NCAA HOCKEY TOURNEY

[Lopresti]

First Round, March 28-29



East Regional (Albany)
1 Michigan vs. 4 Niagara
2 St. Cloud St. vs. 3 Clarkson



West Regional (Colorado Springs)
1 New Hampshire vs. 4 Notre Dame
2 Colorado College vs. 3 Michigan St.



Midwest Regional (Madison)
1 North Dakota vs. 4 Princeton
2 Denver vs. 3 Wisconsin



Northeast Regional (Worcester)
1 Miami, Ohio vs. 4 Air Force
2 Boston College vs. 3 Minnesota

-Gophers got into a pretty good spot, although I think BC could be tougher than Miami. Nice to avoid Michigan and North Dakota as long as possible.

-Wisconsin gets in over Mankato AND get to play in Madison?

[NCAA/iron ranger]

THE NCAA is such a joke in picking this..... how do the 5,6,7 teams in the WCHA get in and not the #4..... the gophers got by them in 2 OT games its not like they are any better. Wisconsin gets swept and gets a gift as well.... what a joke... gophers and wisconsin dont deserve it, mankato does

[pacman]

Picks

East Regional

Michigan over Niagra
St Cloud State over Clarkson

Michigan over St Cloud State

West Regional

New Hampshire over Notre Dame
Colorado College over Michigan state

Colorado College over New Hampshire

Midwest Regional

North Dakota over Princeton
Denver over Wisconsin

North Dakota over Denver

Northeast Regional

Miami Ohio Over Air Force
Minnesota over Boston College

Minnesota over Miami Ohio

Frozen Four

Michigan over Colorado College
Minnesota over North Dakota

Championship

Minnesota over Michigan, What do you expect, i am a Gopher's Homer.

[sportsguy14]

THE NCAA is such a joke in picking this..... how do the 5,6,7 teams in the WCHA get in and not the #4..... the gophers got by them in 2 OT games its not like they are any better. Wisconsin gets swept and gets a gift as well.... what a joke... gophers and wisconsin dont deserve it, mankato does

with all do respect, the gophers do deserve it, they went to the WCHA championship game. I agree with you on the wisconsin thing, the only reason they got in is because they're hosting

[sdc21]

Anyone know the Gopher TV schedule? What channel will they be on? I know most games are on ESPNU but is that it?

[pacman]

The Gophers Game is Saturday at 6 pm Central, is being shown on ESPNU via Tape Delay at Midnight Central Sunday Morning, which pisses me off. If they Advance the Title game will be live on ESPNU at 3:30 Central on Sunday

[Lopresti]

A channel that nobody gets on midnight tape-delay. Great! I think they're also on espn360.com (which my computer can't get). Glad to see college hockey is getting some respect. Might be easier just to fly out to the damn games.

[pacman]

A channel that nobody gets on midnight tape-delay. Great! I think they're also on espn360.com (which my computer can't get). Glad to see college hockey is getting some respect. Might be easier just to fly out to the damn games.

Yea no PLEASE BAN ME, thank god i get ESPN360.com, one can only hope they show the game live on espn360.com

[Gopher Blog]

THE NCAA is such a joke in picking this..... how do the 5,6,7 teams in the WCHA get in and not the #4..... the gophers got by them in 2 OT games its not like they are any better. Wisconsin gets swept and gets a gift as well.... what a joke... gophers and wisconsin dont deserve it, mankato does

The teams that got in deserve it based on the system they use. Mankato really has no room to cry about being excluded when they had the perfect chance to lock up their spot with a home playoff series against the Gophers. Had they won that series, they would be in. But they lost and they put themselves in the precarious position of having to rely on other teams to help them get in.

They base these selections on the entire year and on how well teams did against other teams under consideration for the NCAAs. The system is very clear and teams know what they have to do. Mankato simply failed to do what was necessary when they had the chance. That is why Minnesota and Wisconsin are in. They did better under those circumstances than Mankato did. In Wisconsin's case, only slightly better than Mankato.

[Lopresti]

G-Blog, have you heard that anybody will televise this live on actual tv?

[Gopher Blog]

G-Blog, have you heard that anybody will televise this live on actual tv?

I haven't really looked but from what I hear, it doesn't look like it.

[61ache]

THE NCAA is such a joke in picking this..... how do the 5,6,7 teams in the WCHA get in and not the #4..... the gophers got by them in 2 OT games its not like they are any better. Wisconsin gets swept and gets a gift as well.... what a joke... gophers and wisconsin dont deserve it, mankato does

The teams that got in deserve it based on the system they use. Mankato really has no room to cry about being excluded when they had the perfect chance to lock up their spot with a home playoff series against the Gophers. Had they won that series, they would be in. But they lost and they put themselves in the precarious position of having to rely on other teams to help them get in.

They base these selections on the entire year and on how well teams did against other teams under consideration for the NCAAs. The system is very clear and teams know what they have to do. Mankato simply failed to do what was necessary when they had the chance. That is why Minnesota and Wisconsin are in. They did better under those circumstances than Mankato did. In Wisconsin's case, only slightly better than Mankato.

Couldn't agree with iron ranger more. What a fricken joke. Gophers got in cause they earned it in the WCHA tourney--have no problem with them getting in, but can anyone explain why Wisconsin is in over MSU? A) ranked lower then MSU in the WCHA. B) have a worse record C) get swept by St Cloud in the WCHA tourney D) MSU won every regular season game against the Badgers E) Wisconsin not only gets in to the NCAA but will host the regional? A+B+C+D+E=NCAA is severly friggen cracked. I think their magic computer forgot to carry a one somewhere.

[George Blanda]

Couldn't agree with iron ranger more. What a fricken joke. Gophers got in cause they earned it in the WCHA tourney--have no problem with them getting in, but can anyone explain why Wisconsin is in over MSU? A) ranked lower then MSU in the WCHA. B) have a worse record C) get swept by St Cloud in the WCHA tourney D) MSU won every regular season game against the Badgers E) Wisconsin not only gets in to the NCAA but will host the regional? A+B+C+D+E=NCAA is severly friggen cracked. I think their magic computer forgot to carry a one somewhere.

x2

[Newguy07]

Wisconsin over Mankato is the BIGGEST JOKE EVER! I have no ties to either team and I'm looking at this from an unbiased point of view. I have no idea how the NCAA could make this decision? This really disturbs me

[pacman]

The Below 500 Record alone should have Wisconsin sitting and Mankato Packing

[GopherWild]

I would have to think FSN North will carry the game in Minnesota. That's what they did last season. It would be the ESPN syndication feed so it wouldn't be Frank Mazacco & Doug Woog. I think Gary Thorne & Barry Melrose might be calling that regional because it is the closest to the ESPN studios in Bristol, CT.

[grindiangrad-80]

Money is the key word.
Badgers being the host team will draw more dollars than MSU.
I don't like it. But that's the way it is.
I definitely feel bad for Minnesota State.
They earned the right to be there.

[UNDlars]

I read this morning that FSN-N was trying to lock up a deal for the Saturday game but all regional final games (and 4 other regional semi games) will be available only on ESPNU. Damn Comcast!

[hockeywatcher4]

I read this morning that FSN-N was trying to lock up a deal for the Saturday game but all regional final games (and 4 other regional semi games) will be available only on ESPNU. Damn Comcast!

so what no one can watch it?

[sdc21]

I would have to think FSN North will carry the game in Minnesota. That's what they did last season. It would be the ESPN syndication feed so it wouldn't be Frank Mazacco & Doug Woog. I think Gary Thorne & Barry Melrose might be calling that regional because it is the closest to the ESPN studios in Bristol, CT.

Yeah I remember that too. I hope they do the same thing this year.

[UNDlars]

I read this morning that FSN-N was trying to lock up a deal for the Saturday game but all regional final games (and 4 other regional semi games) will be available only on ESPNU. Damn Comcast!

so what no one can watch it?

Charter, Mediacom, DirecTV, and Dish Network are the only carriers that offer ESPNU so unless you have one of those providers, I think you're screwed. I don't understand why they would make certain games "exclusive" to ESPNU.

[MNHockey75]

I get ESPNU but the only first round game I want to watch is on a tape delay, just like last year.

Here's a link to the TV schedule throughout the tourney.

http://www.ncaa.com/sport/default.aspx?id=78176

[GopherWild]

I think ESPNU is getting greedy with the exclusive rights. I think it's great that they televise these games so fans all over the country can watch but fans in the local markets deserve to watch on local networks. At least the Gophers/BC game is tape-delayed so FSN North can pick it up. I'd like to think they would rather show the game instead of a Twins Classic.

[GopherWild]

From what I have heard the announcers for the Northeast Regional will be John Buccigross, Barry Melrose & EJ Hradek.

[pacman]

Great Announcing Combo, but why Cant ESPN Show this game live, even on ESPN Classic, what do they have to interupt reruns of the old american Gladiators or ESPN 2 do they have to interupt The Bingo Championships from Pohdunk Missouri?