Power rankings making conference play irrelevant

[freedomfighter]

Boston College ranked lower while it played tougher non-conference than Northeastern and Providence and leads them at top of conference. BC passed over last year when in 3 way title ties over those who finished lower. Bejimdi won it conference title but not playoffs so lower teams made it instead. More weight needed for conference season play. After the tournament winner, the one who finished top of conference should go to the NCAAs.

[Snively65]

Boston College ranked lower while it played tougher non-conference than Northeastern and Providence and leads them at top of conference. BC passed over last year when in 3 way title ties over those who finished lower. Bejimdi won it conference title but not playoffs so lower teams made it instead. More weight needed for conference season play. After the tournament winner, the one who finished top of conference should go to the NCAAs.

Would that be two additional auto seeds last year?

[Middle Street]

Boston College ranked lower while it played tougher non-conference than Northeastern and Providence and leads them at top of conference. BC passed over last year when in 3 way title ties over those who finished lower. Bejimdi won it conference title but not playoffs so lower teams made it instead. More weight needed for conference season play. After the tournament winner, the one who finished top of conference should go to the NCAAs.

Even if there was an RS champ auto-bid, BC still would not have gotten in last season, they would have lost the tiebreaker. As far as I know each conference can choose to have their autobid go to either the RS or tournament champ. There’s no point in having a tournament without an autobid on the line IMO.

Edit: I don’t disagree with the WCHA situation. Maybe that league and AHA should consider using the RS champ instead?

[John J. MacInnes]

Re: Power rankings making conference play irrelevant

Boston College ranked lower while it played tougher non-conference than Northeastern and Providence and leads them at top of conference. BC passed over last year when in 3 way title ties over those who finished lower. Bejimdi won it conference title but not playoffs so lower teams made it instead. More weight needed for conference season play. After the tournament winner, the one who finished top of conference should go to the NCAAs.

In the last PairWise before the NCAA tournament, Bemidji finished 2 spots under Michigan Tech and lost the comparison to the Huskies. Are you just advocating the return of the smoky backroom committee? And if so, what's the point of even having a playoff for the WCHA other than the conference trying to make some money from gate receipts?

[Tater]

Re: Power rankings making conference play irrelevant

Boston College ranked lower while it played tougher non-conference than Northeastern and Providence and leads them at top of conference.

BC's strength of schedule is #19, while PC's is #21, so there is minimal difference in the level of schedules they have played so far this year. NU is #43 but they do have a much better winning percentage.

[joecct]

Re: Power rankings making conference play irrelevant

Make the conference tournies mean something and take just the tournament champions.

Then seed
West 1. East 1
West 2. East 2
West 3. East 3

Weds. QF. West 2 v East 3 / East 2 v West 3
Thusday SF: West 1 v East 2/West 3 | East 1 v West 2/East 3
Saturday is the final.

The intensity of the conference finals would double and sell out.

[tape]

Re: Power rankings making conference play irrelevant

BC was a mediocre team last year at best, who beat bad teams but got dominated by teams of any serious quality. They had a dominating lead in Hockey East and then threw it away by only managing 4 points in February, ended up in third place, and then couldn't make it in via the way they knew they could get in: winning the tournament. Frankly, the two teams who finished behind them in the Hockey East conference standings were superior teams who deserved it more; they had more wins than BC which means they fared better out of conference, and Notre Dame made the Frozen Four.

BC is just as mediocre this year, having gone 0-5-3 out of conference and dropping most of their conference games against teams of any notable caliber. They're going to have to win the Hockey East tournament to get in, and the way they're playing I can't see how they can manage that.

Also, why'd it take you until the following January to gripe about last year's NCAA bids?

[dxmnkd316]

Re: Power rankings making conference play irrelevant

I really dislike using tournaments to pick the “best” teams when there are so many regular season games. Like I said in the cafe, it makes sense in football where you have only 12 games and don’t even play everyone from your conference. But when it’s like hockey you have more than enough games. Tournaments are fun, but for NCAA entry it should be the regular season champs.

[FredsDeadFriend]

Re: Power rankings making conference play irrelevant

I think its ridiculous that Regular Season Champs are ever excluded from the NCAA tourney. But I also understand that the conf tourney's need incentives for teams to want to win and fans to want to care about going to those tourney's, so the conf tourney champs should also get into the NCAA tourney.

There are what now, 6 conferences? How often do all 6 regular season champs lose in the conf tourney's? Maybe the tourney should be expanded to 18 or 20 teams? Let in both the regular season and conf tourney champs, and that would allow for at least 6 non champs in the tourney every season, if not more. There could literally be 12 non champs get in, although unlikely. On average I would guess 9. How many get in now? 10 non conf tourney champs get in, but how many of those 10 didn't win their conf regular season?

I think expansion to 18 teams is the only way to do things just right. But I doubt the NCAA cares about such things. Everything is about the money these days.

[Jon]

Re: Power rankings making conference play irrelevant

No justice until the computers stop screwing over UML.

[J.D.]

BC's strength of schedule is #19, while PC's is #21, so there is minimal difference in the level of schedules they have played so far this year. NU is #43 but they do have a much better winning percentage.

In NUs case, a much better winning percentage in non conference. And look at their sched. They stocked up on Atlantic Hockey creampuffs. What's the point of scheduling tough if all you need to do is schedule bad teams and make sure you win?

[ticapnews]

Re: Power rankings making conference play irrelevant

Some of us predicted exactly this when the conferences realigned. Schedule the maximum number of cupcakes, win them and play decent in your conference and you'll qualify. Hell, you don't even have to win them all.

Clarkson (L)
StLawrence (W)
AIC (W, L)
Robert Morris (W, W)
Mercyhust (W, L)
Arizona State (W, W)

Go 0-4-1 against the top team in your conference and you're still a lock for the NCAA tournament.

[Happy]

Re: Power rankings making conference play irrelevant

You know, all a team has to do is win. 16 teams make it, if your team can't qualify, then they weren't all that good to begin with.

[J.D.]

Re: Power rankings making conference play irrelevant

Thanks for the great insight

[TovarishchLisa]

Re: Power rankings making conference play irrelevant

Some of us predicted exactly this when the conferences realigned. Schedule the maximum number of cupcakes, win them and play decent in your conference and you'll qualify. Hell, you don't even have to win them all.

Clarkson (L)
StLawrence (W)
AIC (W, L)
Robert Morris (W, W)
Mercyhust (W, L)
Arizona State (W, W)

Go 0-4-1 against the top team in your conference and you're still a lock for the NCAA tournament.

And it's garbage. We as fans want to see competitive hockey, we want to see teams challenge themselves instead of settling for the bare minimum. It's flatly disgusting. It's not as much of a problem in the east because the conferences aren't as insular, but in the west it's making teams schedule buy games like Alabama football because "it'll get us into the tournament."

Michigan's best OOC win, aside from a conference opponent in Sparty, was a Vermont team that finished 48th in PWR. They then went 0-5 against a team that wasn't even the top team in the conference (and who played a similarly weak OOC including an inability to beat RPI at home on two tries). Still going to make it, will probably be a 2 seed.