Charging into the NCAAs
Posted by: ronA big and belated congratulations go out to the University of Alabama-Huntsville Chargers for pulling off three of the unlikeliest victories in recent college hockey history. The Chargers came back from four goals down in the first period to beat fellow Cinderella Robert Morris 5-4 in the 1st OT of the CHA Championship. They will obviously have the unenviable task of facing the #1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
More of the bizzarities of the Pairwise will rare their head over this week as Adam points out in his Bracket ABC’s including interesting scenarios involving my beloved Clarkson Golden Knights. It is a realistic possibility that they could jump into a #1 seed depending on how SCSU and UNH do this weekend, yet even as a #1 seed, they would not be guaranteed the Rochester regional (which is about a three hour drive and full of alumni.) This is another odd case where some fans are rooting for their seeding to drop just a little bit (but still win out in the ECACHL’s of course) so they don’t get shipped out to Manchester. This should NOT be the case, but we will see how it plays out.
Something in my gut as me worried about the selection show on Sunday. After the controversy with Denver and Colorado College flipping on a non-Pairwise decision, I have some hope that someone will just say Clarkson should be in Rochester regardless if they’re the #5. But I’m more worried about some sort of subjective decision on the bubble, and I’m even more concerned about how the bonus may play into that. As always we assume that the bonus is .003. Here’s the scenarios as of right now:
Bonus added: .002-.004
Last 3 In: St. Lawrence, Maine, Miami
Last 3 Out: Michigan Tech, Dartmouth, Denver
Bonus added: .005
Last 3 In: Michigan State, Michigan Tech, Miami (Maine moved up to 11)
Last 3 Out: St. Lawrence, Dartmouth, Denver
While I don’t see a .005 happening, my bigger concern is what happens if if just a thousandth of a point becomes the difference after this weekend’s games. The bonus determines the team, someone complains on the committee (especially if the bonus changes from last year), then the things may deteriorate into subjective reasoning. SLU had an easier schedule, Michigan Tech had a losing record most of the season, etc etc etc. Very scary. I truly hope the PWR breaks cut and dry, or the longest forum thread of our era may occur.
