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Selection Show

Re: Selection Show

Eeyore said:
So, is Northeastern on the Green Line, or are they going to have to change trains at Government Center or something? My knowledge of the T isn't what it used to be.
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Yes they are on the green line, but a different branch of the green line (the E) -- they would have to go inbound and then change to the B/C/D line outbound.
 
Re: Selection Show

Last year, the top 8 was:

1 UM
2 BC
3 HU
4 UW
5 BU
6 QU
7 Clarky
8 RIT

They kept bracket integrity even though QU/HU was intraconference (just adding this for informational purposes, since intraconference does not matter to the committee).

QU and BU were separated by the tiniest of margins -- BU .5796 to QU .5791.

If you apply the same criteria they applied this year, BU should have been flipped with QU, since BU is closer to Harvard and should have bussed (T'd!) to Harvard, and QU should have been shipped to Wisconsin. Instead, they sent BU out west and sent QU on a 3 hour bus ride to Cambridge.

Direct contradiction to what they did this year. And last year was they year they should have done it, because you would have had a more compelling bracket!
 
Re: Selection Show

The NCAA is like North Korea. Anyone who claims to know what they're thinking is a fool.

I will not make the same mistake again.
 
Re: Selection Show

Nowheresville said:
Maybe after years of "rewarding" the WCHA winner by screwing with bracket integrity to make them play another conference game, they just assumed they had to do the same thing to this year's top overall seed.
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Two wrongs don't make a right. Usually covered in Kindergarten.

(Totally agreeing with the thrust of your comment, of course.)

play-by-play guy said:
...I know we don't live a perfect world, and I realize that Min and Wisc are clearly the 3 and 2 seed respectively. But just humor me with this bracket which kept somewhat bracket integrity and avoided intra-league semi match ups (unless some significant upsets)...
(1) BC v (8) Mercyhurst
(4) Minn v (5) Clarkson
(2) Wisc v (7) Princeton
(3) Quin v (6) Northeastern
I know there are three flights with this bracket, and it moves my Gophs down to #4, but doesn't this sound nice?
Start shredding me. :)
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Beyond nice. I'd say you're the winner.
 
Re: Selection Show

play-by-play guy said:
I was kind of looking forward to that too.
I know we don't live a perfect world, and I realize that Min and Wisc are clearly the 3 and 2 seed respectively. But just humor me with this bracket which kept somewhat bracket integrity and avoided intra-league semi match ups (unless some significant upsets)...
(1) BC v (8) Mercyhurst
(4) Minn v (5) Clarkson
(2) Wisc v (7) Princeton
(3) Quin v (6) Northeastern
I know there are three flights with this bracket, and it moves my Gophs down to #4, but doesn't this sound nice?
Start shredding me. :)
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Swap Hurst and Princeton and you only have two flights, and every game is intriguing. I love Quinni v NU -- the team that's nothing but defense against the team that's nothing but offense. Though the Wisco/Quinni semifinal might go to 17OT.
 
Re: Selection Show

Well, it's surprising but not shocking to swap Princeton and Northeastern.

Officially they can balance travel vs. bracket integrity. I wish interconference play mattered at all, but that flew out the window after some complaints in 2007 and the bracket has been worse ever since.

Why did they swap this time and not last year? Recent play and conference championships officially don't matter but I couldn't imagine suggesting that swap after BU won Hockey East last year. And Quinnipiac is a lot physically closer to Harvard than Princeton is to BC.

If Northeastern came out more strongly ahead of Princeton in all criteria, I don't think they would've done this, but shame the NCAA couldn't pay out for a 250-mile bus ride.

But really the better reform here is not so much about better trading off travel vs bracket integrity, but about officially allowing some consideration in avoiding intraconference play in the pairings. There's no hope in NCAA of avoiding intraconference play through increased air travel, but the NCAA should be willing to pay for a bus for a real interconference tourney, if it's willing to pay to send Quinnipiac to Harvard rather than BU in last year's scenario.
 
Re: Selection Show

PrincetonFan said:
I'm happy but surprised by Princeton's inclusion. When was the last time a team that didn't make their conference semifinals get selected?
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I don't immediately recall an instance either, but on the other hand this is probably the least accomplished #6-#8 teams ever in the field. Not a single win over the top 5.

I'd personally prefer to see Colgate and North Dakota in the field, who at least had a proven upside of beating these teams but were otherwise more inconsistent. And all these rating systems pound you for bad losses like Colgate's to Merrimack, and there's some logic in giving Princeton credit for sweeping Colgate.
 
Re: Selection Show

OnMAA said:
Whaaaath ? They don't even arrange for cross league match-ups in the East.
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ROFL
so is anybody in favor of going back to the old days in men's hockey where #4 and #3 east went to play #1 and #2 west
and versa visa?

oh yeah, I forgot, you eastern we aint got a monarchy so lets put Clinton/Trudeau on the throne are afraid of an all west final
 
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Re: Selection Show

KTDC said:
NE at BC
Clarkson at Quinni
Merceyhurst at UW
Princeton at Gophers
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From my perspective this is a great matchup for Clarkson. Q launched Clarkson into a D first and only game yesterday and Clarkson won't let that happen twice. So, Im happy with the matchup.

NE at BC, has got to be NE's top choice over a fun trip to Minny. I'm sure the NE coaches would attempt to slay the dragon they do know than the one they don't. Not saying the outcome will be any different, but it makes it way easier for preparation, and maybe the same said for BC. I'm sure that BC would rather play Princeton for an easier route, but this is not a slam dunk.

UW in their rink will move through the game with MC without much difficulty.

The Gophers will be practising this week to hit the back of the twine. I don't see a huge obstacle for UM.

If it ends up being BC,UM, UW and Clarkson, it should make for a really exciting Final Four. Unfortunately, the semi's look like they would end up East v East, West v West.
 
dave1381 said:
I don't immediately recall an instance either, but on the other hand this is probably the least accomplished #6-#8 teams ever in the field. Not a single win over the top 5.

I'd personally prefer to see Colgate and North Dakota in the field, who at least had a proven upside of beating these teams but were otherwise more inconsistent. And all these rating systems pound you for bad losses like Colgate's to Merrimack, and there's some logic in giving Princeton credit for sweeping Colgate.
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Problem is Colgate didn't beat Princeton and playoff games don't matter. Princeton lost to a lower ranked team twice in playoffs ,make playoff results irrelevant don't they ?
I would have thought the wcha would also warrant an extra look because of strength of conference. Bemidji sure got hammered for losing games in playoffs .
 
Re: Selection Show

LG4 said:
Problem is Colgate didn't beat Princeton and playoff games don't matter. Princeton lost to a lower ranked team twice in playoffs ,make playoff results irrelevant don't they ?
I would have thought the wcha would also warrant an extra look because of strength of conference. Bemidji sure got hammered for losing games in playoffs .
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Every time someone posts something like this it amazes me that people can follow the sport so closely and yet not have a clue about how the Pairwise works.
 
Re: Selection Show

The morning after. The light of day. The bracket still looks awful.

dave1381 said:
...Officially they can balance travel vs. bracket integrity. I wish interconference play mattered at all, but that flew out the window after some complaints in 2007 and the bracket has been worse ever since.
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This is a question of policy, as opposed to a misapplication of the current policy. But if the policy can be changed for the worse, it can also be changed for the better.

But really the better reform here is not so much about better trading off travel vs bracket integrity, but about officially allowing some consideration in avoiding intraconference play in the pairings. There's no hope in NCAA of avoiding intraconference play through increased air travel, but the NCAA should be willing to pay for a bus for a real interconference tourney, if it's willing to pay to send Quinnipiac to Harvard rather than BU in last year's scenario.
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Very sensible comment, but I'd go further than "some consideration."

My belief is that it's wrong to give an intra-conference rematch to the lower ranked team unless they've done something to earn it. That "something" should be a win over another conference in NCAA play.

I get that budget constraints may prevent ideal solutions. But we act like intra-conference games in the first round is the only possible response to those constraints. It's not. We also act as if a flawed statistical system reveals the exact 8 teams which absolutely, positively must be included in the national tournament. That's not true either.

Out of respect for the teams that have been selected, the main focus should be on the tournament at hand. For now. But once the 2016 champion has been crowned, I would hope we could have a serious conversation about alternative formats. The status quo isn't just less than ideal. It's an outright embarrassment.
 
Re: Selection Show

My $0.02

BC has done nothing to suggest that they are anything but the clear #1 seed, but they are being punished by geography (the NCAA's convenient use of it.) The #1 seed should be the one instance where despite cost, or lack of convenience, they play#8.
You could give me a compelling reason for the #8 being either Princeton or Mercyhurst. Mercyhurst earned a spot, despite not being ranked, and Princeton was ranked, but could not get out of the quarters.
Northeastern was ranked higher than Princeton going into the semi's, and although their performance against BU did not meet expectations, it should not have dropped them below a team that was already lower ranked, and who watched the Championship series from the couch.
 
Re: Selection Show

DC78-82 said:
My $0.02

BC has done nothing to suggest that they are anything but the clear #1 seed, but they are being punished by geography (the NCAA's convenient use of it.) The #1 seed should be the one instance where despite cost, or lack of convenience, they play#8.
You could give me a compelling reason for the #8 being either Princeton or Mercyhurst. Mercyhurst earned a spot, despite not being ranked, and Princeton was ranked, but could not get out of the quarters.
Northeastern was ranked higher than Princeton going into the semi's, and although their performance against BU did not meet expectations, it should not have dropped them below a team that was already lower ranked, and who watched the Championship series from the couch.
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TonyTheTiger20 said:
Cue the WCHA fans in 5... 4... 3... [two fingers]... [one finger]...
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Thank you so much for that wonderful introduction.............
 
Re: Selection Show

TonyTheTiger20 said:
Should be no surprises:

Princeton @ (1) Boston College
Mercyhurst @ (2) Wisconsin
Northeastern @ (3) Minnesota
Clarkson @ (4) Quinnipiac
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Every time someone posts something like this it amazes me that people can follow the sport so closely and yet not have a clue about how the Pairwise works.
 
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