The 2015 Pairwise, Bracketology and History Thread

[Terrier520]

Re: The 2015 Pairwise, Bracketology and History Thread

So do Minnesota and North Dakota get "screwed over" frequently too?

15 teams get screwed over each year.

 

[SJHovey]

Re: The 2015 Pairwise, Bracketology and History Thread

Mark my words, the committee is going to find a way to screw BU over and put BC in the same region... nine years later.

So do Minnesota and North Dakota get "screwed over" frequently too?

That is kind of funny, isn't it. Twice poor BU has had to be in the same region as BC. Heck, UND has been in the same region as BC twice over that same period.

 

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: The 2015 Pairwise, Bracketology and History Thread

PWR as of today

1. Minnesota State
2 North Dakota
3 Boston University
4 Nebraska-Omaha
5 Minnesota-Duluth
6 Michigan Tech
7 Miami
8 Bowling Green
9 Denver
10 Providence
11 Boston College
12 Michigan
13t Quinnipiac
13t Minnesota
15 Massachusetts-Lowell
16 Harvard

PWR remains the same as of today. I would have the following brackets:

Midwest Regional - South Bend, IN (BI = 36)
1. Minnesota State vs. 16. Robert Morris
7. Miami vs. 12. Michigan

West Regional - Fargo, ND (BI = 31...yikes!)
2. North Dakota vs. 14. Minnesota
6. Michigan Tech vs. 9. Denver

East Regional - Providence, RI (BI = 34)
3. Boston University vs. 13. Quinnipiac
8. Bowling Green vs. 10. Providence

Northeast Regional - Manchester, NH (BI = 35)
4. Nebraska Omaha vs. 15. Massachusetts Lowell
5. Minnesota Duluth vs. 11. Boston College

Not great brackets for "bracket integrity" (BI should equal 34), but tremendous brackets for attendance. With Miami and Michigan in South Bend, there should be good attendance there. Fargo doesn't need any help, but scalper prices will be off the charts with North Dakota and Minnesota. Providence will be solid with BU, Quinnipiac, and Providence there. Manchester should be a-okay with Lowell and BC in the mix.

 

[SanTropez]

Re: The 2015 Pairwise, Bracketology and History Thread

PWR remains the same as of today. I would have the following brackets:

Midwest Regional - South Bend, IN (BI = 36)
1. Minnesota State vs. 16. Robert Morris
7. Miami vs. 12. Michigan

West Regional - Fargo, ND (BI = 31...yikes!)
2. North Dakota vs. 14. Minnesota
6. Michigan Tech vs. 9. Denver

East Regional - Providence, RI (BI = 34)
3. Boston University vs. 13. Quinnipiac
8. Bowling Green vs. 10. Providence

Northeast Regional - Manchester, NH (BI = 35)
4. Nebraska Omaha vs. 15. Massachusetts Lowell
5. Minnesota Duluth vs. 11. Boston College

Not great brackets for "bracket integrity" (BI should equal 34), but tremendous brackets for attendance. With Miami and Michigan in South Bend, there should be good attendance there. Fargo doesn't need any help, but scalper prices will be off the charts with North Dakota and Minnesota. Providence will be solid with BU, Quinnipiac, and Providence there. Manchester should be a-okay with Lowell and BC in the mix.

The west regional thread on here would be a true masterpiece if that's how it played out.

I'm all for it.

 

[darker98]

Re: The 2015 Pairwise, Bracketology and History Thread

PWR remains the same as of today. I would have the following brackets:

Midwest Regional - South Bend, IN (BI = 36)
1. Minnesota State vs. 16. Robert Morris
7. Miami vs. 12. Michigan

West Regional - Fargo, ND (BI = 31...yikes!)
2. North Dakota vs. 14. Minnesota
6. Michigan Tech vs. 9. Denver
East Regional - Providence, RI (BI = 34)
3. Boston University vs. 13. Quinnipiac
8. Bowling Green vs. 10. Providence

Northeast Regional - Manchester, NH (BI = 35)
4. Nebraska Omaha vs. 15. Massachusetts Lowell
5. Minnesota Duluth vs. 11. Boston College

Not great brackets for "bracket integrity" (BI should equal 34), but tremendous brackets for attendance. With Miami and Michigan in South Bend, there should be good attendance there. Fargo doesn't need any help, but scalper prices will be off the charts with North Dakota and Minnesota. Providence will be solid with BU, Quinnipiac, and Providence there. Manchester should be a-okay with Lowell and BC in the mix.

The old WCHA Regional.

 

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: The 2015 Pairwise, Bracketology and History Thread

PWR remains the same as of today. I would have the following brackets:

Midwest Regional - South Bend, IN (BI = 36)
1. Minnesota State vs. 16. Robert Morris
7. Miami vs. 12. Michigan

West Regional - Fargo, ND (BI = 31...yikes!)
2. North Dakota vs. 14. Minnesota
6. Michigan Tech vs. 9. Denver

East Regional - Providence, RI (BI = 34)
3. Boston University vs. 13. Quinnipiac
8. Bowling Green vs. 10. Providence

Northeast Regional - Manchester, NH (BI = 35)
4. Nebraska Omaha vs. 15. Massachusetts Lowell
5. Minnesota Duluth vs. 11. Boston College

Not great brackets for "bracket integrity" (BI should equal 34), but tremendous brackets for attendance. With Miami and Michigan in South Bend, there should be good attendance there. Fargo doesn't need any help, but scalper prices will be off the charts with North Dakota and Minnesota. Providence will be solid with BU, Quinnipiac, and Providence there. Manchester should be a-okay with Lowell and BC in the mix.

How in the hell did you get to that bracket? Why would Michigan Tech, Bowling Green Miami not be with their appropriate #1 seed?

 

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: The 2015 Pairwise, Bracketology and History Thread

How in the hell did you get to that bracket? Why would Michigan Tech, Bowling Green Miami not be with their appropriate #1 seed?

Start off with straight seeding, placing hosts then top seeds closest to home...

South Bend
1. Minnesota State vs. 16. Robert Morris
8. Bowling Green vs. 9. Denver

Fargo
2. North Dakota vs. 15. Massachusetts Lowell
7. Miami vs. 10. Providence

Providence
3. Boston University vs. 14. Minnesota
6. Michigan Tech vs. 11. Boston College

Manchester
4. Nebraska Omaha vs. 13. Quinnipiac
5. Minnesota Duluth vs. 12. Michigan

Intra-conference issues? No.
Attendance issues? Yes. If I'm the committee, I want to do everything in my power to: (1) Get Michigan to South Bend and (2) Get Providence to Providence. We have BC in Providence, but if at all possible, we went to keep them out east. Denver is a flight anywhere, so let's temporarily move them to Fargo. With those changes we now have:

South Bend
1. Minnesota State vs. 16. Robert Morris
8. Bowling Green vs. 12. Michigan

Fargo
2. North Dakota vs. 15. Massachusetts Lowell
7. Miami vs. 9. Denver

Providence
3. Boston University vs. 14. Minnesota
6. Michigan Tech vs. 10. Providence

Manchester
4. Nebraska Omaha vs. 13. Quinnipiac
5. Minnesota Duluth vs. 11. Boston College

Intra-conference issues? Yes. Now we have Miami vs. Denver. Miami would help out South Bend quite a bit (and save the committee a flight), so let's swap Miami and Bowling Green. That gives us:

South Bend
1. Minnesota State vs. 16. Robert Morris
7. Miami vs. 12. Michigan

Fargo
2. North Dakota vs. 15. Massachusetts Lowell
8. Bowling Green vs. 9. Denver

Providence
3. Boston University vs. 14. Minnesota
6. Michigan Tech vs. 10. Providence

Manchester
4. Nebraska Omaha vs. 13. Quinnipiac
5. Minnesota Duluth vs. 11. Boston College

Intra-conference issues? No.
Attendance issues? Shouldn't be.

So, what other changes could be done to perhaps save some flights? Well, Minnesota out East doesn't make any sense when they can go to Fargo. If we do a straight swap, we get an intra-conference matchup, but that can be easily avoided by moving Quinnpiac to Providence and Lowell to Manchester (also helps with attendance). With those changes we get:

South Bend
1. Minnesota State vs. 16. Robert Morris
7. Miami vs. 12. Michigan

Fargo
2. North Dakota vs. 14. Minnesota
8. Bowling Green vs. 9. Denver

Providence
3. Boston University vs. 13. Quinnipiac
6. Michigan Tech vs. 10. Providence

Manchester
4. Nebraska Omaha vs. 15. Massachusetts Lowell
5. Minnesota Duluth vs. 11. Boston College

This bracket is a feasible bracket for maximizing attendance, but I swapped Bowling Green and Michigan Tech. Tech is just outside of 400 miles from Fargo, but it is close enough for me to swap the two schools. Plus, I think placing Bowling Green out east would help out attendance more than Michigan Tech. After making that change I came up with:

Midwest Regional - South Bend, IN
1. Minnesota State vs. 16. Robert Morris
7. Miami vs. 12. Michigan

West Regional - Fargo, ND
2. North Dakota vs. 14. Minnesota
6. Michigan Tech vs. 9. Denver

East Regional - Providence, RI
3. Boston University vs. 13. Quinnipiac
8. Bowling Green vs. 10. Providence

Northeast Regional - Manchester, NH
4. Nebraska Omaha vs. 15. Massachusetts Lowell
5. Minnesota Duluth vs. 11. Boston College

To me, this bracket maximizes attendance, and I think that is what the committee is primarily concerned about.

 

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: The 2015 Pairwise, Bracketology and History Thread

The old WCHA Regional.

What's crazy is that 9 of the 16 teams would be either former or current WCHA members.

 

[MavHockey14]

What's crazy is that 9 of the 16 teams would be either former or current WCHA members.

Which is awesome, but makes me wish the Final Five could bring everyone together again. Thankfully, the Final Five will still have extremely good hockey, just less people.

 

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: The 2015 Pairwise, Bracketology and History Thread

Makes you smile a little, doesn't it?

Makes me sad that all the shifting happened. Of course, had the shifting not happened, my guess is that certain schools that are currently in the mix would be on the outside looking in. One of the benefits of the shift is that it has helped schools like Bowling Green and Michigan Tech to rise back up to prominence. Provided they don't play my team or the NCHC, I wish nothing but the best for those schools...nice to see them back in the mix.

 

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: The 2015 Pairwise, Bracketology and History Thread

Intra-conference issues? Yes. Now we have Miami vs. Denver. Miami would help out South Bend quite a bit (and save the committee a flight), so let's swap Miami and Bowling Green. That gives us:

Let's just look at this...how does swapping Bowling Green for Miami save the committee a flight? Do you know where Bowling Green is? It's closer to south bend than miami...

 

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: The 2015 Pairwise, Bracketology and History Thread

Let's just look at this...how does swapping Bowling Green for Miami save the committee a flight? Do you know where Bowling Green is? It's closer to south bend than miami...

I am aware of where Bowling Green and Miami are. My main point was that if Denver is in Fargo, Miami cannot be. You do know that they are both in the NCHC?

I suppose you could have Bowling Green vs. Michigan in South Bend, Miami vs. Providence in Providence, and Michigan Tech vs. Denver in Fargo. Personally, I think Miami would help attendance in South Bend more than Bowling Green, but perhaps the committee would see it otherwise.

 

[blackswampboy]

Re: The 2015 Pairwise, Bracketology and History Thread

Let's just look at this...how does swapping Bowling Green for Miami save the committee a flight? Do you know where Bowling Green is? It's closer to south bend than miami...

it doesn't.
and BG's home attendance is better than Miami State's this season. BG to South Bend is a no-brainer.

 

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: The 2015 Pairwise, Bracketology and History Thread

it doesn't.
and BG's home attendance is better than Miami State's this season. BG to South Bend is a no-brainer.

Miami's attendance is also limited by the size of their building. Bowling Green fills 56% of their building. Miami fills 83% of their building. The raw averages are separated by less than 200 people.

 

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: The 2015 Pairwise, Bracketology and History Thread

I am aware of where Bowling Green and Miami are. My main point was that if Denver is in Fargo, Miami cannot be. You do know that they are both in the NCHC?

I suppose you could have Bowling Green vs. Michigan in South Bend, Miami vs. Providence in Providence, and Michigan Tech vs. Denver in Fargo. Personally, I think Miami would help attendance in South Bend more than Bowling Green, but perhaps the committee would see it otherwise.

And you created Miami vs Denver by forcing other matchups that you think are favorable...not the natural bracket. As much as I don't care for MTU going East, Moy's bracket makes more sense to me.

 

[blackswampboy]

Re: The 2015 Pairwise, Bracketology and History Thread

Miami's attendance is also limited by the size of their building. Bowling Green fills 56% of their building. Miami fills 83% of their building. The raw averages are separated by less than 200 people.

yet BG is still drawing better.
you said that Miami would draw better in South Bend. by what calcs? they're further, and draw less.
BG to South Bend.

 

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: The 2015 Pairwise, Bracketology and History Thread

And you created Miami vs Denver by forcing other matchups that you think are favorable...not the natural bracket. As much as I don't care for MTU going East, Moy's bracket makes more sense to me.

Do you really think Denver is not going to be placed in Fargo considering the teams currently occupying the #3 seeds?

 

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: The 2015 Pairwise, Bracketology and History Thread

Do you really think Denver is not going to be placed in Fargo considering the teams currently occupying the #3 seeds?

I just think bracket integrity is more important than forcing the #3 seeds to be close to home for attendance. I hate the idea of giving the 3 seed an advantage.

If we're going to go to that length, maybe we should just band them and place 1,5,9,13 to their closest region and so on until we're done and that fix for inter-conference matchups by moving the 3rd and 4th seeds first.

 

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: The 2015 Pairwise, Bracketology and History Thread

yet BG is still drawing better.
you said that Miami would draw better in South Bend. by what calcs? they're further, and draw less.
BG to South Bend.

It's certainly reasonable to argue that Bowling Green should go to South Bend. It makes more sense from a bracket integrity standpoint.

As for attendance, the more I think about it, you do have a good point. Miami has grown accustomed to making the NCAA tournament and there may be some apathy. I would imagine that Bowling Green fans are more charged up because they haven't seen their team play in the NCAA tournament in decades. Throw in a close regional, and they might out-number what Miami would bring.

As a result, I would alter my brackets to the following:

Midwest Regional - South Bend, IN
1. Minnesota State vs. 16. Robert Morris
8. Bowling Green vs. 12. Michigan

West Regional - Fargo, ND
2. North Dakota vs. 14. Minnesota
6. Michigan Tech vs. 9. Denver

East Regional - Providence, RI
3. Boston University vs. 13. Quinnipiac
7. Miami vs. 10. Providence

Northeast Regional - Manchester, NH
4. Nebraska Omaha vs. 15. Massachusetts Lowell
5. Minnesota Duluth vs. 11. Boston College

 

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: The 2015 Pairwise, Bracketology and History Thread

I just think bracket integrity is more important than forcing the #3 seeds to be close to home for attendance. I hate the idea of giving the 3 seed an advantage.

If we're going to go to that length, maybe we should just band them and place 1,5,9,13 to their closest region and so on until we're done and that fix for inter-conference matchups by moving the 3rd and 4th seeds first.

I would love if the committee went pure bracket integrity and only swapped if intra-conference matchups presented themselves. Unfortunately, the committee has shown time and time again that attendance is more important.