Bracketology

I think it will be difficult, if not impossible to get Maine into the tournament. After the afternoon games, Maine sits at number 18 in the PairWise. It means that Maine has to pass at least three teams to get to 15. Let’s take a look at who Maine might be able to pass. Teams … Read more

With Bemidji State losing, that collective sigh of relief you heard came from Nebraska-Omaha, Rensselaer, Boston University and Maine. One less chance of someone outside the Top 16 getting an autobid. Perhaps a few more sighs coming in the next hour or two after Colgate and Northeastern results.

After two WCHA games on Thursday night, here is basically what happened.  Colorado College bolstered its chances of getting into the tournament, in turn dampening the spirits of Maine, Boston University, Rensselaer and Nebraska-Omaha (in that order).  Bemidji State winning makes everyone’s hearts jumps because Bemidji can take away on of those Top 15 spots. … Read more

Thanks to Brass Bonanza, we have to take UNH out of the “in” column and put UNH on the bubble. Here’s what Brass Bonanza came up with: Atlantic Hockey Semifinal #2: Air Force defeats Holy Cross Semifinal #1: RIT defeats Connecticut Championship game: RIT defeats Air Force CCHA Semifinal #2: Miami defeats Notre Dame Semifinal … Read more

So has everyone been playing with the PairWise Predictor non-stop? If you have I think that you might believe the same things that I believe, that 10 teams are in the NCAA Tournament no matter what happens this weekend. Those 10 teams are: Yale North Dakota Boston College Michigan Miami Denver Minnesota-Duluth Merrimack Union New … Read more

As mentioned before, the bubble, in my eyes, comprises of the following teams: Notre Dame Nebraska-Omaha Western Michigan Dartmouth Colorado College Rensselaer Boston University Maine That’s a total of eight teams for a total of anywhere between 2-5 slots. Why 2-5 slots? Because there can still be automatic bids handed out to teams that are … Read more

It was a crazy weekend for sure. But, we’re a little closer to finding out who may be moving on in the NCAA Tournament. We’ll keep updating the blog as we go on this week, replacing the usual Bracketology with some insights during the week. Some things that I believe: The TUC line is set … Read more

Here at USCHO.com, we always have fun finding weird hypothetical Division I college hockey conference playoff scenarios that put teams in or out of the NCAAs. We know that some of you do the same. Can you get your team in the 2011 NCAA men’s ice hockey tournament? Show us how the Atlantic Hockey, CCHA, ECAC … Read more

WMU, Dartmouth and CC are all back in, thanks to wins by all those teams. You see how volatile it is now.  These three teams, along with BU, must win in order to have a chance. We saw how all four of these teams jumped back into the mix with wins in their last outings. … Read more

The biggest winner of the night?  Rensselaer.  A team that played its last game this past Sunday. The Engineers move into the Top 15 of the PairWise because almost everything went right for them on Friday night. The teams ahead of them had  lose.  And they did.  Dartmouth, CC, Western Michigan.  And those around them … Read more

Friday afternoon, we were discussing among the USCHO staff what one game that evening would have the greatest impact on the PairWise Rankings. We zeroed in on Merrimack at New Hampshire. Why? That contest got the Warriors to 10 games against Teams Under Consideration (TUC) — and that’s the number needed for that criterion to … Read more

Robert Morris’ loss Thursday night to Canisius had a big effect on North Dakota’s PairWise ranking. The Colonials dropped as a Team Under Consideration (TUC) when their RPI fell below .500 in the 5-4 defeat. That cost the Fighting Sioux two wins against TUC (causing them to lose that comparison against Denver) and a few … Read more

If you follow the PairWise Rankings, you probably know that it’s based on the publicly published NCAA men’s ice hockey committee’s selection criteria. That criteria, however, isn’t published until the second half of the season even though the committee goes over any potential changes in the offseason. So even though some of the details may … Read more

We’re at that time of the year where one thing is on everyone’s mind. Will my team make the NCAA tournament? Those of you who are veterans of the college hockey scene know that it is all about the PairWise Rankings. This is USCHO’s numerical approach that simulates the way the NCAA Division I men’s … Read more

We’ve gotten a few emails from readers who have asked us, “Why doesn’t USCHO endorse KRACH?” USCHO doesn’t endorse KRACH or, for that matter, any ranking algorithm. (We don’t even endorse the PairWise Rankings, even though we were the first to publish them 15 seasons ago as a model that mimics the process the NCAA … Read more

Yale’s No. 1 ranking in last Monday’s USCHO.com Division I poll certainly generated a lot of  controversy, at least judging by the comments left here on USCHO. So while it’s probably a bit early to start making brackets for Bridgeport, Manchester, St. Louis and Green Bay, it’s not too early to take a look at … Read more