Utica College hockey. ..Can we catch a break this season?

[Fishman'81]

Re: Utica College hockey. ..Can we catch a break this season?

What a statement win! I was yelling at the computer which i'm sure helped the cause Like Fish said, depth up and down all lines. Still have no idea how the Stevenson kid scored the third goal. It was like a fall away jumper. Great effort with goalie pulled. Ott didnt get on score sheet but had two huge blocks on great Stevenson looks. And another shorty from The Captain. Gonna be a great final weekend! See you at the Aud Fri and Sat.

3rd Stevenson goal pin-balled off maybe three sets of legs... But, whatever. Stevenson is a big, fast and skilled team.

Another big win. Doing my best to figure out if UC can possibly miss an NCAA berth, and at this point, I'm thinking "no".

 

[Russell Jaslow]

Re: Utica College hockey. ..Can we catch a break this season?

Doing my best to figure out if UC can possibly miss an NCAA berth, and at this point, I'm thinking "no".

I already told you that two weeks ago. LOL

 

[Fishman'81]

Re: Utica College hockey. ..Can we catch a break this season?

I already told you that two weeks ago. LOL

Two weeks ago, it wasn't a done deal... Perhaps it is now.

 

[Fishman'81]

Re: Utica College hockey. ..Can we catch a break this season?

I wasn’t saying every conference deserves an auto bid. I said I think allowing every conference an AQ has helped close the gap. Of course there many factors for the better parity we’ve seen in D3, but I think that’s one of them.

Certainly there's more parity than ever before, but haven't the MASCAC and the MIAC just contributed cannon-fodder 95% of the time over the past 10-15 years?

Just MO, but I'd love to see the entire field selected by the PWR or the KRACH.

That would be a more fun (and a more equitable) tournament to watch.

 

[JSicedog]

3rd Stevenson goal pin-balled off maybe three sets of legs... But, whatever. Stevenson is a big, fast and skilled team.

Another big win. Doing my best to figure out if UC can possibly miss an NCAA berth, and at this point, I'm thinking "no".

3rd goal went in clean and wasnt tipped. Was a nice shot. Id be shocked if they didnt get a bid. If they make it to the uchc final id consider them a lock

 

[Russell Jaslow]

Re: Utica College hockey. ..Can we catch a break this season?

Two weeks ago, it wasn't a done deal... Perhaps it is now.

It was a done deal two weeks ago...

 

[jcase]

Re: Utica College hockey. ..Can we catch a break this season?

What a statement win! I was yelling at the computer which i'm sure helped the cause Like Fish said, depth up and down all lines. Still have no idea how the Stevenson kid scored the third goal. It was like a fall away jumper. Great effort with goalie pulled. Ott didnt get on score sheet but had two huge blocks on great Stevenson looks. And another shorty from The Captain. Gonna be a great final weekend! See you at the Aud Fri and Sat.

Intense game and a big win. After an even 1st, UC totally dominated for the next 30 mins until Stevenson, in desperation, came on like a cornered bear.
Wilkes game for the top seed...is it next Sat yet?

 

[Fishman'81]

Re: Utica College hockey. ..Can we catch a break this season?

It was a done deal two weeks ago...

No it wasn't.

If UC had been swept this past weekend, and the lovely tournament AQ's had gone South after that...?

Whole new ball game.

Still, as stupid as the existing system is, UC should be comfortably in right now, and survive the ludicrous NCAA "calculus" ahead. But, every team below #4 in the PW -or those that might drop that low with a bad upcoming weekend- should be concerned. (Hell, 8 AQ's could be garnered by 8 #6 seeds... That's how moronic this system is.)

 

[UCfan30]

Re: Utica College hockey. ..Can we catch a break this season?

Big win against Stevenson Saturday, setting up a thriller for this upcoming Saturday v. Wilkes. UC skated well with Stevenson, especially in the 3rd period & big plays were made when they were needed on both sides. Credit to Stevenson, they're a heck of a team this year. If they end up meeting in the playoffs, I'll expect a battle the entire way. UC in control of their destiny now, as far as #1 in conference & 1st round BYE. NCAA rankings should be coming out soon I imagine? Interested to see how they rank there.

 

[NUProf]

Re: Utica College hockey. ..Can we catch a break this season?

Certainly there's more parity than ever before, but haven't the MASCAC and the MIAC just contributed cannon-fodder 95% of the time over the past 10-15 years?

The MASCAC has not been provided many high seeds, but the MIAC has had Gustavus (2009) and St. Thomas (2005) make it to the finals and had quality representative in other years. The NCAA wants three things - representation of all eligible conferences, a field determined by the 1:6.5 ratio, a tight budget. These three factors are what determines the field make up and the brackets. It would be a better tournament if the field was determined by having one at large team for each automatic bid, but that won't happen because the NCAA also want to use the same rules for each DIII sport. It is a major deal that they allowed the use of the PWR to select and seed the field instead of the old "smoky room" regional rankings process used in every other sport. Are there better ways, yes. I would see a compromise of picking the conference reps as the top team in the PWR from each conference, but the NCAA cedes the choice of representatives to the conference, and many of them like the idea of having all their teams in the running for the national tournament until they are eliminated by either failing to make the league tournament or losing in the tournament. In reality, DIII sports are for the athletes, not the fans.

 

[Russell Jaslow]

Re: Utica College hockey. ..Can we catch a break this season?

No it wasn't.

If UC had been swept this past weekend, and the lovely tournament AQ's had gone South after that...?

But you are forgetting one key factor. If all the predicted tournament AQs went south, how would they all jump Utica in the PWR for the Group C bids, if they ALL lost in their conference playoffs? They would all be in the same boat as Utica. Only Norwich was ahead of Utica. So how would three teams jump Utica when Utica was #2 in the PWR when everybody lost?

That’s why I keep saying once Utica settled into the #2 PWR spot, they were in. (Granted I was assuming Utica didn’t **** the bed in their last few regular season weekends. But if they did, they would not deserve to be in anyway.)

 

[Russell Jaslow]

Re: Utica College hockey. ..Can we catch a break this season?

Big win against Stevenson Saturday, setting up a thriller for this upcoming Saturday v. Wilkes. UC skated well with Stevenson, especially in the 3rd period & big plays were made when they were needed on both sides. Credit to Stevenson, they're a heck of a team this year. If they end up meeting in the playoffs, I'll expect a battle the entire way. UC in control of their destiny now, as far as #1 in conference & 1st round BYE. NCAA rankings should be coming out soon I imagine? Interested to see how they rank there.

There are no more NCAA rankings. They go strictly by the PWR.

 

[Fishman'81]

Re: Utica College hockey. ..Can we catch a break this season?

Russ, Prof, and everyone else: this is the problem:

A given team could be #5 PW at the end of the season, and be entirely displaced by a #37 PW team once the conference tourneys shake-out. That, after a 25-game RS.

Doesn't make a bit of sense. There's still work to do here.

 

[NUProf]

Re: Utica College hockey. ..Can we catch a break this season?

Russ, Prof, and everyone else: this is the problem:

A given team could be #5 PW at the end of the season, and be entirely displaced by a #37 PW team once the conference tourneys shake-out. That, after a 25-game RS.

Doesn't make a bit of sense. There's still work to do here.

If that happens, they blew it in their own league tournament. This is structured as if the tournament starts with the league tournaments, but 4 teams get a second bite at the the apple after they lose. (The exception being the WIAC teams who can only get in as Pool C entrants).

 

[Fishman'81]

Re: Utica College hockey. ..Can we catch a break this season?

If that happens, they blew it in their own league tournament. This is structured as if the tournament starts with the league tournaments, but 4 teams get a second bite at the the apple after they lose. (The exception being the WIAC teams who can only get in as Pool C entrants).

Huh?

So you're endorsing the fact that the conference tournaments trump the RS?

I thought you were a statistician.

 

[Russell Jaslow]

Re: Utica College hockey. ..Can we catch a break this season?

Russ, Prof, and everyone else: this is the problem:

A given team could be #5 PW at the end of the season, and be entirely displaced by a #37 PW team once the conference tourneys shake-out. That, after a 25-game RS.

Doesn't make a bit of sense. There's still work to do here.

Wait, wait, wait.

That is NOT what I or you were just talking about. Come on Fish. Reading comprehension. The only debate in my last post was about whether Utica had a bid locked up once they rose to the #2 PWR. At that point, about two weeks ago, I said they were in no matter what. You didn’t agree with me. I laid out why I thought so. This time, it has nothing to do with your age old argument. It was a debate totally separate from that.

 

[altazo]

Russ, Prof, and everyone else: this is the problem:

A given team could be #5 PW at the end of the season, and be entirely displaced by a #37 PW team once the conference tourneys shake-out. That, after a 25-game RS.

Doesn't make a bit of sense. There's still work to do here.

Again, the NCAA does not dictate that conference tournament winners earn the Pool A bids.

Conferences that meet certain criteria are awarded 1 Pool A bid each season to issue as they choose. Every conference that has a Pool A to distribute currently gives it to their post season tournament champion. Your beef is with each conference, not the NCAA.

The Big 10, for example, up until fairly recently did not have a post season basketball tournament and issued their auto-bid to the regular season champion.

 

[hockeyfan77]

Re: Utica College hockey. ..Can we catch a break this season?

Again, the NCAA does not dictate that conference tournament winners earn the Pool A bids.

Conferences that meet certain criteria are awarded 1 Pool A bid each season to issue as they choose. Every conference that has a Pool A to distribute currently gives it to their post season tournament champion. Your beef is with each conference, not the NCAA.

The Big 10, for example, up until fairly recently did not have a post season basketball tournament and issued their auto-bid to the regular season champion.

I'm pretty sure the Pac 12 has the same thing... Regular season champ getting an Auto Bid

 

[Birdwatcher]

I'm pretty sure the Pac 12 has the same thing... Regular season champ getting an Auto Bid

On another note ...UVM Basketball has 21 wins this season. If they don't win the America East Conference championship there is no way they will get a NCAA bid. If wasn't for the AQ the America East would never get a bid. So, is that fair to these D1 players? Remember they are capable of winning in the tournament. Ask Syracuse.

 

[smbenny]

Re: Utica College hockey. ..Can we catch a break this season?

I saw on Twitter that there is a big announcement for Utica hockey tomorrow. My guess is they’re changing leagues or maybe D1?