intra-conference first round match ups. Last week we had a ridiculous four. This week we have two and they are both in the Northeast Regional in Manchester.

Keep in mind teams can only be moved within their own band. Therefore, we're going to flip #13 Maine with #14 Union, and we're also going to flip #12 Boston University with #11 Michigan.

Our new tournament:

East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
1 Yale vs 16 Robert Morris
8 Notre Dame vs 9 RPI

Mid-West Regional (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
2 Minnesota-Duluth vs 15 Alaska
7 Nebraska-Omaha vs 10 Miami

Northeast Regional (Manchester, New Hampshire)
4 New Hampshire vs 14 Union
5 Boston College vs 11 Michigan

West Regional (St. Louis, Missouri)
3 North Dakota vs 13 Maine
6 Denver vs 12 Boston University

Bracket integrity looks strong.

There are no swaps that jump out at me to improve attendance without creating an intra-conference match up or ruining bracket integrity. Attendance looks strong in most of the regionals which should make the NCAA happy.

So that's what we'll go with for this week.

Week by week Wisconsin tournament tracker:
Week 1: #12 overall seed vs Michigan in Mid-West Regional in Green Bay
Week 2: First team out of the tournament, #16 in the PWR
Week 3: Falling further away from the tournament, #24 in the PWR
Week 4: Stopped the bleeding, moved up to #18 in the PWR
Week 5: Still hovering in the bubble, dropped a spot to #19 in PWR

Week 6: Gaining some ground, moved up to #17 in the PWR
Week 7: Stalemate, still at #17 in the PWR on a bye week.

chuckschwartz@live.com
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Late Tuesday (?) Bracketology Week 6: 12/14/10

It's time once again for our weekly installment of Bracketology. This week finds the Wisconsin Badgers sitting at home once again come tournament time for the fifth week in a row. Similar to last week, we're hovering around the bubble. With our sweep against Bemidji State, we moved up two spots from #19 to #17 in the PWR. Remember, we'd like to get to at least #13 or #14 to lock in an at large bid.

The WCHA picked up an at large bid in this weeks projections with Colorado College jumping up to #15 in the PWR. That means that the WCHA is projected to have 5 teams (North Dakota, Denver, Nebraska-Omaha, Minnesota-Duluth, and Colorado College) in the tournament with Wisconsin and Minnesota within striking distance.

Step 1: Pick the 16 tournament teams

1. Yale
2. Minnesota-Duluth
3. New Hampshire
4. Boston College
5. North Dakota
6. Denver
7. Nebraska-Omaha
8. Union
9. RPI
10. Notre Dame
11. Miami
12. Michigan
13. Boston University
14. Maine
15. Colorado College
16. Atlantic Hockey Champion (Robert Morris)

Bubble Teams (in order): Alaska, Wisconsin, Merrimack, Dartmouth, Minnesota

Step 2: Assign the seeds

No. 1 seeds: Yale, Minnesota-Duluth, New Hampshire, Boston College
No. 2 seeds: North Dakota, Denver, Nebraska-Omaha, Union
No. 3 seeds: RPI, Notre Dame, Miami, Michigan
No. 4 seeds: Boston University, Maine, Colorado College, Robert Morris

Step 3: Place host teams in regionals

Right now we have two host schools in the tournament. New Hampshire is hosting the Northeast Regional in Manchester, and Yale is hosting the East Regional in Bridgeport. Therefore, UNH is placed as the #1 seed in Manchester and Yale is the #1 seed in Bridgeport.

Step 4: Place number 1 seeds in regionals
Number 1 seeds are placed based on proximity to regional site.

No. 1 Yale (Host) is placed in the East Regional in Bridgeport
No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth is placed in the Mid-West Regional in Green Bay
No. 3 UNH (Host) is placed in the Northeast Regional in Manchester
No. 4 Boston College is placed in the West Regional in St. Louis

Step 5: Place the other 12 teams avoiding intra-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. 8 Union is placed in No. 1 Yale's Regional, the East Regional
No. 7 UNO is placed in No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 6 Denver is placed in No. 3 New Hampshire's Regional, the Northeast Regional
No. 5 North Dakota is placed in No. 4 Boston College's Regional, the West Regional

Number 3 seeds:

No. 9 RPI is placed No. 8 Union's Regional, the East Regional
No. 10 Notre Dame is placed in No. 7 UNO's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 11 Miami is placed in No. 6 Denver's Regional, the Northeast Regional
No. 12 Michigan is placed in No. 5 North Dakota's Regional, the West Regional

Number 4 seeds:

No. 13 Boston University is placed in No. 4 Boston College's Regional, the West Regional
No. 14 Maine is placed in No. 3 UNH's Regional, the Northeast Regional
No. 15 Colorado College is placed in No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth's Regional, the Mid-West Regional
No. 16 Robert Morris is placed in No. 1 Yale's Regional, the East Regional

Our bracket as we have it set up:

East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
1 Yale vs 16 Robert Morris
8 Union vs 9 RPI

Mid-West Regional (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
2 Minnesota-Duluth vs 15 Colorado College
7 Nebraska-Omaha vs 10 Notre Dame

Northeast Regional (Manchester, New Hampshire)
3 New Hampshire vs 14 Maine
6 Denver vs 11 Miami

West Regional (St. Louis, Missouri)
4 Boston College vs 13 Boston University
5 North Dakota vs 12 Michigan

Our first concern is to avoid intra-conference first round match ups. Unlike last week, where we had none, this week we have four. Union vs RPI, Duluth vs Colorado College, New Hampshire vs Maine, and BC vs BU.

Keep in mind teams can only be moved within thier own band. Therefore, we're going to flip #16 Robert Morris and #14 Maine, and #15 Colorado College and #13 Boston University. We also will flip #9 RPI with #10 Notre Dame.

Our new tournament:

East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
1 Yale vs 14 Maine

8 Union vs 10 Notre Dame

Mid-West Regional (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
2 Minnesota-Duluth vs 13 Boston University

7 Nebraska-Omaha vs 9 RPI

Northeast Regional (Manchester, New Hampshire)
3 New Hampshire vs 16 Robert Morris

6 Denver vs 11 Miami

West Regional (St. Louis, Missouri)
4 Boston College vs 15 Colorado College

5 North Dakota vs 12 Michigan

Bracket integrity looks strong.

There are no swaps that jump out at me to improve attendance without creating an intra-conference match up or ruining bracket integrity.

So that's what we'll go with for this week, I'm happy with it.

Week by week Wisconsin tournament tracker:
Week 1: #12 overall seed vs Michigan in Mid-West Regional in Green Bay
Week 2: First team out of the tournament, #16 in the PWR
Week 3: Falling further away from the tournament, #24 in the PWR
Week 4: Stopped the bleeding, moved up to #18 in the PWR
Week 5: Still hovering in the bubble, dropped a spot to #19 in PWR

Week 6: Gaining some ground, moved up to #17 in the PWR

chuckschwartz@live.com
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