Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Bottom-Feeders Bracket; Road to "FutileFour" team selection process

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Bottom-Feeders Bracket; Road to "FutileFour" team selection process

    After a 1 year hiatus, the Bottom-Feeders Bracket/FutileFour tournament is back!

    Everything works backwards from that 'other' national tournament so many folks get all worked up about this time of the year. The 16 team field takes the lowest ranked teams (we use KRACH, just to be different), with automatic bids to the last place team in each conference.

    This year, YOU; the faithful followers of USCHO are invited to be ad-hoc members of the selection committee. Ad-hoc is a fancy way of saying that you are welcome to be part of the discussion, but the real committee is under no obligation to take anything you say seriously.

    That said, as we have always felt that it best to keep the details of the selection process as fuzzy as possible, we are open to any suggestions; especially if they can contribute to outright silliness.

    Several rules we have used in past years are open for discussion this year, specifically:

    The "Atlantic Hockey Rule" which stated that no team finishing in the top half of their conference standings can earn a spot in our tournament...no matter how bad their conference is.

    The "Bowling Green Rule" which stated that no team that advances to the semi-finals of their conference tournament can earn a spot, no matter how bad they were during the regular season.

    Based on past criteria, the field for this year's event (if the season ended today) would look like this:

    1. Sacred Heart
    2. Alabama-Huntsville
    3. Army
    4. American International
    5. Bentley
    6. Penn State
    7. RIT
    8. Bemidji State
    9. Michigan State
    10. Alaska-Anchorage
    11. Harvard
    12. Michigan
    13. Clarkson
    14. Northeastern
    15. Maine
    16. Cornell

    Note 1: Canisius, Air Force, Connecticut, and Mercyhurst would have all qualified if not for the "Atlantic Hockey Rule"
    Note 2: Michigan, Cornell and Penn State would be making their first appearances in the event's history (but, of course, this is Penn State's first year in D1 play)
    Note 3: Although we have not been able to determine this positively (records from this event are routinely destroyed for reasons of public health) we believe this may be the first time in modern history that neither Bowling Green nor Michigan Tech will qualify...but there's still several weeks of hockey to play!

    We welcome any suggestions, especially those that may contribute to low quality of this event.
    A separate thread exists for venue selection.
    Du hockey comme dans le temps!

  • #2
    Re: Bottom-Feeders Bracket; Road to "FutileFour" team selection process

    Sacred Heart obviously has a record to run on. Huntsville has no conference which could give them an edge. Army has no chance at being in for a long haul. Penn State could sneak in with their clever "club hockey playing DI" strategy. nice to see some newcomers - Michigan, Cornell, Maine.

    should be an interesting year.
    Originally posted by mtu_huskies
    "We are not too far away from a national championship," said (John) Scott.
    Boosh Factor 4

    Originally posted by Brent Hoven
    Yeah, but you're my favorite hag.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Bottom-Feeders Bracket; Road to "FutileFour" team selection process

      Hockey East should get two autobids this year since two of the teams don't even make the conference tournament. What is more futile than that?

      I also believe UAH and Penn State deserve autobids for this year.
      #NewMass

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Bottom-Feeders Bracket; Road to "FutileFour" team selection process

        I believe epic falls should be rewarded. For example, since UMD recently won A NC, if they are close they should be able to jump teams.... lets say 5 spots or so
        tUMD is Jan Brady per Brenthoven. Whew.... thanks for clearing THAT up.

        Best USCHO quotes to date:

        "UND/DU will realize that their party sucks, because the easterners only want to drink Zima." - BPH

        "It is too bad that aaron marvin was a senior so he can't go after the rest of the sioux". - bigblue_dl

        "I would rather play the blackhawks than you right now." - dogs2012

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Bottom-Feeders Bracket; Road to "FutileFour" team selection process

          So glad to have the real FF back - really missed the excitement of last year's "event"!
          Not a real doctor, nor do I play one on TV!
          Clarkson 1990

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Bottom-Feeders Bracket; Road to "FutileFour" team selection process

            As of this weekend's play, the updated field for the BFB looks like this:

            1. Sacred Heart
            2. Alabama-Huntsville
            3. Army
            4. American International
            5. Canisius
            6. Bentley
            7. Penn State
            8. Alaska-Anchorage
            9. Michigan State
            10. Bemidji State
            11. Northeastern
            12. Michigan
            13. Harvard
            14. Clarkson
            15. Maine
            16. Minnesota-Duluth

            New to the field: Canisius and Minn-Duluth
            Dropped out: RIT and Cornell

            Elimination of the "Atlantic Hockey" rule (as explained in an earlier post) would bring RIT and Mercyhurst in to the field, but drop Maine and UMD out. Discussion?
            Du hockey comme dans le temps!

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Bottom-Feeders Bracket; Road to "FutileFour" team selection process

              Originally posted by Freddie View Post
              New to the field: Canisius and Minn-Duluth
              Dropped out: RIT and Cornell

              Elimination of the "Atlantic Hockey" rule (as explained in an earlier post) would bring RIT and Mercyhurst in to the field, but drop Maine and UMD out. Discussion?
              I would advocate leaving the AH rule in place - this tournament needs at least one NCHC team in it
              Not a real doctor, nor do I play one on TV!
              Clarkson 1990

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Bottom-Feeders Bracket; Road to "FutileFour" team selection process

                Originally posted by drshoen View Post
                I would advocate leaving the AH rule in place - this tournament needs at least one NCHC team in it
                I think the days of the AH rule should be over. Bentley beat Northeastern, UConn beat Merrimack, RIT beat Michigan, Holy Cross beat Clarkson and Yale, Niagara beat Clarkson and is currently 10th in the PWR and could conceivably get an at-large bid if everything breaks exactly right. Mercyhurst has wins over Maine and Robert Morris has wins over Ohio State and Miami. Even perennial bottom feeder AIC has 2 non-conference wins, albeit over the two independents, Penn State and Huntsville. Bottom line is that the days of the AHA teams being automatic wins on the schedule are over. Well except Sacred heart...

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Bottom-Feeders Bracket; Road to "FutileFour" team selection process

                  Originally posted by Jim View Post
                  Even perennial bottom feeder AIC has 2 non-conference wins, albeit over the two independents, Penn State and Huntsville.
                  Methinks that they also beat the current #1 team in the country.
                  sigpic

                  Let's Go 'Tute!

                  Maxed out at 2,147,483,647 at 10:00 AM EDT 9/17/07.

                  2012 Poser Of The Year

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Bottom-Feeders Bracket; Road to "FutileFour" team selection process

                    I'd say leave the Atlantic Hockey rule in place. Good to get some different teams and different conferences involved.
                    Places I've seen a college hockey game: Agganis Arena, Alfond Arena, Bright Center, Consol Energy Center, Conte Forum, DCU Center, Fenway Park, Gutterson Fieldhouse, Houston Field House, Lawler Arena, Madison Square Garden, Matthews Arena, Mullins Center, Schneider Arena, Scottrade Center, Sears Centre, Tampa Bay Times Forum, TD Bank Sports Center, TD Garden, Tsongas Center, Tully Forum, Verizon Center, Verizon Wireless Arena, Walter Brown Arena, Wells Fargo Center, Whittemore Center

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Bottom-Feeders Bracket; Road to "FutileFour" team selection process

                      Originally posted by Jim View Post
                      I think the days of the AH rule should be over. Bentley beat Northeastern, UConn beat Merrimack, RIT beat Michigan, Holy Cross beat Clarkson and Yale, Niagara beat Clarkson and is currently 10th in the PWR and could conceivably get an at-large bid if everything breaks exactly right. Mercyhurst has wins over Maine and Robert Morris has wins over Ohio State and Miami. Even perennial bottom feeder AIC has 2 non-conference wins, albeit over the two independents, Penn State and Huntsville. Bottom line is that the days of the AHA teams being automatic wins on the schedule are over. Well except Sacred heart...
                      But having said that, if the AH rule is revoked, the 16 team field would right now include 7 of the 12 teams from AH, including several of those you mentioned above. While I agree with you that the conference is better, it's still quite a bit below the other conferences.
                      Not a real doctor, nor do I play one on TV!
                      Clarkson 1990

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Bottom-Feeders Bracket; Road to "FutileFour" team selection process

                        Originally posted by jjmc85 View Post
                        Hockey East should get two autobids this year since two of the teams don't even make the conference tournament. What is more futile than that?

                        I also believe UAH and Penn State deserve autobids for this year.
                        In fact, they should be the de-facto number ones, since at the end of the regular season, these will be the only teams eliminated from that other tourney.
                        bigmrg74: "You can't drink the day away if you don't start early!"
                        SledDog: "UncleRay seems to be the most sensible one here tonight."
                        All great men are dead and I'm not feeling well.
                        A Margarita! in every hand and another Margarita! in the other hand!

                        And stay off the lawn!

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Bottom-Feeders Bracket; Road to "FutileFour" team selection process

                          Originally posted by UncleRay View Post
                          In fact, they should be the de-facto number ones, since at the end of the regular season, these will be the only teams eliminated from that other tourney.
                          Although I can understand that, it sets a poor precedent because there will be three HEA teams in that category next season.
                          sigpic

                          Let's Go 'Tute!

                          Maxed out at 2,147,483,647 at 10:00 AM EDT 9/17/07.

                          2012 Poser Of The Year

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Bottom-Feeders Bracket; Road to "FutileFour" team selection process

                            Originally posted by drshoen View Post
                            But having said that, if the AH rule is revoked, the 16 team field would right now include 7 of the 12 teams from AH, including several of those you mentioned above. While I agree with you that the conference is better, it's still quite a bit below the other conferences.
                            I'm not so sure "quite a bit" is applicable. I htink it is slowly but surely catching the ECAC. Maybe not at the very top, but over all. I sort of see it like this:
                            HHHHHHHHHHH (Hockey East)
                            EEEEEEEEEEEE(ECAC)
                            AAAAAAAAAAAA(AHA)
                            )
                            I had a much better graph, really very cool, but couldn't get it to paste...Oh well, you get the idea.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Bottom-Feeders Bracket; Road to "FutileFour" team selection process

                              Originally posted by Jim View Post
                              I'm not so sure "quite a bit" is applicable. I htink it is slowly but surely catching the ECAC. Maybe not at the very top, but over all. I sort of see it like this:
                              HHHHHHHHHHH (Hockey East)
                              EEEEEEEEEEEE(ECAC)
                              AAAAAAAAAAAA(AHA)
                              )
                              I had a much better graph, really very cool, but couldn't get it to paste...Oh well, you get the idea.
                              So, you're saying that the 7-12 AHA teams could beat ECAC's #12 Harvard more than 5 out of 10 times? Even going up to Cornell and Colgate at 10/11? Doubtful.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X