PairWise Rankings (PWR)<\/a>, and the conference leaders through all games of February 6:1t Notre Dame<\/b>1t St. Cloud State<\/b>1t Denver4 Cornell<\/b>5 Minnesota State<\/b>6 Ohio State7 Clarkson8 North Dakota9t Minnesota9t Omaha11t Providence11t Minnesota Duluth13 Northeastern14 Western Michigan15 Penn State16 Michigan22 Boston College<\/b>33 Canisius<\/b>Current conference leaders based on winning percentage BOLDED Above<\/b>:Atlantic Hockey:<\/b> Canisius (Holy Cross is tied in points, but with 2 more games played)Big Ten:<\/b> Notre DameECAC Hockey:<\/b> CornellHockey East:<\/b> Boston CollegeNCHC:<\/b> St. Cloud State (Denver does lead in points though)WCHA:<\/b> Minnesota State (Northern Michigan does lead in points though)<\/p>\nNotes<\/h4>\n \u2022 Bracketology assumes that the season has ended and there are no more games to be played — i.e.<\/i>, the NCAA tournament starts tomorrow.\u2022 Because there are an uneven amount of games played inside each conference, I will be using winning percentage, not points accumulated, to determine the current leader in each conference. This team is my assumed conference tournament champion after applying the tiebreakers.<\/p>\nStep one<\/h4>\n
From the committee’s report, choose the 16 teams in the tournament.We break ties in the PWR by looking at the individual comparisons among the tied teams, and add in any current league leaders that are not currently in the top 16. The only teams that is not is Canisius.From there, we can start looking at the ties and bubbles in a more detailed fashion.The ties and bubbles consist of Notre Dame, St. Cloud State and Denver at 1, Clarkson and Denver at 4, Minnesota and Omaha at 9 and Providence and Minnesota Duluth at 11.We break all of our ties based upon the RPI.Therefore, the 16 teams in the tournament, in rank order, are:1 Notre Dame<\/b>2 St. Cloud State<\/b>3 Denver4 Cornell<\/b>5 Minnesota State<\/b>6 Ohio State7 Clarkson8 North Dakota9 Minnesota10 Omaha11 Providence12 Minnesota Duluth13 Northeastern14 Western Michigan15 Boston College<\/b>16 Canisius<\/b><\/p>\nStep two<\/h4>\n
Now it’s time to assign the seeds.No. 1 seeds:<\/b> Notre Dame, St. Cloud State, Denver, CornellNo. 2 seeds:<\/b> Minnesota State, Ohio State, Clarkson, North DakotaNo. 3 seeds:<\/b> Minnesota, Omaha, Providence, Minnesota DuluthNo. 4 seeds:<\/b> Northeastern, Western Michigan, Boston College, Canisius<\/p>\nStep three<\/h4>\n
Place the No. 1 seeds in regionals.No. 1 Notre Dame is placed in the Midwest Regional in AllentownNo. 2 St. Cloud State is placed in the West Regional in Sioux FallsNo. 3 Denver is placed in the Northeast Regional in WorcesterNo. 4 Cornell is placed in the East Regional in Bridgeport<\/p>\n
Step four<\/h4>\n Now we place the other 12 teams so as to avoid intra-conference matchups if possible.Begin by filling in each bracket by banding groups. Remember that teams are not<\/b><\/i> 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).If 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 would be played by No. 1 vs. No. 8, No. 2 vs. No. 7, No. 3 vs. No. 6 and No. 4 vs. No. 5.But we must place the hosts first, and that means North Dakota is to be placed first.No. 2 seeds<\/i>No. 8 North Dakota is placed in No. 2 St. Cloud State\u2019s regional, the West RegionalNo. 7 Clarkson is placed in No. 1 Notre Dame\u2019s regional, the Midwest RegionalNo. 6 Ohio State is placed in No. 3 Denver\u2019s regional, the Northeast RegionalNo. 5 Minnesota State is placed in No. 4 Cornell\u2019s regional, the East RegionalNo. 3 seeds<\/i>Our bracketing system has one regional containing seeds 1, 8, 9, and 16; another with 2, 7, 10 and 15; another with 3, 6, 11 and 14; and another with 4, 5, 12 and 13.No. 9 Minnesota is placed in No. 8 North Dakota\u2019s regional, the West RegionalNo. 10 Omaha is placed in No. 7 Clarkson\u2019s regional, the Midwest RegionalNo. 11 Providence is placed in No. 6 Ohio State\u2019s regional, the Northeast RegionalNo. 12 Minnesota Duluth is placed in No. 5 Minnesota State\u2019s regional, the East RegionalNo. 4 seeds<\/i>One more time, taking No. 16 vs. No. 1, No. 15 vs. No. 2, etc.No. 16 Canisius travels to No. 1 Notre Dame\u2019s regional, the Midwest RegionalNo. 15 Boston College travels to No. 2 St Cloud State\u2019s regional, the West RegionalNo. 14 Western Michigan travels to No. 3 Denver\u2019s regional, the Northeast RegionalNo. 13 Northeastern travels to No. 4 Cornell\u2019s regional, the East RegionalThe brackets as we have set them up:Midwest Regional (Allentown):<\/b>16 Canisius vs. 1 Notre Dame10 Omaha vs. 7 ClarksonEast Regional (Bridgeport):<\/b>13 Northeastern vs. 4 Cornell12 Minnesota Duluth vs. 5 Minnesota StateWest Regional (Sioux Falls):<\/b>15 Boston College vs. 2 St. Cloud State9 Minnesota vs. 8 North DakotaNortheast Regional (Worcester):<\/b>14 Western Michigan vs. 3 Denver11 Providence vs. 6 Ohio StateOur first concern is avoiding intraconference matchups. We have Western Michigan vs. Denver.We swap Northeastern with Western Michigan.Midwest Regional (Allentown):<\/b>16 Canisius vs. 1 Notre Dame10 Omaha vs. 7 ClarksonEast Regional (Bridgeport):<\/b>14 Western Michigan vs. 4 Cornell12 Minnesota Duluth vs. 5 Minnesota StateWest Regional (Sioux Falls):<\/b>15 Boston College vs. 2 St. Cloud State9 Minnesota vs. 8 North DakotaNortheast Regional (Worcester):<\/b>13 Northeastern vs. 3 Denver11 Providence vs. 6 Ohio StateHow can we improve attendance at these regionals?I can swap Clarkson with Ohio State. This brings Ohio State a little closer to home, and for Clarkson it\u2019s almost the same distance.Midwest Regional (Allentown):<\/b>16 Canisius vs. 1 Notre Dame10 Omaha vs. 6 Ohio StateEast Regional (Bridgeport):<\/b>14 Western Michigan vs. 4 Cornell12 Minnesota Duluth vs. 5 Minnesota StateWest Regional (Sioux Falls):<\/b>15 Boston College vs. 2 St. Cloud State9 Minnesota vs. 8 North DakotaNortheast Regional (Worcester):<\/b>13 Northeastern vs. 3 Denver11 Providence vs. 7 ClarksonThe other thing I would like to do is put another Eastern team in Bridgeport. Right now Worcester has three Eastern teams, so let\u2019s move one to Bridgeport. Let\u2019s swap Minnesota Duluth with Providence.Midwest Regional (Allentown):<\/b>16 Canisius vs. 1 Notre Dame10 Omaha vs. 6 Ohio StateEast Regional (Bridgeport):<\/b>14 Western Michigan vs. 4 Cornell11 Providence vs. 5 Minnesota StateWest Regional (Sioux Falls):<\/b>15 Boston College vs. 2 St. Cloud State9 Minnesota vs. 8 North DakotaNortheast Regional (Worcester):<\/b>13 Northeastern vs. 3 Denver12 Minnesota Duluth vs. 7 ClarksonLooks like a plan here to me.<\/p>\nBUT…<\/h4>\n
The previous weeks we looked at distances to the regionals for the number one seeds. Let\u2019s do that again.Refreshing ourselves from last week we asked – What is the distance for Notre Dame to the regionals?Allentown \u2013 640 milesSioux Falls \u2013 677 milesBridgeport \u2013 761 milesWorcester \u2013 855 milesNotre Dame is more than 500 miles to any<\/i><\/b> regional site. That means, according to the NCAA Handbook, that they need to fly.What do always talk about here at Bracketology? That a flight is a flight so it doesn\u2019t matter where you go. We always say that about Denver, don\u2019t we?Let\u2019s take a look at the current number two seed in Cornell. What is the distance for Cornell to the regionals?Allentown \u2013 179 milesBridgeport \u2013 260 milesWorcester \u2013 293 milesThe closest regional for Cornell is actually Allentown, the Midwest Regional.Let\u2019s take this into consideration with the caveat added \u2013 all teams in the number one seed band are placed in the closest proximity to their campuses \u2013 as long as it\u2019s by bus.So, let\u2019s see:Notre Dame \u2013 more than 500 miles, needs to fly to any regionalCornell \u2013 179 miles to AllentownSt. Cloud State \u2013 222 miles to Sioux FallsDenver \u2013 more than 500 miles, needs to fly to any regional.If you look at it this way, you really only get a change of two games in two different places \u2013 Canisius vs. Notre Dame in Bridgeport now and Western Michigan vs. Cornell in Allentown.Midwest Regional (Allentown):<\/b>14 Western Michigan vs. 4 Cornell10 Omaha vs. 6 Ohio StateEast Regional (Bridgeport):<\/b>16 Canisius vs. 1 Notre Dame11 Providence vs. 5 Minnesota StateWest Regional (Sioux Falls):<\/b>15 Boston College vs. 2 St. Cloud State9 Minnesota vs. 8 North DakotaNortheast Regional (Worcester):<\/b>13 Northeastern vs. 3 Denver12 Minnesota Duluth vs. 7 ClarksonMy thoughts? I prefer the first set of brackets for attendance purposes.See you next week for the next Bracketology.Here’s a summary of everything that we have covered.<\/a><\/p>\nThis week’s brackets<\/h4>\n Midwest Regional (Allentown):<\/b>16 Canisius vs. 1 Notre Dame10 Omaha vs. 6 Ohio StateEast Regional (Bridgeport):<\/b>14 Western Michigan vs. 4 Cornell11 Providence vs. 5 Minnesota StateWest Regional (Sioux Falls):<\/b>15 Boston College vs. 2 St. Cloud State9 Minnesota vs. 8 North DakotaNortheast Regional (Worcester):<\/b>13 Northeastern vs. 3 Denver12 Minnesota Duluth vs. 7 Clarkson<\/p>\nConference breakdowns<\/h4>\n
NCHC — 6Big Ten — 3Hockey East — 3ECAC Hockey — 2WCHA — 1Atlantic Hockey \u2013 1<\/p>\n
Last Week\u2019s Brackets<\/h4>\n Midwest Regional (Allentown):<\/b>16 Canisius vs. 1 Notre Dame11 Minnesota vs. 8 OmahaEast Regional (Bridgeport):<\/b>15 Boston College vs. 2 Cornell10 Minnesota Duluth vs. 7 Minnesota StateWest Regional (Sioux Falls):<\/b>14 Northeastern vs. 3 St. Cloud State12 North Dakota vs. 6 Ohio StateNortheast Regional (Worcester):<\/b>13 Western Michigan vs. 4 Clarkson9 Providence vs. 5 DenverThis week\u2019s movement:Out: NoneIn: None<\/span><\/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 we believe the NCAA tournament might look like come selection time, using what we know now (photo: Jim Rosvold\/USCHO.com).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":112701,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[591,812],"coauthors":[869],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Bracketology: No new teams in or out, but matchups starting to get interesting - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n \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