Editor’s note: This was written prior to Wednesday’s Hockey East first-round playoff games and thus could be altered if individual teams move in the RPI/PWR after those three contests.
We can tell you one thing from last week’s Bracketology — people did not like Minnesota and St. Cloud State playing in the same region. We get it. But we also understand the NCAA’s typical approach to protect attendance at each venue and last week, that worked out.
Let’s see where this week takes us.
Unlike most week’s I (Jim) will start, as Jayson wants to take a less traditional approach to seeding his bracket. I want to keep things somewhat traditional.
Jim’s Bracket
I will begin by pairing the 16 teams (15 in the PairWise plus RIT, the placeholder for Atlantic Hockey) and use bracket integrity to seed my regions.
1 Minnesota
8 Penn State
9 Western Michigan
16 RIT
2 Quinnipiac
7 St. Cloud
10 Ohio State
15 Merrimack
3 Denver
6 Harvard
11 Michigan Tech
14 Cornell
4 Michigan
5 Boston University
12 Minnesota State
13 Alaska
Looking at the bracket, even before assigning regions, you have near perfection. Not a single first-round interconference matchup. That’s the good news.
The bad news is that you have the top seed, Minnesota, and a host school, Penn State in the same bracket. It seems unfair to make the top seed travel that far away from home when the Fargo region is a 4-5 hour drive away from campus. Thus, my first move is to switch Penn State and St. Cloud (save the hate mail, Minnesota-based fans. I get it). That does set up Penn State and Ohio State in the first round, so let’s switch Ohio State and Western Michigan.
1 Minnesota
7 St. Cloud
10 Ohio State
16 RIT
2 Quinnipiac
8 Penn State
9 Western Michigan
15 Merrimack
3 Denver
6 Harvard
11 Michigan Tech
14 Cornell
4 Michigan
5 Boston University
12 Minnesota State
13 Alaska
From this, we can begin assigning regions. Obviously, the region containing Penn State goes to Allentown. Minnesota’s region should be in Fargo. Michigan’s, which contains Boston University, makes most sense in Manchester to protect the gate at the venue. And Denver’s gets defaulted to Bridgeport.
But not so fast.
We’ve discussed in the past, it would be idiotic not to have Quinnipiac in Bridgeport. Thus, swapping the first-round matchups between Bridgeport and Allentown is sensible. That leaves us with:
Fargo, N.D.
1 Minnesota
7 St. Cloud
10 Ohio State
16 RIT
Allentown, Pa.
3 Denver
8 Penn State
9 Western Michigan
14 Cornell
Bridgeport, Conn.
2 Quinnipiac
6 Harvard
11 Michigan Tech
15 Merrimack
Manchester, N.H.
4 Michigan
5 Boston University
12 Minnesota State
13 Alaska
In the end, this makes a ton of sense. You get Cornell to Allentown, the closest regional to Ithaca by 70 miles. Fargo looks like solid attendance, Allentown and Bridgeport are possible sellouts and Manchester grabs the strong pull of Michigan’s cross-country alumni base and Boston University’s fan base right down the road.
Thus, my bracket is finished for the week.
Jayson’s bracket:
This week let’s start things differently, another way to fill out the bracket.
Let’s start by seed groupings and assign regionals right away.
Fargo – 1 Minnesota
Bridgeport – 2 Quinnipiac
Allentown – 3 Denver
Manchester – 4 Michigan
The second seeds need to have Penn State placed first, but then we go from there.
Fargo
1 Minnesota
7 St Cloud
Bridgeport
2 Quinnipiac
6 Harvard
Allentown
3 Denver
8 Penn State
Manchester
4 Michigan
5 Boston University
Now three and four seeds
Fargo, N.D.
1 Minnesota
7 St Cloud
10 Ohio State
16 RIT
Bridgeport, Conn.
2 Quinnipiac
6 Harvard
11 Michigan Tech
15 Merrimack
Allentown, Pa.
3 Denver
8 Penn State
9 Western Michigan
13 Cornell
Manchester, N.H.
4 Michigan
5 Boston University
12 Minnesota State
13 Alaska
There are zero intraconference matchups.
My job is easy this week.
Attendance is not easy this week, with only six “eastern” teams (seven if you count Penn State) and three “eastern” regionals.
This week’s brackets:
Jim’s bracket
Fargo, N.D.
1 Minnesota
7 St. Cloud
10 Ohio State
16 RIT
Allentown, Pa.
3 Denver
8 Penn State
9 Western Michigan
14 Cornell
Bridgeport, Conn.
2 Quinnipiac
6 Harvard
11 Michigan Tech
15 Merrimack
Manchester, N.H.
4 Michigan
5 Boston University
12 Minnesota State
13 Alaska
Jayson’s bracket
Fargo, N.D.
1 Minnesota
7 St Cloud
10 Ohio State
16 RIT
Bridgeport, Conn.
2 Quinnipiac
6 Harvard
11 Michigan Tech
15 Merrimack
Allentown, Pa.
3 Denver
8 Penn State
9 Western Michigan
13 Cornell
Manchester, N.H.
4 Michigan
5 Boston University
12 Minnesota State
13 Alaska
Amazingly, we took two very different approaches and ended up with nearly identical brackets.
