As someone who is just starting to get into the Div I Woman's game (as a Penn State alum, I guess I've been waiting for them to get better first!), I have what is probably a stupid question. I see St. Anselm at the top of the Pairwise. I read somewhere that they were #5 last year and were left out of the tournament. I know their level of hockey when they played a Div III schedule. Does the NCAA entertain any notion of inviting them to a tournament if they maintain that #1 ranking (even if they seed them #8) at some point?
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Div I Women's Pairwise
- Thread starter spwood
- Start date
TonyTheTiger20
#SOAR
Re: Div I Women's Pairwise
This was a whole big thing last year, and it would have been interesting to see what the committee would have done if Saint Anselm stayed undefeated last year. My guess is they still would have left them out, but it would have been a tougher decision. You can read some more about the whole deal here and here.
This year, though, we don't have that problem -- Holy Cross left the NEWHA (the scheduling alliance that Saint Anselm was a part of) to join Hockey East. That means Saint Anselm won't play the required 20 games against D-I/D-II competition, and they are ineligible for selection (Sacred Heart and Post have a couple extra non-conference games scheduled which will get them to that threshold, but they won't be a Pairwise factor).
So in short -- USCHO's Pairwise is wrong. Saint Anselm should not be included in the rankings this season. I have a correct Pairwise ranking here at BC Interruption.
Having said that, next year LIU is adding a D-I team and joining the NEWHA, which is now an actual conference rather than just a scheduling alliance. With 6 teams again, these programs, including Saint Anselm, will be eligible for selection again (and probably still won't be selected as an at-large).
HOWEVER, after having six teams for two seasons as a conference, the NEWHA should have an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament starting in 2021-2022. There are rumblings that the tournament may expand to 9 teams (with an 8/9 play in game) once that happens.
Not a stupid question! It's complicated and confusing.
This was a whole big thing last year, and it would have been interesting to see what the committee would have done if Saint Anselm stayed undefeated last year. My guess is they still would have left them out, but it would have been a tougher decision. You can read some more about the whole deal here and here.
This year, though, we don't have that problem -- Holy Cross left the NEWHA (the scheduling alliance that Saint Anselm was a part of) to join Hockey East. That means Saint Anselm won't play the required 20 games against D-I/D-II competition, and they are ineligible for selection (Sacred Heart and Post have a couple extra non-conference games scheduled which will get them to that threshold, but they won't be a Pairwise factor).
So in short -- USCHO's Pairwise is wrong. Saint Anselm should not be included in the rankings this season. I have a correct Pairwise ranking here at BC Interruption.
Having said that, next year LIU is adding a D-I team and joining the NEWHA, which is now an actual conference rather than just a scheduling alliance. With 6 teams again, these programs, including Saint Anselm, will be eligible for selection again (and probably still won't be selected as an at-large).
HOWEVER, after having six teams for two seasons as a conference, the NEWHA should have an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament starting in 2021-2022. There are rumblings that the tournament may expand to 9 teams (with an 8/9 play in game) once that happens.
Last edited:
TonyTheTiger20
#SOAR
thirdtime's . . .
New member
Re: Div I Women's Pairwise
On HC’s first year in D1:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/21/sports/hockey/holy-cross.html
On HC’s first year in D1:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/21/sports/hockey/holy-cross.html
Re: Div I Women's Pairwise
Very interesting! I knew next to nothing about their program, so I thank you for posting.