Here’s how last season’s PairWise Rankings would have looked with this season’s criteria
Would the 2013 tournament field look different if it had been selected using the new set of criteria? In terms of which teams earned at-large bids? No.
from the press box
Television schedules taking shape; ESPN getting back into regular season coverage
One of the great promises of Big Ten hockey was the additional national exposure the conference could bring in the form of a national television schedule. We’ve seen the commitment made for the conference’s debut season, and it has some impressive elements. The Big Ten and its six teams rolled out the core of their … Read more
European trips give teams an early start
Hidden among the typical summertime news, we’ve actually had actual college hockey teams playing actual hockey games. Dartmouth and Quinnipiac have both taken advantage of an NCAA rule that allows teams to make a trip to play foreign competition once every four years. Quinnipiac went to Italy and Switzerland earlier this month for four games … Read more
A Saturday-Monday schedule for future Frozen Fours?
The specifications for sites interested in bidding on regionals and Frozen Fours from 2015 to 2018 are out, and one item jumped out to me right away. It appears that the NCAA is considering moving the game dates for the Frozen Four from Thursday and Saturday to Saturday and Monday. That’s listed as a possible … Read more
32 NCAA tournament events up for bid soon around college hockey
If you’re waiting to hear where the 2015 Frozen Four will be, you’re in for quite a wait. Site selection announcements for NCAA events from 2015 to 2018 are scheduled for December, according to the web site for the coordinated, NCAA-wide bid process. That means the 2015 regional and Frozen Four hosts will have only … Read more
Digging through the history books after two days of the 2013 NCAA tournament
A few interesting notes have surfaced so far in the 2013 NCAA tournament. Here are some that stand out: • For only the second time in 65 tournaments (not counting the first), and for the first time since 1958, the Frozen Four will not include a team that previously won an NCAA Division I championship. … Read more
Bracket busted yet? Only 1 percent of entries still have chance at perfection
So, how’s your bracket doing? Sorry. Judging from the statistics we’re seeing in College Hockey Pickem 2013, that might be a sore subject. The first game of the 2013 NCAA tournament eliminated the team predicted as the national champion on 39 percent of the brackets. Yale’s overtime win over Minnesota also took out 10,339 of … Read more
We asked: Are ticket prices keeping you away from the regionals?
The issue of the so-called tournament atmosphere surfaces in college hockey around this time every season as we head into NCAA regional weekend. The selection committee switches some matchups, in part, to generate more attendance and, therefore, more buzz in the buildings. But are ticket prices holding some would-be attendees back? If you’re buying through … Read more
Coaches, conference titles and the national championship
Wisconsin’s win in the WCHA championship game Saturday not only put the Badgers into the NCAA tournament, it made one short list even shorter. Badgers coach Mike Eaves won the national championship in 2006, but until last weekend he didn’t have a conference title on his coaching resume. The only other name on the list … Read more
After leagues disappear or change, how will we remember them?
Please excuse the temporary bout of morbidity I’m about to throw into one of the most exciting times in the college hockey season. At some point or another, we all wonder how we’ll be remembered after we’re gone. Some of us would like to be known for having been kind to others. Some of us, … Read more
Rare combination of absences possible in this season’s NCAA tournament
Even with an expanded NCAA tournament field in the last decade, college hockey’s historical powers haven’t necessarily been sure things to make the national tournament. Minnesota (33 all-time appearances, second all-time) missed out in three straight seasons. Wisconsin (24, seventh) has been part in only five of the 10 tournaments since the field expanded to … Read more
A quick update from a bright day at Soldier Field (with video)
CHICAGO — Greetings from Soldier Field, where today we’ll see games that are pretty important to the CCHA and WCHA standings. More coverage • Notre Dame 2, Miami 1: Notre Dame beats elements, history in downing Miami at Soldier Field • Wisconsin 3, Minnesota 2: Wisconsin tops Minnesota outdoors in ’emotional energizer’ at Soldier Field … Read more
The meaning and the messages from the WCHA’s addition of Alabama-Huntsville
The news got back to Alabama-Huntsville while the school was closed because of a snowstorm. Maybe it was a sign. “Somebody called me and said Huntsville got in because hell froze over,” UAH athletic director E.J. Brophy said Thursday night. He was in a mood to joke after getting the result the school has been … Read more
At long last, Minnesota gives a No. 1 team upper hand over a No. 2 team
The numbers were stacked against No. 1 Minnesota on Tuesday in its non-conference showdown with No. 2 Notre Dame at Mariucci Arena. Only certain numbers, though. In the 15-plus seasons of the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll, a No. 1 team had never won a home game against a No. 2 team. In the last … Read more
Big Ten revenue potential could be tempting, but Maryland, Rutgers probably won’t be at front of line
Here’s offering a hearty welcome to Maryland and Rutgers, the two newest participants in the exciting game of When Will You Add Hockey? OK, exciting isn’t the right word there. But with the schools set to join the Big Ten — Maryland’s confirmation for the 2014-15 season came Monday and Rutgers’ is expected to follow … Read more
What’s in a number? If it’s 1, be careful
It’s no surprise that Boston College is going to be the target for a lot of teams this season. It comes with the national championship trophy, and it comes with the level of success that the Eagles have reached. Here’s what might surprise you: Being No. 1 in the preseason poll, as BC was anointed … Read more
As Penn State debuts its sweaters, we ask who needs a new design
Hockey fans love their sweaters (you may call them jerseys or uniforms; I consider the words interchangeable in hockey but know that’s not a universal feeling). Just take a look around the seating bowl at a Frozen Four and you’ll get the idea. So for fans of a new team, getting a glimpse of the … Read more
Don’t expect decisions on Frozen Four sites, shields this summer
This offseason started with the belief, at least on this end, that by the time the 2012-13 season came around we’d have knowledge of the locations of more upcoming Frozen Fours and clarity on the future of face shields. Not so much, it appears. Talk from some members of the Division I men’s ice hockey … Read more
Why the Hobey Baker Award ceremony is at an Air Force base
For the last six years, the Hobey Baker Award has been presented in a ceremony that was part of a larger Friday night event at the Frozen Four host arena. Next week, it’s heading to a smaller, off-site location, and some have asked why. My first thought was that you only had to point to … Read more
Alabama-Huntsville and the NCAA’s transfer-rule exemption
Over the years, we’ve become all-too-familiar with NCAA bylaw 14.5.5.2.6, for some unfortunate reasons. That line in the NCAA’s Division I manual is better known as the Discontinued/Nonsponsored Sport Exception, and it comes into play when a school drops a sport. So it has come up a few times in the last decade — Wayne … Read more