We're almost there. Only one more weekend of hockey until we know exactly who will be in the NCAA tournament.Wisconsin had a good weekend sweeping Alaska Anchorage. We still currently sit at #3 in the PWR. We now move on to the WCHA Final Five at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Denver, Miami, and BC also held serve in thier positions at #1, #2, and #4 respectively.
The biggest news of the weekend was that Bemidji State lost in the CHA semi-finals and now Alabama-Huntsville will get the Automatic Bid from that conference. Since Bemidji will get an at large bid, that means that there will be two teams from the CHA in the tournament and it means there is now one less at large bid. As it stands right now, you need to be in the top 14 if there are no more upsets.
Five WCHA teams are done for the season. Denver, Wisconsin, St. Cloud, and North Dakota have clinched births to the tournament. Minnesota-Duluth is #11 in the PWR. They need to perform at the Final Five to lock down the 5th bid for the WCHA.
Step 1: Pick the 16 Tournament teams
1. Denver
2. Miami
3. Wisconsin
4. Boston College
5. North Dakota
6. St. Cloud State
7. Bemidji State
8. Ferris State
9. Cornell
10. Yale
11. Minnesota-Duluth
12. Northern Michigan
13. Alaska
14. Vermont
15. RIT (Projected Atlantic Hockey Champion)
16. Alabama-Huntsville (CHA Champion)
Bubble Teams (New Hampshire, Michigan, Michigan State, Maine, Boston University)
Step 2: Assign the Seeds
No. 1 Seeds: Denver, Miami, Wisconsin, Boston College
No. 2 Seeds: North Dakota, St. Cloud, Bemidji State, Ferris State
No. 3 Seeds: Cornell, Yale, Minnesota-Duluth, Northern Michigan
No. 4 Seeds: Alaska, Vermont, RIT, Alabama-Huntsville
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 Boston College is placed in Northeast regional in Worcester
Step 4: 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 Ferris State is placed in No. 1 Denver's Regional, the West Regional.
No. 7 Bemidji State is placed in No. 2 Miami's Regional, the Mid-West Regional.
No. 6 St. Cloud State is placed in No. 3 Wisconsin's Regional, the East Regional.
No. 5 North Dakota is placed in No. 4 Boston College's Regional, the Northeast Regional.
No. 10 Yale is placed in No. 7 Bemidji's Regional, the Mid-West Regional.
No. 11 Minnesota-Duluth is placed in No. 6 St. Cloud's Regional, the East Regional.
No. 12 Northern Michigan is placed in No. 5 North Dakota'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 Alabama-Huntsville is sent to No. 1 Denver's Regional, the West Regional.
No. 15 RIT is sent to No. 2 Miami's Regional, the Mid-West Regional.
No. 14 Vermont is sent to No. 3 Wisconsin's Regional, the East Regional.
No. 13 Alaska is sent to No. 4 Boston College's Regional, the Northeast Regional.
Our Bracket as we have it set up:
West Regional (St. Paul, MN):
1 Denver vs 16 Alabama-Huntsville
8 Ferris State vs 9 Cornell
Midwest Regional (Fort Wayne, IN):
2 Miami vs 15 RIT
7 Bemidji State vs 10 Yale
East Regional (Albany, NY):
3 Wisconsin vs 14 Vermont
6 St. Cloud vs 11 Minnesota-Duluth
Northeast Regional (Worcester, MA):
4 Boston College vs 13 Alaska
5 North Dakota vs 12 Northern Michigan
Our first concern is to avoid intra-conference first round match ups. We have one with St. Cloud vs Minnesota-Duluth. We can't switch Northern Michigan with Duluth because that would create another WCHA first round match up. Instead we switch Duluth with Yale. Integrity looks good.
How about attendance? St. Paul looks weak. I'm not going to switch Denver out of St. Paul in this weeks addition. We can switch Bemidji State and Ferris State to increase attendance in both Fort Wayne and St. Paul. I've been switching Wisconsin to St. Paul but attendance in Albany will be better with Wisconsin, Yale, and Vermont rather than Denver, Alabama-Huntsville, Cornell and Bemidji.
Our Final Bracket for the night:
West Regional (St. Paul, MN):
1 Denver vs 16 Alabama-Huntsville
7 Bemidji State vs 9 Cornell
Midwest Regional (Fort Wayne, IN):
2 Miami vs 15 RIT
8 Ferris State vs 11 Minnesota-Duluth
East Regional (Albany, NY):
3 Wisconsin vs 14 Vermont
6 St. Cloud vs 10 Yale
Northeast Regional (Worcester, MA):
4 Boston College vs 13 Alaska
5 North Dakota vs 12 Northern Michigan
I like that bracket better. We now have Miami and Ferris State in Fort Wayne, Wisconsin, Vermont, and Yale in Albany, Boston College in Worcester, and Denver and Bemidji State in St. Paul.
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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