WCHA * PWR/NCAA = 3 ?

[Mitch Hawker]

The WCHA teams need to do well in their remaining non-conference games or the conference that had all four teams in the frozen 4 last year may only get 3 teams in the 16 team field this year.<br><br>The reason for this is that the WCHA teams as a whole have struggled somewhat against non-conference opponents (for the first time in quite a few years) in the first half of the season.<br><br>Currently in the Pairwise Rankings (PWR):<br>WI (#1), CC (#8 ), MN (#9) are currently the only three teams that would get at large berths, the other WCHA teams would need to win the WCHA Final 5 to get in.<br><br>ND (#18 ) is the only other WCHA team even remotely close to getting in if the season ended today.<br><br>See the current PWR at <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://rpihockey.net/misc.rank1.shtml"> ... <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>Teams need to be in the top 10 to be a cinch to get in, teams in the 11-14 range of PWR are on the bubble and can be eliminated if any/many non-PWR top 10 teams win their respective conference tournaments.<br><br>Inter-conference records: <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.uscho.com/stats/inter-conf.p ... <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>As an idea of how much non-conference games can matter in the PWR, the Sioux have jumped 6 places to #12 by virtue of beating CHA power Bemidji State friday night and up to #6 by beating Bemidji again last night. <br><br>Like it or not, there could be an argument made (considering the current pairwise system and the relative scarcity of non-conference games) that a single non-conference game against a D1 opponent is actually more important by some measures than is a single conference game. <br><br>These relatively few non-conference games impact not only your team's PWR, but every team in your conference and every team in your opponent's conference via the common opponent component of the PWR. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p100.ezboard.com/bmnhs.showUserP ... wker>Mitch Hawker</A> at: 12/18/05 12:38 pm<br></i>

[east hockey]

Mitch, the WCHA had all four teams in the FF last year. Probably slipped your mind since Bucky wasn't in it <!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://www.minnhock.com/biggrin.gif"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br>Badgers look tougher than tough, despite their brief slipup against Tech this weekend. These things happen.<br><br>I don't mind this one bit (seeing Bucky winning), considering Nick and Ross are on the squad.<br><br>Lee <p>____________<br>Message Board arsonist since 2005</p><i></i>

[Mitch Hawker]

Oops! That makes the possibility of having only 3 in the field this year even more unusual.<br><br>The two Duluth East players are a big part of the Badger success this year. They both give great effort every shift and have rink rat hockey smarts. <br><br>Ross is great with the puck in the offensive zone and Nick is great w/o the puck and on the PK (he gets more shorthanded breakaways than anyone and occasionally puts one away).<br><br>They were both on the Hounds 1998 state championship team, perhaps they can add some more hardware this year. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p100.ezboard.com/bmnhs.showUserP ... wker>Mitch Hawker</A> at: 12/16/05 7:28 am<br></i>

[I35hockey]

As I watch the Gophers dismantle something called "Union", you're telling me that this is more important than either of the wins at North Dakota two weeks ago?<br><br>If that is true, something is truely wrong here. <p></p><i></i>

[Mitch Hawker]

Here is an example of what I was saying:<br><br>Denver is one of 3 teams vying for the MacNaughton Cup as regular season WCHA champs with a 13-5-2 record. Their in-state rivals CC have fallenn off the pace into 6th place in the conference with a 10-9-1 league record.<br><br>Guess which one is a virtual lock for the NCAA tournament and which one is currently on the outside looking in. <br><br>CC is a virtual lock for the NCAA tournament (#7 PWR) largely because they have gone 4-1 against CCHA teams. Denver is tied for #17 in the PWR and would need to make a run at the WCHA Final Five (they may even need to win it) just to make the field if the teams for the NCAA tournament were selected today. <br><br>Their overall records are similar (CC:18-11-1, DU:16-10-2) but CC has a huge advantage in the PWR because they have done better in their non-conference games.<br> <p></p><i></i>

[Mitch Hawker]

Denver did end up missing the tournament. Meanwhile, the Sioux had a great second half of the season and would have qualified via their PWR even had they not won the Final Five.<br><br>So the WCHA has 4 teams in the tournament (they have had as many as 6 in the past) but the most we could see at the Frozen Four in Milwaukee this year is 2 WCHA teams. The Sioux and Gophers will be fighting for the same spot, as will CC and UW.<br><br> <p></p><i></i>

[ThunderStorm22]

Mitch... If SCSU had won Saturday night do you think the WCHA could of had five teams in the NCAA tourney? <br><br>Maybe if SCSU would have won, they would have bumped CC from the mix...<br><br>If they did have five teams in the NCAA tourney, where (What Regional) would have they placed the additional team in?<br><br>I think SCSU would have bumped off New Hampshire... <br> <p></p><i></i>

[Mitch Hawker]

Apparently, UNO was the lowest non-autobid and would have been the team bumped out by an SCSU autobid.<br><br>See <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.uscho.com/news/id,12428/Fina ... <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br> <p></p><i></i>