As we creep closer to Selection Sunday, at least for this week, the stars seem to be aligning for bracket makers.
For the first time since Bracketology premiered about a month ago, there is balance among the top four teams in the PairWise. We have two teams from the west in North Dakota and Minnesota State and two from the east in Cornell and Boston College.
In concept, that should make it a little easier to seed things as you’re not sending a team from say, Grand Forks, N.D. to Worcester, Mass.
But, that doesn’t mean that North Dakota still isn’t a headache on where they should be place.
By the book, the Fighting Hawks should be sent to Loveland, Colo., as Loveland is about 900 miles from the North Dakota campus, as opposed to Allenton, Pa., which is nearly double that, around 1,500 miles.
But we’ve said it in this space before and we’ll say it again: once a team is getting on an airplane, the destination is somewhat unimportant.
That is what is guiding my (Jim’s) philosophy this week, though Jayson is taking a different approach.
If you’re new to bracketology or need a refresher on how teams are selected and seeded, we have you covered.
With that in mind here are the 16 teams that would qualify if the season ended today:
1. North Dakota
2. Minnesota State
3. Cornell
4. Boston College
5. Minnesota Duluth
6. Denver
7. Penn State
8. Massachusetts
9. Ohio State
10. Clarkson
11. Bemidji State
12. Northeastern
13. Arizona State
14. Minnesota
15. Western Michigan
16. American International
BOLD denotes teams currently leading their conference standings.
If you’re a veteran, come along as Jayson and I try to explain how we would each seed the tournament:
Jim’s bracket
Allentown Regional
1. North Dakota (1)
2. Penn State (7)
3. Bemidji State (11)
4. American International (16)
Worcester Regional
1. Boston College (4)
2. Minnesota Duluth (5)
3. Northeastern (12)
4. Arizona State (13)
Loveland Regional
1. Minnesota State (2)
2. Denver (6)
3. Ohio State (9)
4. Western Michigan (15)
Albany Regional
1. Cornell (3)
2. Massachusetts (8)
3. Clarkson (10)
4. Minnesota (14)
Jim’s rationale
I mentioned on the top that having two eastern teams and two western teams should make things easier. In ways it does.
But I still feel the need to ignore placing North Dakota in Loveland, Colo., instead opting to place them in Allentown. My reasoning is that the venue in Allentown is larger and has more capacity. With Denver the host in Loveland, I would actually be concerned that tickets would sellout and that fans of the number one overall team might be shutout from attending. The extra 1,200 seats in Allentown, which will have a strong crowd itself with host Penn State in the field, will make a difference in ticket availability.
From there things fell nicely in order. I wanted to get Clarkson in Albany and Northeastern in Worcester to help drive attendance at each venue. That meant sending Ohio State to Loveland to avoid playing Penn State in the opening round.
Other than that things were pretty simple. All of the number one seeds will face their correct opponents to maintain bracket integrity (1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15, etc.)
And I think all four regions have a chance to have strong attendance.
Jayson’s bracket
Loveland Regional
1. North Dakota (1)
2. Denver (5)
3. Ohio State (9)
4. American International (16)
Worcester Regional
1. Boston College (4)
2. Minnesota Duluth (5)
3. Northeastern (12)
4. Arizona State (13)
Allentown Regional
1. Minnesota State (2)
2. Penn State (7)
3. Bemidji State (11)
4. Western Michigan (15)
Albany Regional
1. Cornell (3)
2. Massachusetts (8)
3. Clarkson (10)
4. Minnesota (14)
Jayson’s philosophy
My first thoughts were how to place the number one seeds. It was quite easy for Cornell and BC, as Albany and Worcester make sense from a distance point of view. I decided to place Minnesota State in Allentown to preserve the 2-7 bracket integrity. That meant that North Dakota goes to Loveland.
For the second seeds, Denver must be in Loveland and Penn State must be in Allentown. After that, I placed Minnesota Duluth in Worcester to preserve the 4-5 matchup and that meant that Massachusetts is in Albany.
In the third band, I placed Clarkson and Northeastern in the Eastern brackets, with Northeastern in Worcester because it can’t play Massachusetts. Then placing Ohio State in Loveland to avoid the matchup with Penn St. That leaves Bemidji State in Allentown.
For the fourth band, AIC matches up with North Dakota, Western Michigan with Minnesota State, Arizona State with Boston College and Minnesota with Cornell. Pure bracket integrity.
Games to watch this week:
Michigan at Minnesota
The Gophers finally have themselves above the PairWise bubble (currently 14th), but now must take on a Michigan squad that realizes if they have any hope for an at-large, they need to sweep this weekend and, at least, reach the Big Ten championship game. It’s been a solid second half for the Wolverines, but such a rough start has then behind the 8-ball.
Clarkson at Cornell
Now that the Big Red have elevated themselves to a number one seed, this week’s game against Clarkson, which isn’t far behind at 10th in the PairWise, looms large. Cornell doesn’t want to slip down and risk being sent out west, while Clarkson is trying to elevate to a two seed.
UMass Lowell vs. New Hampshire (home-and-home)
The River Hawks have been dancing with the PairWise bubble for the last month and find themselves still on the wrong side. With New Hampshire being in the top half of the PairWise, two wins could do a lot for Lowell’s RPI.
Maine at Providence
This is the start of a home-and-home series between these two teams that is spread out over two weeks. Both teams need help in the PairWise, though wins for Maine have a more realistic chance of moving them above the bubble. All hope isn’t lost for Providence, though, as two regular season wins and two wins in the Hockey East quarterfinals would put them right back in the NCAA picture.
