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2013-2014 Women's D-I PairWise Contentions and Affirmations

Re: 2013-2014 Women's D-I PairWise Contentions and Affirmations

(Is this the first year that a 12-team tourney might well have been in order?)
 
Re: 2013-2014 Women's D-I PairWise Contentions and Affirmations

robertearle said:
(Is this the first year that a 12-team tourney might well have been in order?)
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Not if the NCAA won't fund it and it becomes a bunch of conference tournament retreads, like the QFs more likely than not have been (though this year has been a lucky exception)
 
Re: 2013-2014 Women's D-I PairWise Contentions and Affirmations

ARM said:
I don't know -- there were enough teams trying to lose their way out of the tournament as it was. :(
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True enough...but I was trying for *positive* spin on that! :)
 
Re: 2013-2014 Women's D-I PairWise Contentions and Affirmations

Another game time confirmed -- Wisconsin vs. Harvard on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT
 
Re: 2013-2014 Women's D-I PairWise Contentions and Affirmations

TonyTheTiger20 said:
And not a single intraconference matchup...

The fact that this terrible system spat out a perfect bracket just set us back like 10 years
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If we went by straight KRACH while minimizing 400-mile trips, the bracket would be

(5) North Dakota @ No. 1 seed Minnesota
(6) Boston College @ No. 4 seed Clarkson

(7) Harvard @ No. 3 seed Cornell
(8) Mercyhurst @ No. 2 seed Wisconsin

Ugly bracket: clearly PWR >>>> KRACH, QED.
 
dave1381 said:
clearly PWR >>>> KRACH, QED.
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Because of some silly travel barriers? Try the KRACH bracket straight up. That's the ticket.

But it's true we need auto bids for weak conferences. You've got to have something to play for. It's too bad we're not to the point of being able to have twelve or sixteen teams.
 
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Golden Tuuk said:
Because of some silly travel barriers? Try the KRACH bracket straight up. That's the ticket.

But it's true we need auto bids for weak conferences. You've got to have something to play for. It's too bad we're not to the point of being able to have twelve or sixteen teams.
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Well CHA is on the cusp, and if the IVY league would ditch the ECAC, you'd have two more auto bids up for grabs. Of course it won't be long before Big 10 schools add programs and they have their own auto bid...though that would mean the CHA would need a replacement for Penn State. And another team for the WCHA.....
 
Re: 2013-2014 Women's D-I PairWise Contentions and Affirmations

I was being sarcastic on PWR >> KRACH for anyone not familiar.

And yes, it's at least as important to get more $$$ for travel compared to getting the criteria right so the third/4th place WCHA teams aren't at a tremendous disadvantage. If these teams just get into the tourney and play other WCHA teams again, it doesn't help things much.
 
Re: 2013-2014 Women's D-I PairWise Contentions and Affirmations

ARM said:
I don't think auto bids are going away.
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Mixed feelings about this. If BU didn't win today, should they have been denied a chance to play next week? I don't think so. Same with Quinnipiac. Maybe it won't be so close every year in terms of the numbers (PWR, RPI, KRACH) but I don't see the 'rich' getting 'poorer' anytime soon. Competition pushes everyone; I'm just wondering if that includes the CHA.
 
Re: 2013-2014 Women's D-I PairWise Contentions and Affirmations

Golden Tuuk said:
Ya, but Wisconsin and Minny will not play in the title game. It's pretty stacked for the east. This should be their year.
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9 out of the 13 years there has been a Eastern team in the finals..........so hold on to that dream. :D
 
Re: 2013-2014 Women's D-I PairWise Contentions and Affirmations

Skate79 said:
Mixed feelings about this. If BU didn't win today, should they have been denied a chance to play next week? I don't think so.
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Reasoning that would force me to advocate UND being included. In favor of BU had both lost in the conference final.
 
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Re: 2013-2014 Women's D-I PairWise Contentions and Affirmations

In a typical sport, the NCAA aims for something like 15-25% of teams to make the tournament, and half the field to be autobids. Right now we're at 32 legit D-I teams, and 4 teams that don't play a full D-I schedule that are technically still in the classification. CHA will soon make it 50% of the field determined by autobid. So still a bit of ways before expansion to 12. And yes, autobids aren't going away - that was just an oversight in a bad joke.
 
Re: 2013-2014 Women's D-I PairWise Contentions and Affirmations

dave1381 said:
In a typical sport, the NCAA aims for something like 15-25% of teams to make the tournament, and half the field to be autobids. Right now we're at 32 legit D-I teams, and 4 teams that don't play a full D-I schedule that are technically still in the classification. CHA will soon make it 50% of the field determined by autobid. So still a bit of ways before expansion to 12. And yes, autobids aren't going away - that was just an oversight in a bad joke.
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Strangely perhaps, in women's collegiate squash, every one of the 30-plus teams gets to play in the national championships, all at the same venue (usually Yale) in a single weekend.

This is possible only because of (1) geographical proximity (only 2 flights among 30+ teams!), (2) smaller squads (10 players), (3) smaller size and cheaper construction costs for squash courts compared to hockey rinks, shorter playing time per game and quicker recovery time between games (everybody plays 3 matches in 3 days), and (4) seeding into 8-team brackets comprising #1-#8 seeds, #9-#16 seeds, etc. such that no Cinderella team ever has a chance to win the national title.

So when we lick our chops about how much fun it would be to have a 12 or 16 team women's ice hockey tourney, we have quite a number of logistical problems to confront compared with the paradigm case of the ultra-inclusive squash tourney. Factors #1 through #3 above don't suggest easy solutions, and factor #4 is probably a drawback we'd not like to see in hockey, where there is greater parity among teams than in squash. Which (the absence of a 12 or 16 team tourney) is a shame, particularly if the tourney could be a vehicle for more extra-conference play.
 
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