There’s one week left to go, which means the time for idle chatter is over.<\/p>\n
It’s time to figure out who will finish where and who will get a week off. Some of those items have been decided, but most of the details are still up in the air.<\/p>\n
What follows is a fan’s guide to each team. We’ll give you the possibilities, the best and worst finishes, what needs to happen and who you — as a fan — should be rooting for and against. Remember that the finishing combinations we list may not be the only possibilities for that outcome.<\/p>\n
Best Possible Finish — First<\/i>
\nHow?<\/b> — All the Big Red needs is one point. One measly point. The Big Red tie either Yale or Princeton.<\/p>\n
Worst Possible Finish — Second<\/i>
\nHow?<\/b> — The Big Red lose two and Harvard wins two.<\/p>\n
You’re Rooting For<\/b> — Cornell, Clarkson and St. Lawrence<\/p>\n
Most Likely Finish — First<\/i><\/b>
\nThe Big Red are too strong to drop two games this weekend; it just won’t happen. The Big Red clinch the Cleary Cup in Princeton on Friday night.<\/p>\nHarvard<\/h4>\n
Best Possible Finish — First<\/i>
\nHow?<\/b> — The Crimson sweep and Cornell gets swept.<\/p>\n
Worst Possible Finish — Second<\/i>
\nHow?<\/b> — Cornell gets one point.<\/p>\n
You’re Rooting For<\/b> — Yale and Princeton<\/p>\n
Most Likely Finish — Second<\/i><\/b>
\nFor the Big Red to get swept would be a miracle, so the Crimson finish second.<\/p>\nYale<\/h4>\n
Best Possible Finish — Third<\/i>
\nHow?<\/b> — One point. One measly point.<\/p>\n
Worst Possible Finish — Fifth<\/i>
\nHow?<\/b> — The Bulldogs get swept and Dartmouth and Brown sweep.<\/p>\n
You’re Rooting For<\/b> — Rensselaer, Union, Clarkson and St. Lawrence.<\/p>\n
Most Likely Finish — Third<\/i><\/b>
\nThe Bulldogs need one point, we don’t believe that Yale will get swept at Ingalls Rink.<\/p>\nDartmouth<\/h4>\n
Best Possible Finish — Third<\/i>
\nHow?<\/b> — Dartmouth sweeps and Yale gets swept.<\/p>\n
Worst Possible Finish — Seventh<\/i>
\nHow?<\/b> — Dartmouth gets swept, Clarkson gets three points, Colgate sweeps<\/p>\n
You’re Rooting For<\/b> — Cornell and Colgate.<\/p>\n
Most Likely Finish — Fourth<\/i><\/b>
\nThe Big Green does what Brown does and finishes fourth.<\/p>\nBrown<\/h4>\n
Best Possible Finish — Third<\/i>
\nHow?<\/b> — Brown sweeps, Yale gets swept and Dartmouth gets no more than three points.<\/p>\n
Worst Possible Finish — Seventh<\/i>
\nHow?<\/b> — Brown gets swept, Clarkson defeats Harvard, Dartmouth gets one point and Union gets at least three points.<\/p>\n
You’re Rooting For<\/b> — Colgate, Cornell, Rensselaer and Union.<\/p>\n
Most Likely Finish — Fifth<\/i><\/b>
\nThe Bears have to do better than Dartmouth this weekend.<\/p>\nUnion<\/h4>\n
Best Possible Finish — Fourth<\/i>
\nHow?<\/b> — Union sweeps, Dartmouth gets no more than two points, and Brown gets no more than one point.<\/p>\n
Worst Possible Finish — Eighth<\/i>
\nHow?<\/b> — Union gets swept, Colgate gets at least two points, Clarkson gets at least two points.<\/p>\n
You’re Rooting For<\/b> — Rensselaer, Clarkson and St. Lawrence.<\/p>\n
Most Likely Finish — Fifth<\/i><\/b>
\nThe Dutchmen can win at home and the Big Green visit, a chance to tie them in the standings and win the tiebreaker.<\/p>\nClarkson<\/h4>\n
Best Possible Finish — Fourth<\/i>
\nHow?<\/b> — Clarkson sweeps, Dartmouth and Brown get swept, Vermont defeats Union.<\/p>\n
Worst Possible Finish — 10th<\/i>
\nHow?<\/b> — Clarkson gets swept, SLU sweeps, Colgate sweeps, Vermont sweeps.<\/p>\n
You’re Rooting For<\/b> — Rensselaer or Union to beat Dartmouth and Vermont to defeat Union.<\/p>\n
Most Likely Finish — Seventh or Eighth<\/i><\/b>
\nThe Golden Knights need at least one win this weekend, which will be tough. Colgate gets Princeton, which on paper, is a win.<\/p>\nColgate<\/h4>\n
Best Possible Finish — Sixth<\/i>
\nHow?<\/b> — Colgate sweeps, Union does not get at least three points and Brown and Dartmouth get at least one point.<\/p>\n
Worst Possible Finish — 10th<\/i>
\nHow?<\/b> — Colgate gets swept, SLU gets at least two points, Vermont gets at least three points.<\/p>\n
You’re Rooting For<\/b> — Vermont and Dartmouth and Brown.<\/p>\n
Most Likely Finish — Seventh or Eighth<\/i><\/b>
\nThe Raiders look like they’ll get at least two points on the road this weekend while the Knights may get none.<\/p>\nVermont<\/h4>\n
Best Possible Finish — Seventh<\/i>
\nHow?<\/b> — Vermont sweeps, Clarkson gets swept, Colgate gets no more than one point. <\/p>\n
Worst Possible Finish — 10th<\/i>
\nHow?<\/b> — St. Lawrence gets one more point this weekend than Vermont.<\/p>\n
You’re Rooting For<\/b> — Harvard, Brown, Yale and Princeton.<\/p>\n
Most Likely Finish — Ninth or 10th<\/i><\/b>
\nWe’ll hedge here because you just don’t know which Cat team will come out.<\/p>\nSt. Lawrence<\/h4>\n
Best Possible Finish — Seventh<\/i>
\nHow?<\/b> — St. Lawrence sweeps, Clarkson gets no more than one point, Vermont gets no more than three points, Colgate gets no more than two points.<\/p>\n
Worst Possible Finish — 10th<\/i>
\nHow?<\/b> — St. Lawrence gets swept.<\/p>\n
You’re Rooting For<\/b> — Brown and Harvard to beat Clarkson, Rensselaer, Clarkson, Yale and Princeton.<\/p>\n
Most Likely Finish — Ninth or 10th<\/i><\/b>
\nSame hedge as Vermont.<\/p>\nRensselaer<\/h4>\n
Best Possible Finish — 11th<\/i>
\nHow?<\/b> — The Engineers get one point by tying Dartmouth or Vermont.<\/p>\n
Worst Possible Finish — 12th<\/i>
\nHow?<\/b> — The Engineers get swept and Princeton sweeps.<\/p>\n
You’re Rooting For<\/b> — Rensselaer, Colgate and Cornell.<\/p>\n
Most Likely Finish — 11th<\/i><\/b>
\nFor Princeton to sweep would mean the Tigers have to beat Cornell and Colgate. We don’t think that will happen.<\/p>\nPrinceton<\/h4>\n
Best Possible Finish — 11th<\/i>
\nHow?<\/b> — The Tigers sweep and Rensselaer gets swept.<\/p>\n
Worst Possible Finish — 12th<\/i>
\nHow?<\/b> — Rensselaer gets one point.<\/p>\n
You’re Rooting For<\/b> — Vermont and Dartmouth.<\/p>\n
Most Likely Finish — 12th<\/i><\/b>
\nSee above under Rensselaer for why.<\/p>\nThe Wild and Wacky<\/h4>\n
Let’s take a look at some ways the ECAC standings can turn out. Now remember, these aren’t the only combinations of games that can produce these results. We’ll tell you how to have some fun yourselves later on.<\/p>\n
Travel Partners<\/b><\/p>\n
It’s always fun to see travel partner series in the playoffs because the intensity is high. So what permutations give us the most travel partner series?<\/p>\n
Cornell and Harvard have already clinched byes, so we can’t get Colgate-Cornell or Harvard-Brown. That means that the most that we can come up with is three travel partner matchups in the first round. We can’t get four, because Colgate cannot finish in the top four.<\/p>\n
To get there:<\/p>\n
Friday:
\nColgate defeats Yale
\nCornell defeats Princeton
\nBrown defeats St. Lawrence
\nClarkson defeats Harvard
\nDartmouth defeats Rensselaer
\nUnion defeats Vermont<\/p>\n
Saturday:
\nCornell defeats Yale
\nHarvard defeats St. Lawrence
\nBrown defeats Clarkson
\nRensselaer defeats Vermont
\nDartmouth defeats Union
\nColgate and Princeton tie<\/p>\n
The standings then look like…<\/p>\n
1. Cornell
\n2. Harvard
\n3. Brown
\n3. Dartmouth
\n3. Yale
\n6. Union
\n7. Clarkson
\n7. Colgate
\n9. St. Lawrence
\n9. Vermont
\n11. Rensselaer
\n12. Princeton<\/p>\n
Let’s break the ties.<\/p>\n
For third place, Dartmouth wins the head-to-head-to-head tiebreaker, and then Brown wins the tiebreaker over Yale for record versus the Top Four teams.<\/p>\n
Dartmouth — third
\nBrown — Fourth
\nYale — Fifth<\/p>\n
For seventh place, Clarkson wins the head-to-head tiebreaker with Colgate.<\/p>\n
Clarkson — seventh
\nColgate — eighth<\/p>\n
For ninth place, Vermont wins the head-to-head tiebreaker with St. Lawrence.<\/p>\n
Vermont — ninth
\nSt. Lawrence — 10th<\/p>\n
So the playoffs become:<\/p>\n
First-Round Byes
\nCornell, Harvard, Dartmouth, Brown<\/p>\n
First-Round Matchups
\nPrinceton at Yale
\nRensselaer at Union
\nSt. Lawrence at Clarkson
\nVermont at Colgate<\/p>\n
Oh, yes — if all the home teams win, you then get Colgate at Cornell for the next round, another travel partner series. Or if two of St. Lawrence, Rensselaer or Princeton win their series, then Vermont is at Dartmouth — another one.<\/p>\n
Most Teams Tied<\/b><\/p>\n
How do we get the most teams tied in the final standings?<\/p>\n
Looking at the numbers, the maximum is five. So what has to happen?<\/p>\n
Friday:
\nColgate defeats Yale
\nCornell defeats Princeton
\nSt. Lawrence defeats Brown
\nVermont defeats Union
\nRensselaer defeats Dartmouth
\nClarkson ties Harvard<\/p>\n
Saturday:
\nColgate defeats Princeton
\nCornell defeats Yale
\nSt. Lawrence defeats Harvard
\nClarkson defeats Brown
\nRensselaer defeats Vermont
\nUnion defeats Dartmouth<\/p>\n
How do the standings come out?<\/p>\n
1. Cornell
\n2. Harvard
\n3. Yale
\n4. Brown
\n4. Clarkson
\n4. Colgate
\n4. Dartmouth
\n4. Union
\n9. St. Lawrence
\n10. Vermont
\n11. Rensselaer
\n12. Princeton<\/p>\n
Let’s break the five-way tie for fourth — the last home-ice spot.<\/p>\n
For fourth place, head-to-head-to-head-to-head-to-head, who wins? Clarkson and Union are tied, which means Clarkson and Union place fourth and fifth. Who wins that tiebreaker? Head-to-head Union went 1-0-1 against Clarkson.<\/p>\n
Union — Fourth
\nClarkson — Fifth<\/p>\n
Let’s break the tie for sixth place now. Head-to-head-to-head Brown, Colgate and Dartmouth are tied. We move to record versus Top Four. Brown has one more point that Colgate and Dartmouth.<\/p>\n
Brown — Sixth<\/p>\n
For seventh place we go head-to-head between Colgate and Dartmouth. The two teams are tied, so we move to record versus Top Four. They’re still tied. So we move to record versus Top Eight. Dartmouth wins it.<\/p>\n
Dartmouth — Seventh
\nColgate — Eighth<\/p>\n
The playoffs:<\/p>\n
First-Round Matchups:
\nCornell, Harvard, Yale, Union<\/p>\n
First-Round Series:
\nPrinceton at Clarkson
\nRensselaer at Brown
\nVermont at Dartmouth
\nSt. Lawrence at Colgate<\/p>\n
Wait!<\/b><\/p>\n
There’s another way for a five-way tie. How?<\/p>\n
Friday:
\nYale defeats Colgate
\nCornell defeats Princeton
\nSt. Lawrence defeats Brown
\nDartmouth defeats Rensselaer
\nVermont defeats Union
\nClarkson ties Harvard<\/p>\n
Saturday:
\nColgate defeats Princeton
\nCornell defeats Yale
\nSt. Lawrence defeats Harvard
\nBrown defeats Clarkson
\nVermont defeats Rensselaer
\nDartmouth defeats Union<\/p>\n
And the standings?<\/p>\n
1. Cornell
\n2. Harvard
\n3. Yale
\n4. Dartmouth
\n5. Brown
\n6. Clarkson
\n6. Colgate
\n6. St. Lawrence
\n6. Union
\n6. Vermont
\n11. Rensselaer
\n12. Princeton<\/p>\n
For sixth place, head-to-head-to-head-to-head-to-head, who wins? Union breaks away with 11 points from the other four teams.<\/p>\n
Union — Sixth<\/p>\n
For seventh place, head-to-head-to-head-to-head, who wins? Vermont takes eight points from the other three teams.<\/p>\n
Vermont — Seventh<\/p>\n
For eighth place, head-to-head-to-head, who wins? St. Lawrence has taken six points from Clarkson and Colgate.<\/p>\n
St. Lawrence — Eighth<\/p>\n
Now for ninth place, who wins? Clarkson has swept Colgate.<\/p>\n
Clarkson — Ninth
\nColgate — 10th<\/p>\n
The playoffs:<\/p>\n
First-Round Byes:
\nCornell, Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth<\/p>\n
First-Round Matchups:
\nPrinceton at Brown
\nRensselaer at Union
\nColgate at Vermont
\nClarkson at St. Lawrence<\/p>\n
Hey, two travel partner matchups!<\/p>\n
We’re Home This Year<\/b><\/p>\n
How about giving four playoff home series to teams that were not hosting playoffs last year?<\/p>\n
Friday:
\nUnion defeats Vermont
\nDartmouth defeats Rensselaer
\nColgate ties Yale
\nCornell defeats Princeton
\nSt. Lawrence defeats Brown
\nHarvard defeats Clarkson<\/p>\n
Saturday:
\nDartmouth defeats Union
\nVermont defeats Rensselaer
\nSt. Lawrence defeats Harvard
\nBrown defeats Clarkson
\nCornell defeats Yale
\nColgate defeats Princeton<\/p>\n
The standings?<\/p>\n
1. Cornell
\n2. Harvard
\n3. Yale
\n4. Dartmouth
\n5. Brown
\n6. Union
\n7. Colgate
\n8. St. Lawrence
\n9. Clarkson
\n10. Vermont
\n11. Rensselaer
\n12. Princeton<\/p>\n
The playoffs:<\/p>\n
First-Round Byes:
\nCornell, Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth<\/p>\n
First-Round Matchups:
\nPrinceton at Brown
\nRensselaer at Union
\nVermont at Colgate
\nClarkson at St. Lawrence<\/p>\n
This means two travel partner matchups and a revisit to the great Princeton-Brown rivalry.<\/p>\n
Five Out Of Six Ain’t Bad<\/b><\/p>\n
How do we get the top five teams to be Ivies? Easy, they all win out.<\/p>\n
How We See It<\/b><\/p>\n
Here’s how we see this weekend shaping up.<\/p>\n
Friday:
\nCornell defeats Princeton
\nHarvard defeats Clarkson
\nBrown defeats St. Lawrence
\nYale defeats Colgate
\nDartmouth defeats Rensselaer
\nUnion defeats Vermont<\/p>\n
Saturday:
\nCornell defeats Yale
\nColgate defeats Princeton
\nHarvard defeats St. Lawrence
\nBrown defeats Clarkson
\nUnion defeats Dartmouth
\nRensselaer defeats Vermont<\/p>\n
Our new standings:<\/p>\n
1. Cornell
\n2. Harvard
\n3. Yale
\n4. Brown
\n5. Dartmouth
\n5. Union
\n7. Clarkson
\n8. Colgate
\n9. St. Lawrence
\n9. Vermont
\n11. Rensselaer
\n12. Princeton<\/p>\n
Tiebreaking again…<\/p>\n
For fifth place, head-to-head between Union and Dartmouth sees the Dutchmen sweeping the Big Green<\/p>\n
Union — fifth
\nDartmouth — sixth<\/p>\n
For ninth place, head-to-head Vermont swept St. Lawrence.<\/p>\n
Vermont — ninth
\nSt. Lawrence — 10th<\/p>\n
So our playoffs are:<\/p>\n
First-Round Byes:
\nCornell, Harvard, Yale, Brown<\/p>\n
First-Round Matchups:
\nPrinceton at Union
\nRensselaer at Dartmouth
\nSt. Lawrence at Clarkson
\nVermont at Colgate<\/p>\n