2020-21 Penn State Nittany Lions

[ZedLeppelin]

I'd love to know how Penn State doesn't move up in the USCHO poll after finishing its second sweep against Robert Morris. The USA Today poll tomorrow should be fun - they dropped Penn State one place last week for a *gasp* tie. Can't wait to see what they do after this weekend's sweep.

[ZedLeppelin]

Well, at least the CHA got the recognition right - Rookie of the Month, Player of the Month, and Goalie of the Month:

https://gopsusports.com/news/2021/2/...ha-awards.aspx

https://chawomenshockey.com/news/202...d-winners.aspx

https://www.collegian.psu.edu/sports/women_hockey/article_cf1f7564-6a49-11eb-bb60-a723f605f8e0.html

[Reddington]

The production out of Gough and Dobson has been the quiet story. And they have put the points up against the upper teams in the conference. The team defense has been stifling. All games but two, two and under.

As far as rankings - it all depends on what the teams above you do. I'm predicting not much movement.

[ZedLeppelin]

As far as rankings - it all depends on what the teams above you do. I'm predicting not much movement.

Since rankings are a new thing for Penn State, maybe I'm missing something, but this is why I'm saying USCHO and USA Today are off:

Penn State's Pairwise ranking is #5 (better than Minnesota, UMD, BC, and Ohio State).

Their RPI ranking is #5 (better than Minnesota, UMD, BC, and Ohio State).

Their win % is #2 (better than everybody except Northeastern).

Their strength of schedule is #8 (better than BC and UMD).

Every season when discussions about the rankings come up, I've always seen it revolve around Pairwise, RPI, strength of schedule. If that's the case, Penn State should be much higher in the rankings. If I'm missing something, let me know...this is new territory for a Penn State fan.

[ZedLeppelin]

Penn State's series preview for tomorrow and Wednesday against RIT (with links for BTN+ video and stats), 5:00 (Eastern) for both games at Penn State:

https://gopsusports.com/news/2021/2/...le-vs-rit.aspx

[Reddington]

You certainly have researched things. Colgate, UMD and BC are all ahead of PSU. Colgate would have to drop three for PSU to move up one. UMD and BC did not play. I don't think Colgate is dropping three. I don't think UMD and BC drop at all since they did not play and may actually move up at Colgate's expense. However, with RIT on tap for four and UMD, BC and Colgate all having the potential to add L's stay tuned in the next two weeks.

[ARM]

Every season when discussions about the rankings come up, I've always seen it revolve around Pairwise, RPI, strength of schedule. If that's the case, Penn State should be much higher in the rankings.

The computer rankings are always at the mercy of the limited amount of out-of-conference games that they can use as comparisons. In a typical year, half of the WCHA would play Lindenwood so we would have some perspective on whether failing to sweep the Lions is a concern or not. Sometimes, Robert Morris plays Colgate. This year, there were very, very few nonconference games. I saw Colgate play Syracuse to kick off the season. The eye test told me that the Raiders were considerably better, but if it wasn't for the one-sided penalties late, maybe they don't win. Colgate stays #1 in the PWR whether they win or lose thanks in part to that early sweep, which gives it a chance to pick up points in RPI when CHA teams win, particularly the Orange. In a league like the WCHA, the final record of the league is destined to be .500, because every win has come at the expense of another WCHA team. The computers can't tell if the top of that league is loaded or mediocre. The fact that voters keep those teams near the top tells me that they are going largely by history.

Pollsters don't have their usual measuring sticks, so votes may be determined by past performance, eye-witness observations, hunches, and wild guesses more so than in the past. As in most aspects of our lives, these are different times.

[Lindsay]

I get where you are coming from as a fan. The polls are tough to swallow sometimes and the computer rankings are flawed. Maybe there are fairly two groups: top 5 in the nation and 6-10 in the nation.

Best remedy is never stop winning and you will eventually climb. Great to see more teams in the CHA finding success, and I hope to see it transfer out of conference next year. Next year will be interesting with centralization and non Olympic players potentially taking a fifth year. Lots of opportunity for teams to make their Mark in the top ten.

[ZedLeppelin]

Penn State at home against RIT starts shortly (5:00 Eastern).

BTN+ video link ($): https://www.btnplus.com/game/rit-at-...2092021?tid=19

Live stats: http://pennstate.sidearmsports.com/s...hockey/summary

[ZedLeppelin]

After one, it's Penn State up 1-0 on RIT on a goal by Julie Gough. RIT took two penalties, and Penn State didn't take any. Penn State leads the shots on goal by 17-3, and that's not counting 17 more that RIT has blocked. Penn State doesn't look like they lost anything coming back so soon after the Robert Morris series this past weekend.

[ZedLeppelin]

I forgot that Jordin Pardoski, one of the original Penn State players when they went D-1, is now coaching with Celeste Brown at RIT.

[ZedLeppelin]

After two it's still Penn State 1-0. They lead the shots on goal by 29-9, but should've had twenty more shots - they're spending too much time thinking "pass" when they should be just firing it on net. They weren't as crisp in the second, so we'll see if they settle down and just play their game.

[ZedLeppelin]

Penn State takes game one by a score of 2-0, on a third period goal from Izzy Heminger. Penn State led the shots on goal 47-12. A win is a win, but man they looked gassed by the third period, understandably, playing on such a quick turnaround Tuesday game after a very physical weekend. After tomorrow's game they get nine days off, so the series in Rochester will be a different story.

[ZedLeppelin]

And the announcers said the CHA regular season champions will be decided this season on win percentage only - hadn't heard that one before tonight.

[ZedLeppelin]

Penn State game recap: https://gopsusports.com/news/2021/2/...-over-rit.aspx

RIT game recap: https://ritathletics.com/news/2021/2...e-tuesday.aspx

Daily Collegian game recap: https://www.collegian.psu.edu/sports...a34a4c011.html