2024 NCAA Tournament

[Hockeybuckeye]

Well it's all set now, any thoughts on the matchups?
MY curiosity is what refs from what conferences will be officiating. Will it be even possible to have officials not do games from their own conference?

 

[robertearle]

Well it's all set now, any thoughts on the matchups?
MY curiosity is what refs from what conferences will be officiating. Will it be even possible to have officials not do games from their own conference?

You can check the box scores from prior years to see who reffed what games. For example, Ludwig and Kaehler did last year's Ohio State - Quinnipiac game. Katie Guay, a well-known ref now working in the NHL did the OSU-Northeastern semi last year, Kelly Cooke and Chelsea Rapin, Hockey East refs who have also worked at the Olympics, did the UW-OSU final last year.

 

[Hockeybuckeye]

You can check the box scores from prior years to see who reffed what games. For example, Ludwig and Kaehler did last year's Ohio State - Quinnipiac game. Katie Guay, a well-known ref now working in the NHL did the OSU-Northeastern semi last year, Kelly Cooke and Chelsea Rapin, Hockey East refs who have also worked at the Olympics, did the UW-OSU final last year.

I should have been more clear and say it does make sense that first round host teams would get refs from their own conference. It also makes sense to have neutral conference refs in the FF or at least in the championship game.

 

[robertearle]

I should have been more clear and say it does make sense that first round host teams would get refs from their own conference. It also makes sense to have neutral conference refs in the FF or at least in the championship game.

I'm pretty sure we've seen 'all of the above' at one point or another. Such as Ludwig reffing all-WCHA finals, etc.

 

[Hockeybuckeye]

I'm pretty sure we've seen 'all of the above' at one point or another. Such as Ludwig reffing all-WCHA finals, etc.

I think there was maybe only one weekend we didn't get Iffland? I told him he should just get a room. LOL!

 

[robertearle]

I think there was maybe only one weekend we didn't get Iffland? I told him he should just get a room. LOL!

Linesmen are a different story. Yeah you get the same local people all the time. Brenda Reinen, a former Gopher player who lives in Sun Prairie WI works pretty much every Badger game.

 

[osualum86]

I think there was maybe only one weekend we didn't get Iffland? I told him he should just get a room. LOL!

Iffland is from Dublin. That is probably why we get him every home game. Not sure where they are from, but I don't recall us getting Ludwig and Kaehler at all this season. We sure have had Bradshaw and Binkley quite a bit. Bradshaw hates Ohio State. I cringe when I see him doing our games.

 

[ARM]

Such as Ludwig reffing all-WCHA finals, etc.

I wonder how much longer he'll stick with it. They showed a shot of the refs during a TV timeout at one point this weekend after a sequence of back-and-forth play, and he just looked gassed. Had the OT on Friday gone 3 extras, that might have ended him.

 

[robertearle]

I wonder how much longer he'll stick with it. They showed a shot of the refs during a TV timeout at one point this weekend after a sequence of back-and-forth play, and he just looked gassed. Had the OT on Friday gone 3 extras, that might have ended him.

Had not thought about it. I googled, and found an article (about his daughter becoming a ref, etc), and he's around 56 or 57 or so.

Eeyore might say he could just stand in one spot, or maybe from the scorer's booth, and we wouldn't notice the difference.

 

[ARM]

Eeyore might say he could just stand in one spot, or maybe from the scorer's booth, and we wouldn't notice the difference.

He can be counted on to find a ray of sunshine in any circumstance. ;-)

 

[BowWowWow]

Well it's all set now, any thoughts on the matchups?

The 4 v 5 quarterfinal should be close, and Clarkson-Minnesota looks that way. Last year in the 4 v 5 game, Northeastern upset Yale, and the year before that, in the 4 v 5 game, Yale upset Colgate. I don't have a personal rooting interest but am pulling for the Golden Knights to make the Frozen Four from the ECAC!

 

[pgb-ohio]

The start times for the Regionals are now official. The three Thursday times are identical to one another. For all intents & purposes, so are the four Quarterfinal games on Saturday. (Yes, our game is Columbus starts one hour later) It's kind of a shame that you can only watch only one game per round live.

I understand that you wouldn't want to play any of the Thursday games during the traditional work day. But couldn't the #4 vs. #5 game be played during the open evening on Friday? From there, couldn't one of the other Quarterfinals be played Saturday evening, rather than having all 3 games in the afternoon?

It's not like the whole world is watching. But for those of us who support the tournament, wouldn't it be nice to be able to see 4 Regional Games live, rather than just 2? What would be the downside of these small changes?

I get that streamed replays of the games are increasingly available. But watching live is still to be preferred. Thoughts?

 

[StPaulSam]

I'm guessing the TV/streaming stuff will be "whatever that arena usually has" ie, Clarkson vs. Gophers on ESPN+?

And the Columbus/Madison games on Big Ten+, of course?

 

[ARM]

The three Thursday times are identical to one another. ... Thoughts?

I agree with you, beyond the fact that the Thursday game in Madison is 7 CT versus the others being 7 ET. So that ray of light tells me that I should be able to watch three hours of hockey, rather than only two (assuming that they stream free, which is typical for NCAA Tournament games.)

 

[BowWowWow]

The start times for the Regionals are now official. The three Thursday times are identical to one another. For all intents & purposes, so are the four Quarterfinal games on Saturday. (Yes, our game is Columbus starts one hour later) It's kind of a shame that you can only watch only one game per round live.

I understand that you wouldn't want to play any of the Thursday games during the traditional work day. But couldn't the #4 vs. #5 game be played during the open evening on Friday? From there, couldn't one of the other Quarterfinals be played Saturday evening, rather than having all 3 games in the afternoon?

It's not like the whole world is watching. But for those of us who support the tournament, wouldn't it be nice to be able to see 4 Regional Games live, rather than just 2? What would be the downside of these small changes?

I get that streamed replays of the games are increasingly available. But watching live is still to be preferred. Thoughts?

Good point... But I think that there's a certain clarity and finality to having the games at the same time. This way, also, the teams don't know other results and can focus on their own games.

Per the pre-tournament handbook, the #4 vs #5 game needs to be on Saturday or Sunday like the 3 other quarterfinals, and Saturday seems better for that.

There's some conflicting info about Colgate's quarterfinal on Saturday, which was announced at 3PM eastern per the team's website, but other sites say 2PM - edit: The 2PM time is confirmed through the Colgate thread.

For streaming, the Cornell-Stonehill game at least says ESPN+ on Cornell's site. Not much info out there yet, though!

 

[robertearle]

I'm guessing the TV/streaming stuff will be "whatever that arena usually has" ie, Clarkson vs. Gophers on ESPN+?

And the Columbus/Madison games on Big Ten+, of course?

That has been the case the last couple years; streaming 'belongs' to the service of the host school.

 

[pgb-ohio]

Per the pre-tournament handbook, the #4 vs #5 game needs to be on Saturday or Sunday like the 3 other quarterfinals, and Saturday seems better for that.

I understand that I'm suggesting a change. My thought was that neither #4 or #5 needs rest from a first round game. So why not go ahead and play on Friday?

Yes, that would mean that then 4/5 winner would get an extra day of rest going into the FF. But the winners finishing on Saturday don't compete again until the following Friday. That's the same amount rest that most teams get throughout the regular season. 6 days off vs. 7 days off. Is there really any difference worth talking about?

I do understand why teams might want to avoid playing on the Sunday of Regional Weekend. Possibly having to travel on Monday could disrupt FF preparations. To say nothing of classes and so on.

 

[Hockeybuckeye]

I'm guessing the TV/streaming stuff will be "whatever that arena usually has" ie, Clarkson vs. Gophers on ESPN+?

And the Columbus/Madison games on Big Ten+, of course?

I did some looking and on Ohio State's website there is no TV listing yet or on BTN+ but UConn's website does list the Thursday game to be on BTN+.
Currently ESPN+ only lists the Frozen Four for women's hockey, I don't know if there will be games on the regular ESPN channels, basketball tends to dominate this time of year.

 

[Lindsay]

That’s a great idea about putting 4 v 5 on a Friday. I don’t think anyone wants to host on a Sunday so the book as currently written essentially boxes teams into one day. Again while the fandom is small, why not try to do what you can to increase accessibility.

 

[BowWowWow]

I understand that I'm suggesting a change. My thought was that neither #4 or #5 needs rest from a first round game. So why not go ahead and play on Friday?

Yes, that would mean that then 4/5 winner would get an extra day of rest going into the FF. But the winners finishing on Saturday don't compete again until the following Friday. That's the same amount rest that most teams get throughout the regular season. 6 days off vs. 7 days off. Is there really any difference worth talking about?

I do understand why teams might want to avoid playing on the Sunday of Regional Weekend. Possibly having to travel on Monday could disrupt FF preparations. To say nothing of classes and so on.

Yes, I think a Friday game for #4 vs #5 is not a bad idea. I personally like the alignment of the games at roughly the same time, but the accessibility of watch times, getting eyes on more games, could be good.

Now, by the way, Clarkson-Minnesota is listed as 2PM eastern. (edit: Colgate's Saturday game 2PM too)