NCAA Ice Hockey Bracketology: February 1st
Kennedy Marchment leading St. Lawrence this season
We have reached the final month of the regular season play in NCAA Ice Hockey and get ready for some drama! Seems like every year we have a big surprise, whether it happens in the conference tournaments, the selection committee going back on its criteria or even the occasional NCAA tournament stunner.
Last week, we put together our first NCAA Ice Hockey Bracketology in our WAY TOO EARLY Edition. The bracket was pretty easy to fill in with the NCAA Criteria and using the Pairwise the match ups made sense. Well this week some things have changed but not a whole lot.
As a reminder here is the criteria for women’s college hockey.
The top four teams according to the selection criteria will be seeded 1-4 at the time of the selection call. The remaining four teams will be placed in the bracket based on relative strength as long as these pairings do not result in additional flights. These teams will not be reseeded and the committee will not change the bracket once the tournament has begun.
Assuming it meets the committee’s hosting criteria, the highest seeded team will be given the opportunity to host the quarterfinal game.
Pairings in the quarterfinal round shall be based primarily on the teams’ geographical proximity to one another, regardless of their region, in order to avoid air travel in quarterfinal-round games whenever possible. Teams’ relative strength, according to the committee’s selection criteria, shall be considered when establishing pairings if such pairings do not result in air travel that otherwise could be avoided.
In women's hockey only the top 4 of 8 teams earn a seed, with the primary consideration being minimizing flights between opponents and bracket integrity the second consideration. The following are projections based on current standings and selection committee criteria. AUTOBIDS: (CHA, ECAC, WCHA, WHEA)
#1 Wisconsin (WCHA)
#2 Clarkson (ECAC)
#3 Boston College (WHEA)
#4 Robert Morris (CHA) --> Watch Out Syracuse is right there!
Now lets get the next four teams using the current Pairwise Rankings
#1 Wisconsin (WCHA)
#2 St. Lawrence
#3 Minn-Duluth
#4 Boston College (WHEA)
Clarkson (ECAC), Minnesota, Cornell, Robert Morris (CHA)
The straight bracket would look something like this:
Robert Morris v. #1 Wisconsin
Cornell v. #2 St. Lawrence
Minnesota v. #3 Minn-Duluth
Clarkson v. #4 Boston College
Taking in the selection criteria listed above this bracket still looks pretty good. Robert Morris will be flying no matter whom they play in the top 4, as long as they win the conference championship (AGAIN watch out for Syracuse). Unfortunately, Minnesota and Minnesota Duluth who are two of the best teams this year will play each other in the opening round, something the committee hasn't shy'd away from.
We can obviously see some major changes in the remaining few weeks but for now this is our bracket:
MyWSports Projected Bracket:
Robert Morris v. #1 Wisconsin
Minnesota v. #2 Minn-Duluth
Cornell v. #3 St. Lawrence
Clarkson v. #4 Boston College
On the bubble:
Northeastern
Princeton
Colgate
North Dakota
Check in next Tuesday for an updated Week 3 MyWSports Bracketology
