i.e.<\/em>, the NCAA tournament starts tomorrow.<\/p>\n• Because there are an uneven amount of games played inside each conference, I will be using winning percentage, not points accumulated, to determine who the current leader in each conference is. This team is my assumed conference tournament champion.<\/p>\n
Step one<\/h4>\n From the committee’s report, choose the 16 teams in the tournament.<\/p>\n
We break ties in the PWR by looking at how the teams rank in the Ratings Percentage Index, and add in any current league leaders that are not currently in the top 16. We must add in Merrimack, which at 17 is not in the top 16.<\/p>\n
From there, we can start looking at the ties and bubbles in a more detailed fashion.<\/p>\n
The ties and bubbles consist of New Hampshire and Boston College at 4, Minnesota State and Western Michigan at 7, and Massachusetts-Lowell, Notre Dame and Union at 14.<\/p>\n
We break all of our ties based upon the RPI.<\/p>\n
Therefore the 16 teams in the tournament, in rank order, are:<\/p>\n
1 Quinnipiac \n2 Minnesota \n3 Miami \n4 New Hampshire \n5 Boston College \n6 North Dakota \n7 Minnesota State \n8 Western Michigan \n9 St. Cloud State \n10 Niagara \n11 Denver \n12 Yale \n13 Boston University \n14 Massachusetts-Lowell \n15 Notre Dame \n16 Merrimack<\/p>\n
Step two<\/h4>\n Now it’s time to assign the seeds.<\/p>\n
No. 1 seeds — Quinnipiac, Minnesota, Miami, New Hampshire \nNo. 2 seeds — Boston College, North Dakota, Minnesota State, Western Michigan \nNo. 3 seeds — St. Cloud State, Niagara, Denver, Yale \nNo. 4 seeds — Boston University, Massachusetts-Lowell, Notre Dame, Merrimack<\/p>\n
Step three<\/h4>\n Place the No. 1 seeds in regionals.<\/p>\n
We must assign New Hampshire, a host school, first.<\/p>\n
No. 4 New Hampshire is placed in the Northeast Regional in Manchester. \nNo. 1 Quinnipiac is placed in the East Regional in Providence. \nNo. 2 Minnesota is placed in the West Regional in Grand Rapids. \nNo. 3 Miami is placed in the Midwest Regional in Toledo.<\/p>\n
Step four<\/h4>\n Now we place the other 12 teams so as to avoid intra-conference matchups if possible.<\/p>\n
Begin by filling in each bracket by banding groups. Remember that teams are not<\/strong><\/em> assigned to the regional closest to their campus sites by ranking order within the banding (unless you are a host school, in which case you must be assigned to your home regional).<\/p>\nIf this is the case, as it was last year, then the committee should seed so that the quarterfinals are seeded such that the four regional championships are played by No. 1 vs. No. 8, No. 2 vs. No. 7, No. 3 vs. No. 6 and No. 4 vs. No. 5.<\/p>\n
So therefore:<\/p>\n
No. 2 seeds<\/em><\/p>\nNo. 8 Western Michigan is placed in No. 1 Quinnipiac’s regional, the East Regional. \nNo. 7 Minnesota State is placed in No. 2 Minnesota’s regional, the West Regional. \nNo. 6 North Dakota is placed in No. 3 Miami’s regional, the Midwest Regional. \nNo. 5 Boston College is placed in No. 4 New Hampshire’s regional, the Northeast Regional.<\/p>\n
No. 3 seeds<\/em><\/p>\nOur bracketing system has one regional containing seeds 1, 8, 9, and 16, another with 2, 7, 10, 15, another with 3, 6, 11, 14 and another with 4, 5, 12 and 13.<\/p>\n
No. 9 St. Cloud State is placed in No. 8 Western Michigan’s regional, the East Regional. \nNo. 10 Niagara is placed in No. 7 Minnesota State’s regional, the West Regional. \nNo. 11 Denver is placed in No. 6 North Dakota’s regional, the Midwest Regional. \nNo. 12 Yale is placed in No. 5 Boston College’s regional, the Northeast Regional.<\/p>\n
No. 4 seeds<\/em><\/p>\nOne more time, taking No. 16 vs. No. 1, No. 15 vs. No. 2, etc.<\/p>\n
No. 16 Merrimack is sent to No. 1 Quinnipiac’s regional, the East Regional. \nNo. 15 Notre Dame is sent to No. 2 Minnesota’s regional, the West Regional. \nNo. 14 Massachusetts-Lowell is sent to No. 3 Miami’s regional, the Midwest Regional. \nNo. 13 Boston University is sent to No. 4 New Hampshire’s regional, the Northeast Regional.<\/p>\n
The brackets as we have set them up:<\/p>\n
West Regional (Grand Rapids):<\/strong> \n15 Notre Dame vs. 2 Minnesota \n10 Niagara vs. 7 Minnesota State<\/p>\nMidwest Regional (Toledo):<\/strong> \n14 Massachusetts-Lowell vs. 3 Miami \n11 Denver vs. 6 North Dakota<\/p>\nNortheast Regional (Manchester):<\/strong> \n13 Boston University vs. 4 New Hampshire \n12 Yale vs. 5 Boston College<\/p>\nEast Regional (Providence):<\/strong> \n16 Merrimack vs. 1 Quinnipiac \n9 St. Cloud State vs. 8 Western Michigan<\/p>\nOur first concern is avoiding intra-conference matchups. We have Denver vs. North Dakota and Boston University vs. New Hampshire.<\/p>\n
We can only swap Denver to play Boston College or Western Michigan, but we can’t make a Minnesota State vs. Denver matchup. So we move Denver to play BC.<\/p>\n
West Regional (Grand Rapids):<\/strong> \n15 Notre Dame vs. 2 Minnesota \n10 Niagara vs. 7 Minnesota State<\/p>\nMidwest Regional (Toledo):<\/strong> \n14 Massachusetts-Lowell vs. 3 Miami \n12 Yale vs. 6 North Dakota<\/p>\nNortheast Regional (Manchester):<\/strong> \n13 Boston University vs. 4 New Hampshire \n11 Denver vs. 5 Boston College<\/p>\nEast Regional (Providence):<\/strong> \n16 Merrimack vs. 1 Quinnipiac \n9 St. Cloud State vs. 8 Western Michigan<\/p>\nNow we have to swap out BU. Since there are three Hockey East teams in the fourth band, only Notre Dame can play New Hampshire.<\/p>\n
West Regional (Grand Rapids):<\/strong> \n13 Boston University vs. 2 Minnesota \n10 Niagara vs. 7 Minnesota State<\/p>\nMidwest Regional (Toledo):<\/strong> \n14 Massachusetts-Lowell vs. 3 Miami \n12 Yale vs. 6 North Dakota<\/p>\nNortheast Regional (Manchester):<\/strong> \n15 Notre Dame vs. 4 New Hampshire \n11 Denver vs. 5 Boston College<\/p>\nEast Regional (Providence):<\/strong> \n16 Merrimack vs. 1 Quinnipiac \n9 St. Cloud State vs. 8 Western Michigan<\/p>\nNow the intra-conference matchups are all taken care of.<\/p>\n
Can we make it better? Where can we get better attendance?<\/p>\n
Western Michigan is in the east, when we want it in Grand Rapids. There’s a fix there.<\/p>\n
Let’s swap the entire matchup of Western Michigan vs. St. Cloud State and Minnesota State vs. Niagara.<\/p>\n
West Regional (Grand Rapids):<\/strong> \n13 Boston University vs. 2 Minnesota \n9 St. Cloud State vs. 8 Western Michigan<\/p>\nMidwest Regional (Toledo):<\/strong> \n14 Massachusetts-Lowell vs. 3 Miami \n12 Yale vs. 6 North Dakota<\/p>\nNortheast Regional (Manchester):<\/strong> \n15 Notre Dame vs. 4 New Hampshire \n11 Denver vs. 5 Boston College<\/p>\nEast Regional (Providence):<\/strong> \n16 Merrimack vs. 1 Quinnipiac \n10 Niagara vs. 7 Minnesota State<\/p>\nIs there anything else that we can do? How about swapping Niagara and Yale? Niagara is closer to Toledo than Providence as per Google Maps.<\/p>\n
West Regional (Grand Rapids):<\/strong> \n13 Boston University vs. 2 Minnesota \n9 St. Cloud State vs. 8 Western Michigan<\/p>\nMidwest Regional (Toledo):<\/strong> \n14 Massachusetts-Lowell vs. 3 Miami \n10 Niagara vs. 6 North Dakota<\/p>\nNortheast Regional (Manchester):<\/strong> \n15 Notre Dame vs. 4 New Hampshire \n11 Denver vs. 5 Boston College<\/p>\nEast Regional (Providence):<\/strong> \n16 Merrimack vs. 1 Quinnipiac \n12 Yale vs. 7 Minnesota State<\/p>\nI like that from an attendance standpoint too, as well as geography.<\/p>\n
Anything else?<\/p>\n
How about competitive balance. We always talk about protecting the No. 1 seed, how about the No. 2 seed? We should swap Boston University and Massachusetts-Lowell because of this.<\/p>\n
West Regional (Grand Rapids):<\/strong> \n14 Massachusetts-Lowell vs. 2 Minnesota \n9 St. Cloud State vs. 8 Western Michigan<\/p>\nMidwest Regional (Toledo):<\/strong> \n13 Boston University vs. 3 Miami \n10 Niagara vs. 6 North Dakota<\/p>\nNortheast Regional (Manchester):<\/strong> \n15 Notre Dame vs. 4 New Hampshire \n11 Denver vs. 5 Boston College<\/p>\nEast Regional (Providence):<\/strong> \n16 Merrimack vs. 1 Quinnipiac \n12 Yale vs. 7 Minnesota State<\/p>\nAnd I think we’re done. Toledo is a little worrisome from attendance, but the rest of the regionals look good to me.<\/p>\n
So that is it. My bracket for the week.<\/p>\n
See you here next week for the next Bracketology.<\/p>\n
Here’s a summary of everything that we have covered.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nThis week’s brackets<\/h4>\n Grand Rapids<\/strong> \n14 Massachusetts-Lowell vs. 2 Minnesota \n9 St. Cloud State vs. 8 Western Michigan<\/p>\nToledo<\/strong> \n13 Boston University vs. 3 Miami \n10 Niagara vs. 6 North Dakota<\/p>\nManchester<\/strong> \n15 Notre Dame vs. 4 New Hampshire \n11 Denver vs. 5 Boston College<\/p>\nProvidence<\/strong> \n16 Merrimack vs. 1 Quinnipiac \n12 Yale vs. 7 Minnesota State<\/p>\nConference breakdowns<\/h4>\n WCHA — 5 \nHEA — 5 \nCCHA — 3 \nECAC — 2 \nAHA — 1<\/p>\n
On the move<\/h4>\n In:<\/strong> Merrimack, Massachusetts-Lowell \nOut:<\/strong> Alaska, Dartmouth<\/p>\nAttendance woes?<\/h4>\n I like it. Toledo could use a boost.<\/p>\n
Last week’s brackets<\/h4>\n Grand Rapids<\/strong> \n13 Notre Dame vs. 2 Minnesota \n10 Minnesota State vs. 7 Western Michigan<\/p>\nToledo<\/strong> \n14 Dartmouth vs. 3 Miami \n11 Niagara vs. 6 North Dakota<\/p>\nManchester<\/strong> \n15 Alaska vs. 4 Boston College \n12 Denver vs. 5 New Hampshire<\/p>\nProvidence<\/strong> \n16 Boston University vs. 1 Quinnipiac \n9 Yale vs. 8 St. Cloud State<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It’s time once again to do what we like to call Bracketology, college hockey style. It’s our weekly look at how I believe the NCAA tournament will wind up come selection time. It’s a look into what are the possible thought processes behind selecting and seeding the NCAA tournament teams. We’ll keep bringing you a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":140328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[947],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Four weeks out, and a lot of teams are on the move - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n