10:31 p.m. — That’s it folks. Check out the main site — www.collegehockeynews.com — for a new breakdown article soon, and analysis from there.

10:30 p.m. — Note … in the Minnesota scenario below … it depends how the committee breaks the 3-way tie at 11 … I have done it according to the way they’ve done it in recent years … by RPI. In older years, the committee used to compare the individual comparisons between the teams to figure it out — in which case UMass would be 11. See the main site from here on in for more

10:28 p.m. — Preliminarily … if Minnesota wins …

DENVER
1 Minnesota – 16 UAH
8 Mich – 10 No Dak (to avoid MSU)
GRAND RAPIDS
2 Notre Dame – 15 Air Force
7 BU – 9 MSU
ROCHESTER
3 Clarkson – 13 UMass (to avoid UNH)
6 SCSU – 12 Maine (to avoid BC)
MANCHESTER
4 UNH – 14 Miami
5 BC – 11 SLU

If North Dakota wins…

GRAND RAPIDS
1 Notre Dame – 16 UAH
8 Mich – 9 BU
DENVER
2 Minnesota – 15 Air Force
7 NoDak – 10 MSU
ROCHESTER
3 Clarkson – 14 UMass
6 SCSU – 12 Maine (to avoid BC)
MANCHESTER
4 UNH – 13 Miami
5 BC – 11 St. Lawrence

10:23 p.m. — Rejoicement in Amherst and Oxford. UMass is in the NCAAs for the first time. Clarkson will get a No. 1 seed and it looks like will play in Rochester as hoped. Stay tuned for the rest.
10:12 p.m. — The Q crumbles – now shorthanded … and North Dakota ties it in St. Paul. Hold on to your seatbelts.

10:10 p.m. — WOW Clarkson … 3-2 – three straight. Miami and UMass rejoice.

10:10 p.m. — Had to step away for a CSTV appearance there. With 4 scenarios still out there and little time to go in depth, I’m not sure I clarified things.

9:36 p.m. — OK, BC and Notre Dame’s wins start to clear the picture. If Quinnipiac holds on, it’s Miami or UMass for the final spot — If NoDak wins it’s Miami … if Minnesota wins it’s Massachusetts.

9:10 p.m. — Congratulations Air Force Academy on the AH championship and a first-ever NCAA bid for that program, and any service academy. The Falcons will be the No. 15 seed overall. Ala.-Huntsville is 16. Either Quinnipiac, Mass or Miami will be 14.
8:52 p.m. — If things hold … Miami is in if North Dakota wins WCHA … Massachusetts is in if Minnesota wins WCHA. … Both are in if Clarkson comes back.

8:43 p.m. — Let’s assume the teams with leads keep them … That’s Air Force and QU at 2-0, and BC at 3-0. … If North Dakota and Michigan win … QU would bump UMass out of the final spot. Same if Notre Dame wins CCHA instead of Michigan.

8:39 p.m. — The Bobcats are seriously pi**ing off a lot of people right now, taking a 2-0 lead into the second period. They just scored a PPG with 6 seconds left in the first. Their band is also pi**ing people off … playing the same “theme” song as Clarkson’s band is famous for. Very disconcerting.

8:09 p.m. — Quinnipiac scores 32 seconds into the game. Seeing QU AD Jack MacDonald in a yellow sweater, reacting, is classic. Clarkson crowd chanting … sounds like “Dis-co-teque” — Oh, it’s “Let’s Go Tech.” … Good atmosphere in Albany. … Miami and UMass sweat.

7:32 p.m. — Post-game press conferences over in Albany … Poor Bob Gaudet looks like someone shot his dog. One of these days ………… Meanwhile, forgot to mention that a Quinnipiac loss and UMass is fine too. … Championship games under way … here we go … wheeeeeeeeee….

6:41 p.m. — UMass is still teetering too. It needs Army to beat Air Force, or Minnesota to defeat North Dakota.

6:36 p.m. — And St. Lawrence wins. Goodbye Dartmouth. Goodbye Denver … for real. I have the world of respect for every member of both team’s coaching staffs and programs, and it was hard to know what to root for in that ECAC consolation game. But we’re supposed to stay objective anyway, right? … St. Lawrence is in. Now Miami waits to see what happens with Quinnipiac.

6:12 p.m. — Denver can still make it. Air Force, BC, North Dakota, Clarkson and Dartmouth need to win.

5:40 p.m. — In the words of Al Michaels … “Now we’ve got bedlam.” … In the ECAC, the goals are coming like crazy. 3-3. A lengthy review just took place, but we don’t know why yet. … Meanwhile, out West, Wisconsin pulled off a miracle of sorts … winning with 9 seconds left in OT. OK, that’s not really a miracle, but it is for two teams that were hanging on that game: Clarkson and Denver. The scenarios that gave Denver a bid are now eliminated with Wisconsin’s win. And that win is HUGE for Clarkson in terms of securing a No. 1 seed in Rochester. So we have a game that was meaningless to Wisconsin having HUGE implications for two teams. Go figure. Don’t you love this?

5:26 p.m. — Kevin DeVirgilio scores SLU’s first goal of the weekend. Whoa – wait … 2 goals in 46 seconds and SLU is tied with Dartmouth. Mike McKenzie. If SLU wins, it guarantees 2 ECAC bids. If Dartmouth wins, the league may get only one.

5:23 p.m. — Just ran a scenario that gets BC to a No. 2 overall seed, and drops Minnesota to No. 3.

5:19 p.m. — FYI, playing around more with You Are the Committee, and different bonuses, it looks like any reasonable bonus and Maine is definitely in at this point, unlike the comment I made in last night’s down and dirty Bracket ABCs.

5:14 p.m. — Wisconsin ties it. Clarkson rejoices. SCSU goalie Bobby Goepfert is banged up – he took a shot up high. Still in the game. Maybe it equalizes the Elliott effect.

5:02 p.m. — Some thoughts from out West … Mike Eaves is not playing Brian Elliott today. Apparently, he doesn’t agree with the announcers on the broadcast who think Wisconsin still has a shot at the NCAAs with the win. Clarkson is not a big fan of Eaves right now, though — since Clarkson wants Wisconsin to win in order to bump SCSU out of a No. 1 seed spot. SCSU is leading 3-2.

5 p.m. — One period over in Albany, Dartmouth just took the lead. Dartmouth needs a lot of help with a win, while SLU doesn’t.

4 p.m. — The press room in Albany is abuzz with Dartmouth, Clarkson and St. Lawrence types, all trying to figure out their chances. In Clarkson’s case, they REALLY, REALLY want to play in Rochester. They need St. Cloud State to lose and New Hampshire to win in order to make that a reality.

Saturday, March 17th, 2007 - 1:17 pm | Pairwise Live Blog