Re: The 2015 Pairwise, Bracketology and History Thread
There are possibilities in pretty much every league.
WCHA: BSU, NMU, maybe FSU getting hot at the right time
ECAC: Colgate, St. Lawrence, its doubtful that Harvard/Yale wouldn't be top 12 if they won the ECAC title...
Big 10: Penn State, Michigan State, its doubtful Michigan wouldn't be top 12 if they won the B1G
Hockey East: It would have to be a team like Northeastern or Merrimack on a roll to have it not be a top 12 team
NCHC: I think its doubtful that WMU could pull it off and beyond that everyone else is likely to be top 12 if they win the AQ
AHA: No matter who wins this, they're pretty much guaranteed to be outside of the top 12.
From most likely to least:
AHA: As you mentioned, whoever wins the conference tournament will almost assuredly be from outside the top 12. I suppose there is some miniscule probability that the right set of results allow Robert Morris to sneak in there, but I just don't see that happening. My guess on chance of AHA autobid stealing a spot from the top 16: 99.99%
Big Ten: The conference has been poor all year long, so it wouldn't surprise me much if whoever won the league tournament title would be sitting outside the top 12. I don't know if Michigan would be a top 12 team if they won the tournament...but it is possible. Minnesota is the only team inside the top 12 at the moment from the conference, and I just don't have a whole lot of faith that they can win 2 games in a row in Michigan...especially if they had to knock off both Michigan State and Michigan. My guess on chance of Big Ten autobid stealing a spot from the top 16: 75%
ECAC: Only Quinnipiac is in the top 12 at the moment, and just barely so. Yale would likely move up into the top 12 with winning the ECAC Tournament, but Harvard might not. It would be tight. As you mentioned, Colgate and St. Lawrence are both good possibilities of winning the tournament. However, they would also have an opportunity to jump up into the top 12 if they did so. My guess on chance of ECAC autobid stealing a spot from the top 16: 40%
WCHA: Minnesota State and Michigan Tech are obviously the top of the league, and if Bowling Green were to make that run (especially if they did so dispatching Mankato and Tech) they would finish in the top 12. As you discussed, that leaves Bemidji State and Northern Michigan. I think Bemidji State has a decent chance of pulling such a feat. I haven't seen much from Northern Michigan to truly know what their odds are, so my number here might be a bit off. My guess on chance of WCHA autobid stealing a spot from the top 16: 25%
Hockey East: I think Notre Dame has a shot of getting on a roll and winning the league title. I think Northeastern would probably vault themselves up into the top 12 if they won the Hockey East Tournament...although that likely depends on how they fare before the tournament. I just don't see Merrimack having much of a shot, along with anyone else from the bottom of the league. My guess on chance of Hockey East autobid stealing a spot from the top 16: 10%
NCHC: I think Western would probably be in the top 12 if they managed to run the table in the NCHC Tournament...same with St. Cloud. That leaves only Colorado College, and while they could cause whoever finishes first in the conference some fits, I don't see them winning 4 straight when they've only managed to win 1 conference game all season. My guess on chance NCHC autobid stealing a spot from top 16: 5%
Maybe I shouldn't have said "strong likelihood" that there would be 3-4 autobids coming from outside the top 16. The better language would be a "strong possibility."
Obviously, we'll know a whole lot more in about two weeks as to how those percentages hold up (or likely change).