Michigan Tech Huskies 2020-21: * Our 100th Anniversary * No Catchy Title Needed *****

[gfmorris]

Send half the teams to Fairbanks and half to Alabama. Whichever location gets fewer positive cases hosts the next round.

GFM

[John J. MacInnes]

Comments from MTU AD Suzanne Sanregret on Mix93 this morning indicate a number of things.

1) there are numerous schedule models in place behind the scenes
2) when final plans are announced, they can each be implemented quickly
3) the general plan is a conference heavy/conference only season starting January 1
4) there is discussion about non-conference games with the Big Ten and NCHC for December
5) ESPN is refusing to move the NCAA tournament dates, so they will likely stay as they are
6) with no PairWise, the plan with the most support to determine the NCAA field will rely on autobids, and not a human committee
7) the GLI is essentially dead for LCA this year, but there have been discussions about an alternate format with MSU and UM

[JohnsonsJerseys]

Comments from MTU AD Suzanne Sanregret on Mix93 this morning indicate a number of things.
5) ESPN is refusing to move the NCAA tournament dates, so they will likely stay as they are
6) with no PairWise, the plan with the most support to determine the NCAA field will rely on autobids, and not a human committee

If the end date for the season is already set because the NCAA tourney can't be moved, cancel the conference tourneys to allow three additional weeks for regular season play. The tourney field will be the top three teams from each conference's regular season standings for an 18 team tourney field. (Sorry LIU and ASU conference membership has its advantages and my scenario doesn't award free passes just because you're independent.)

First place finishers will be seeded #1/#2 (by lottery)
Second place finishers will be seeded #2/#3 (by lottery)

The six #3 seeds will enter a lottery. Two teams will get #4 seeds in the tourney and the other four would pair up for play in games to fill the other two #4 seeds. Yeah, yeah it's not perfect. A 4th place team in one conference might be better than the #3 of another conference. But in my book, if you don't finish top three in your conference, you don't deserve to be in the the tourney anyway.

When the field is down to 16 teams, the brackets will be set so that no quadrant contains more than one team from any conference.

Five minutes, done. Don't like it? Sorry, Covid is a *****. Just be glad if we actually get some part of a season before the wheels come off, much less a tourney.

[Sol Diablo]

If the end date for the season is already set because the NCAA tourney can't be moved, cancel the conference tourneys to allow three additional weeks for regular season play. The tourney field will be the top three teams from each conference's regular season standings for an 18 team tourney field. (Sorry LIU and ASU conference membership has its advantages and my scenario doesn't award free passes just because you're independent.)

First place finishers will be seeded #1/#2 (by lottery)
Second place finishers will be seeded #2/#3 (by lottery)

The six #3 seeds will enter a lottery. Two teams will get #4 seeds in the tourney and the other four would pair up for play in games to fill the other two #4 seeds. Yeah, yeah it's not perfect. A 4th place team in one conference might be better than the #3 of another conference. But in my book, if you don't finish top three in your conference, you don't deserve to be in the the tourney anyway.

When the field is down to 16 teams, the brackets will be set so that no quadrant contains more than one team from any conference.

Five minutes, done. Don't like it? Sorry, Covid is a ******. Just be glad if we actually get some part of a season before the wheels come off, much less a tourney.

For ASU's case, what you are stating IMO, is that ASU should have possibly joined a conference where they would get screwed with paying travel expenses for other teams, or because they didn't get screwed then they should get screwed now by not being eligible for playing in the finals cause they aren't in a conference.
I doubt ASU will be excluded from any tournament if such occurs. I don't think NCAA would move along the line of excluding teams for a reason such as that.

I, of course being biased because ASU is not in a conference, vote for win/loss percentage as the decider, not at all perfect, likely not totally fair, but follows the KISS standard for this screwed up season. I am sure there are other algorithms that could be used but I'll leave that up to those being paid to figure such out.

BTW, I am not totally against paying for other teams travel to Tempe. But for doing such all ASU games are played on home ice, no travel for ASU, algorithms can be changed. Hell, even allow the visiting team to be called the home team. Been done to various degrees in football & it's worked. Seems fair....

[Lost_Husky]

For ASU's case, what you are stating IMO, is that ASU should have possibly joined a conference where they would get screwed with paying travel expenses for other teams, or because they didn't get screwed then they should get screwed now by not being eligible for playing in the finals cause they aren't in a conference.
I doubt ASU will be excluded from any tournament if such occurs. I don't think NCAA would move along the line of excluding teams for a reason such as that.

I, of course being biased because ASU is not in a conference, vote for win/loss percentage as the decider, not at all perfect, likely not totally fair, but follows the KISS standard for this screwed up season. I am sure there are other algorithms that could be used but I'll leave that up to those being paid to figure such out.

BTW, I am not totally against paying for other teams travel to Tempe. But for doing such all ASU games are played on home ice, no travel for ASU, algorithms can be changed. Hell, even allow the visiting team to be called the home team. Been done to various degrees in football & it's worked. Seems fair....

That isn't a legitimate excuse. ASU is geographically isolated from every other D1 hockey program. Maybe Denver, Air Force, and CC could even think of busing, but I highly doubt they would. Everyone else has to fly to get there in any reasonable amount of time. ASU plays shoebox that we could fill with our traveling fans. Because capacity is so minuscule, there isn't a financial offset to the travel costs. It is a lose lose situation without some kind of compensation. We lose money traveling there, can't make it up in ticket sales because of the low capacity, and we can only get a small percentage of our fans who want to attend in. Outside of being a winter vacation destination, what does ASU's Hockey program have to offer that makes up for the financial hit to travel out there?

[Sol Diablo]

That isn't a legitimate excuse. ASU is geographically isolated from every other D1 hockey program. Maybe Denver, Air Force, and CC could even think of busing, but I highly doubt they would. Everyone else has to fly to get there in any reasonable amount of time. ASU plays shoebox that we could fill with our traveling fans. Because capacity is so minuscule, there isn't a financial offset to the travel costs. It is a lose lose situation without some kind of compensation. We lose money traveling there, can't make it up in ticket sales because of the low capacity, and we can only get a small percentage of our fans who want to attend in. Outside of being a winter vacation destination, what does ASU's Hockey program have to offer that makes up for the financial hit to travel out there?

Even when ASU has their 5000 seat arena I don't foresee many fans traveling from other locales. Some will make it a vacation trip but most will likely be snowbirds. For instance when ASU played Michigan at Gila River (Coyotes arena) there were less than 100 of their fans there. Same for BC. Pretty close to same for the Desert Classic.

Its not a lose-lose as ASU would be paying travel costs for those other teams. But it doesn't matter as it won't happen.

[JohnsonsJerseys]

...when ASU played Michigan at Gila River (Coyotes arena) there were less than 100 of their fans there. Same for BC. Pretty close to same for the Desert Classic...

Your mistake was comparing the BC or Michigan fan bases to that of other schools that actually support their hockey team. Big name school does not equate to big support for hockey. I'm pretty sure U of North Dakota Fighting Postal Workers on their own would out draw the combined sum of fans from EVERY BigTen team willing to watch their team at a road game. Michigan fans won't even drive an hour to Detroit to watch their team in meaningful numbers, much less travel out of town. They are too busy watching football, basketball, wrestling, water polo, the chess team or anything else at Michigan that is more popular than Michigan Hockey in the eyes of their own fans. Minnesota is maybe the only school in the BigTen where hockey is the #1 sport on campus and even that statement is questionable over the last few years. They couldn't even sell out their home playoff games and MN football is on the rise.

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

No one gives two ****s about Arizona State hockey. FFS, WCHA league members don't even care about 3 of our current league members; you think we have the capacity to care about you? To summarize, no one cares if you are butt hurt over being told to donate for league travel if you want to be in a league. Additionally, JJM pointed out in his item #4 that the WCHA, Nacho, and B1G teams are not going to play you this year. So if your win percent is .800 but you only played 10 games you are not going to the NCAAs. As an independent you reap the benefits when times are good and you pay the price when times are bad. Times are bad right now. So you could very well be screwed. But that's on Arizona State University, not on anyone else. You had your chance. Constantly complaining about travel costs vs. league membership is...well...just complaining.

Sorry Tech Nation that I trolled your thread. I just can't take this ideocracy. Go Tech.

[John J. MacInnes]

No one gives two ****s about Arizona State hockey. FFS, WCHA league members don't even care about 3 of our current league members; you think we have the capacity to care about you? To summarize, no one cares if you are butt hurt over being told to donate for league travel if you want to be in a league. Additionally, JJM pointed out in his item #4 that the WCHA, Nacho, and B1G teams are not going to play you this year. So if your win percent is .800 but you only played 10 games you are not going to the NCAAs. As an independent you reap the benefits when times are good and you pay the price when times are bad. Times are bad right now. So you could very well be screwed. But that's on Arizona State University, not on anyone else. You had your chance. Constantly complaining about travel costs vs. league membership is...well...just complaining.

Sorry Tech Nation that I trolled your thread. I just can't take this ideocracy. Go Tech.

I didn't expressly say that AzSt is off the list of teams being considered for non-conference games. But if you're planning on an 18 game conference schedule starting January 1 that leads to a conference playoff of some sort and then the NCAA, there are almost zero opportunities to play out of your league. That means you're out of games by New Year's, and I don't care what the circumstances are - you are not going to be considered for the field even if you were unbeaten in those 10. In large part it's also going to be because no one of note is going to schedule you, so beating a couple dog team more than 2 months before the field is announced isn't going to cut the mustard.

This isn't a great time to appeal to struggling schools to prop you up. You'll have to goon it up with the ACHA teams again to get some games.

[Sol Diablo]

Your mistake was comparing the BC or Michigan fan bases to that of other schools that actually support their hockey team. Big name school does not equate to big support for hockey. I'm pretty sure U of North Dakota Fighting Postal Workers on their own would out draw the combined sum of fans from EVERY BigTen team willing to watch their team at a road game. Michigan fans won't even drive an hour to Detroit to watch their team in meaningful numbers, much less travel out of town. They are too busy watching football, basketball, wrestling, water polo, the chess team or anything else at Michigan that is more popular than Michigan Hockey in the eyes of their own fans. Minnesota is maybe the only school in the BigTen where hockey is the #1 sport on campus and even that statement is questionable over the last few years. They couldn't even sell out their home playoff games and MN football is on the rise.

You have a good point about some team supporters not traveling nor supporting their teams. Having lived in GF & attended UND I can attest to their attendance & travel. MTU, UND and a few other schools are an exception to the rule. But again, the travel payments & all home games are not a realistic scenario anyway, it was just my opinion as a fairness option.

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

I didn't expressly say that AzSt is off the list of teams being considered for non-conference games. But if you're planning on an 18 game conference schedule starting January 1 that leads to a conference playoff of some sort and then the NCAA, there are almost zero opportunities to play out of your league. That means you're out of games by New Year's, and I don't care what the circumstances are - you are not going to be considered for the field even if you were unbeaten in those 10. In large part it's also going to be because no one of note is going to schedule you, so beating a couple dog team more than 2 months before the field is announced isn't going to cut the mustard.

This isn't a great time to appeal to struggling schools to prop you up. You'll have to goon it up with the ACHA teams again to get some games.

This is what I was trying to convey, thanks for clarifying. Go Tech.

Edit: I'm 100% certain that as Robertson is finalizing the WCHA scheduling options, one of his primary considerations is how to schedule WCHA teams for off weeks in Feb/Mar so they can fly to Tempe.

[Sol Diablo]

No one gives two ****s about Arizona State hockey. FFS, WCHA league members don't even care about 3 of our current league members; you think we have the capacity to care about you? To summarize, no one cares if you are butt hurt over being told to donate for league travel if you want to be in a league. Additionally, JJM pointed out in his item #4 that the WCHA, Nacho, and B1G teams are not going to play you this year. So if your win percent is .800 but you only played 10 games you are not going to the NCAAs. As an independent you reap the benefits when times are good and you pay the price when times are bad. Times are bad right now. So you could very well be screwed. But that's on Arizona State University, not on anyone else. You had your chance. Constantly complaining about travel costs vs. league membership is...well...just complaining.

Sorry Tech Nation that I trolled your thread. I just can't take this ideocracy. Go Tech.

You give at least 3 sh_ts being you read my comment, commented on it, got riled up in a fit about it. I offered a fair, although unrealistic solution to my complaint about payola schemes. It's unrealistic because other teams want home games.
I replied to a scenario that excludes a team because they refused payola schemes. You shouldn't get the red-azz over it.
You & I have minor to no influence over tourney decisions this year, or any other, so chill out, it's all cool, & in the big scheme of things....

[Sol Diablo]

I didn't expressly say that AzSt is off the list of teams being considered for non-conference games. But if you're planning on an 18 game conference schedule starting January 1 that leads to a conference playoff of some sort and then the NCAA, there are almost zero opportunities to play out of your league. That means you're out of games by New Year's, and I don't care what the circumstances are - you are not going to be considered for the field even if you were unbeaten in those 10. In large part it's also going to be because no one of note is going to schedule you, so beating a couple dog team more than 2 months before the field is announced isn't going to cut the mustard.

This isn't a great time to appeal to struggling schools to prop you up. You'll have to goon it up with the ACHA teams again to get some games.

I never suggested any schools prop ASU up, the scenario I discussed was "propping" other teams up.
I agree with you concerning the scenario you mention of ASU only playing 10 NCAA D1 games or similar. That's why coach Powers is exploring joining a conference now with the desire for such choice to be the long term solution.
Crazy year, hope some kind play can begin in early November.....

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

You give at least 3 sh_ts being you read my comment, commented on it, got riled up in a fit about it. I offered a fair, although unrealistic solution to my complaint about payola schemes. It's unrealistic because other teams want home games.
I replied to a scenario that excludes a team because they refused payola schemes. You shouldn't get the red-azz over it.
You & I have minor to no influence over tourney decisions this year, or any other, so chill out, it's all cool, & in the big scheme of things....

Sol, it's tiring hearing the same whining from you ad nauseum. You want to be in a league with my team? You gotta pay travel costs. You don't want to do that? Nobody gives a rats azz, we're all doing just fine without you. Go be an independent until you finish your rink and can knock on the Nachos door again. Maybe they'll take you in; well, Miami is a no vote but that's not my concern and I don't know if Nacho membership votes require unanimity. In the meantime, stop your *****ing, especially when you end up with only 8 games this year. You had your chance at league membership, you felt you were bigger than what was offered, now live with the consequences of your decision.

Go Tech (it's killing me to have to keep typing that but I feel the need to be a good neighbor).

[Sol Diablo]

This is what I was trying to convey, thanks for clarifying. Go Tech.

Edit: I'm 100% certain that as Robertson is finalizing the WCHA scheduling options, one of his primary considerations is how to schedule WCHA teams for off weeks in Feb/Mar so they can fly to Tempe.

Ha! Quit being so serious