What's new
By:
USCHO Fan Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • The USCHO Fan Forum has migrated to a new plaform, xenForo. Most of the function of the forum should work in familiar ways. Please note that you can switch between light and dark modes by clicking on the gear icon in the upper right of the main menu bar. We are hoping that this new platform will prove to be faster and more reliable. Please feel free to explore its features.

2026 Bracketology: The Road to the Aud

Bowdoin is currently the only team in the top 10 in NPI that doesn't also have a top 10 win %. Salve seems to have unintentionally hacked the NPI this season by playing just about the easiest possible schedule. I wonder if teams will be a bit more conservative in scheduling difficult non-conference games in the future as a result.
 
What is puzzling about this is that the weighting between SOS and Win % in the NPI formula is 75/25, so you would think that SOS would play a much bigger role. Perhaps the key difference is that the very best SOS is only about 10 points higher than the very worst, whereas the range in Win % is much higher.
 
JSicedog said:
Bad losses hurt more than big wins help. Utica has zero bad losses. And the UCHC is the 2nd strongest conf in the country.
Click to expand...
I guess I don't get it. What do you think is the "strongest" conference? The NESCAC? They have the #2 and #3 teams in NPI. To be 0-2 against Adrian, 0-2 against Hobart, 0-2 vs. Geneseo and 0-1 against Hamilton and still in the top 10 of NPI (and in front of Genny) defies logic.

Clearly you are correct: bad losses hurt more than good wins. Genny has 4 "signature" wins - 2 vs Utica, 1 vs Oswego, and 1 vs Salve. Utica just has 1 vs Oswego.
 
Last edited:
Ultimately, I suppose my opinion is: Bring Back the Smoke Filled Room - the eye test matters. No amount of new math can convince me that Bowdoin is the third best team in NCAA D3 hockey and Salve is the sixth best, while Aurora and Trine are 10 and 18 respectively.
 
altazo said:
Ultimately, I suppose my opinion is: Bring Back the Smoke Filled Room - the eye test matters. No amount of new math can convince me that Bowdoin is the third best team in NCAA D3 hockey and Salve is the sixth best, while Aurora and Trine are 10 and 18 respectively.
Click to expand...
Finally... when will people realize the NPI is a complete joke and the NESCAC has the whole thing rigged on both sides
 
altazo said:
I guess I don't get it. What do you think is the "strongest" conference? The NESCAC? They have the #2 and #3 teams in NPI. To be 0-2 against Adrian, 0-2 against Hobart, 0-2 vs. Geneseo and 0-1 against Hamilton and still in the top 10 of NPI (and in front of Genny) defies logic.

Clearly you are correct: bad losses hurt more than good wins. Genny has 4 "signature" wins - 2 vs Utica, 1 vs Oswego, and 1 vs Salve. Utica just has 1 vs Oswego.
Click to expand...
There stats are public on uscho. NESCAC is #1 and UCHC is #2
 
altazo said:
Amazing. That’s super impressive.
Click to expand...
Elite, private liberal arts colleges have been digging into their (often considerable) endowments to provide lots of need-based aid. (Many have priced themselves out of affordability and were losing high-achieving students to the cheaper publics.) It might not be sustainable in the long run, but it helps considerably with recruiting students. I'm guessing it's the same with student-athletes.
 
altazo said:
I guess I don't get it. What do you think is the "strongest" conference? The NESCAC? They have the #2 and #3 teams in NPI. To be 0-2 against Adrian, 0-2 against Hobart, 0-2 vs. Geneseo and 0-1 against Hamilton and still in the top 10 of NPI (and in front of Genny) defies logic.

Clearly you are correct: bad losses hurt more than good wins. Genny has 4 "signature" wins - 2 vs Utica, 1 vs Oswego, and 1 vs Salve. Utica just has 1 vs Oswego.
Click to expand...
They say defeating a team three times in a season is really hard. Garry has the Pioneers right where he wants against Adrian, Hobart, and Genny. LOLOLOLOLOL
 
In a 14 team tourney, I find it incomprehensible that the #10 team in the nation, and likely a 20 win team will be excluded from the tourney.

Anyone with a memory better than mine recall a scenario in which a 20 win team didn't make the tourney??
 
elbojpb said:
In a 14 team tourney, I find it incomprehensible that the #10 team in the nation, and likely a 20 win team will be excluded from the tourney.

Anyone with a memory better than mine recall a scenario in which a 20 win team didn't make the tourney??
Click to expand...
2015 SNC won 20 games and did not make the tournament, but it wasn't a 14 team field then. I think it has happened to them more than once...
 
altazo said:
2015 SNC won 20 games and did not make the tournament, but it wasn't a 14 team field then. I think it has happened to them more than once...
Click to expand...
Ah yes, I thought there was a year that happened to SNC as well. I was stuck on the 19-20 season but I think they "only" won 17 that year.
 
Tom Coughlin said:
Another great example:

2017-2018 Men's Ice Hockey Schedule - Utica University Athletics

The official 2017-2018 Men's Ice Hockey schedule for the Utica University Pioneers
uticapioneers.com uticapioneers.com

Utica won 21 games (and their conference tourney) in 2018, but a 20-win Marian team got the last at-large over them. The room was extra smoke-filled that year.
Click to expand...
I remember that! Marian sat for like a month and had already turned their gear back in and had stopped practicing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top