Couple of things to note.
Officials could be up in the air. NCAA won't allow officials to work the game if they worked either conference so unless both teams are from that conference CCHA and CHA refs are out. At least the CHA uses CCHA officials some of the time. Philo and Langseth worked the CHA final. I'm not sure about all the CHA games though since the conference covers such a huge geographic footprint. So CCHA officials may need to be avoided. I'm guessing to avoid inevitable conflicts in who can work the games the refs won't be CCHA refs or anyone who worked CHA games.
The ice and boards at Fort Wayne are d e a d, dead. At least for every game I've seen Notre Dame play there that was the case. The boards almost seem absorbent as pucks seems to hit them and just carry along behind and around the net, and the ice seemed soft to me when ND has played there.
And speaking of speed, I believe speed is what has UM where they are (well, that and generous placement by the NCAA 
). I think the key to BSU will be slowing them down from the tops of the faceoff circles in the UM zone to the same area in the BSU zone. BSU has the style and discipline to do just that, but if they try to play UM one-on-one, they play into their hands. I think Bemidji has some guys than can move, but Michigan is loaded with both forwards and defensemen who can fly. I think this is where MU failed to beat them last week. They were scorched in the transition game. Miami and Michigan are fairly even in talent but play differently and Miami tried to play Michigan's game and got burnt.
The key to Miami winning is likely as simple as playing their best game for 60 minutes. Huntsville is on a high note, and playing well but likely doesn't have the ammunition to skate with Miami for a full game. Notre Dame nearly fell victim to them in 2007 because once they got up 2-0 they quit playing their game. They watched UAH swap goalies after Macnicol (sp?) gave up 2 goals on NDs first 3 shots and figured it was in the bag. Even with UAH being assessed 5 straight penalties, Notre Dame did not skate hard and seemed unwilling to try to bury them. It was almost as if they were waiting to win instead of trying to win. UAH tied it up and it took nearly 40 minutes of OT for Notre Dame to win it. And they had nothing left for MSU the next night and still lost by just a single goal.
I also wonder if the lighter schedule for CHA teams (UAH has played 9 fewer games and has had a week off) will help them. It probably won't matter, but it won't hurt. Miami needs to realize it takes 60 minutes at this stage and if they don't, it will be a dog fight. I know every fan always says "don't worry, my guys will be ready," but Miami has looked just a little off now for a few games and I am very curious to see how they come out this weekend. My picks are for Miami and Michigan to win Saturday and Miami to win Sunday. But don't forget in October I picked Notre Dame to have people in Fort Wayne who would be dressed to play hockey, not dressed in suits.
