Re: Irish hockey: JACC we hardly knew ye
What I understand is that when the 11-team schedule was set up last year, it was agreed that Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State would be permanent clustermates, and the rest would rotate while still trying to keep regional rivalries intact.
So last year's clusters were
Cluster A: Bowling Green, Lake Superior, Miami, Northern Michigan, Notre Dame, Western Michigan
Cluster B: Alaska, Ferris State, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State
Bowling Green/Western Michigan, Lake Superior/Notre Dame and Miami/Northern Michigan only played 1 series each.
This year, we have
Cluster A: Lake Superior, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Northern Michigan, Ohio State.
Cluster B: Alaska, Bowling Green, Ferris State, Notre Dame, Western Michigan.
Lake Superior/Michigan, Miami/Michigan State and Northern Michigan/Ohio State only play 1 series each.
Next year, if I had to guess, we would have
Cluster A: Bowling Green, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Western Michigan
Cluster B: Alaska, Ferris State, Lake Superior, Miami, Northern Michigan
I think that you will find that the rotation of games from year to year doesn't go as far as you would expect. Northern Michigan fans have constructed elaborate conspiracy theories around this, but I think it's just a certain lack of planning ahead on the part of the league. The 5-year period from 2002/03 to 2006/07 had a perfect rotation--every rivalry pair played each other 20 times (10 home, 10 away) and everybody played the 10 other teams other 12 times (6 home, 6 away). The 5-year period from 2007/08 to 2011/12 was supposed to have that exact same rotation, but Nebraska-Omaha's departure interrupted it. Unfortunately, you can't really get the same rotation out of 11 teams. There's no way to have a 5-year rotation (or a 3-year rotation) where every schedule is balanced. So this is what happens--Notre Dame ends up not playing in Munn Arena over a 2-year period. It would take at least 9 years to even everything out, and the current schedule format won't last more than 3, so there is probably not much that can be done to improve things.
Sorry; I probably find this more interesting than it actually is to most of the people on this thread.
What I understand is that when the 11-team schedule was set up last year, it was agreed that Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State would be permanent clustermates, and the rest would rotate while still trying to keep regional rivalries intact.
So last year's clusters were
Cluster A: Bowling Green, Lake Superior, Miami, Northern Michigan, Notre Dame, Western Michigan
Cluster B: Alaska, Ferris State, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State
Bowling Green/Western Michigan, Lake Superior/Notre Dame and Miami/Northern Michigan only played 1 series each.
This year, we have
Cluster A: Lake Superior, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Northern Michigan, Ohio State.
Cluster B: Alaska, Bowling Green, Ferris State, Notre Dame, Western Michigan.
Lake Superior/Michigan, Miami/Michigan State and Northern Michigan/Ohio State only play 1 series each.
Next year, if I had to guess, we would have
Cluster A: Bowling Green, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Western Michigan
Cluster B: Alaska, Ferris State, Lake Superior, Miami, Northern Michigan
I think that you will find that the rotation of games from year to year doesn't go as far as you would expect. Northern Michigan fans have constructed elaborate conspiracy theories around this, but I think it's just a certain lack of planning ahead on the part of the league. The 5-year period from 2002/03 to 2006/07 had a perfect rotation--every rivalry pair played each other 20 times (10 home, 10 away) and everybody played the 10 other teams other 12 times (6 home, 6 away). The 5-year period from 2007/08 to 2011/12 was supposed to have that exact same rotation, but Nebraska-Omaha's departure interrupted it. Unfortunately, you can't really get the same rotation out of 11 teams. There's no way to have a 5-year rotation (or a 3-year rotation) where every schedule is balanced. So this is what happens--Notre Dame ends up not playing in Munn Arena over a 2-year period. It would take at least 9 years to even everything out, and the current schedule format won't last more than 3, so there is probably not much that can be done to improve things.
Sorry; I probably find this more interesting than it actually is to most of the people on this thread.
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