Accordingly to the NCAA, Monday’s epic Beanpot semifinal between BC and BU ended in a tie. Suck for the Terriers because that was a hell of a win they really could have used to move up a few spots in the ranks. Nevertheless, we move on.
Current Conference Leaders:
Atlantic: American International
Big 10: Ohio State
ECAC: Clarkson
Hockey East: Boston College
NCHC: North Dakota
WCHA: Minnesota State
Current Top-16 In PairWise
- North Dakota (21-3-3)
- Minnesota State (24-4-2)
- Cornell (15-2-4)
- Denver (17-6-5)
- Boston College (16-7-1)
- Minnesota Duluth (15-9-2)
- Clarkson (19-6-2)
- Northeastern (15-7-2)
- UMass (16-9-2)
- Arizona State (18-9-3)
- Ohio State (16-9-3)
- Penn State (17-9-2)
- Providence (14-7-5)
- Quinnipiac (16-9-1)
- Northern Michigan (16-8-4)
- Maine (14-9-4)
Now we adjust the top-16 of the PairWise to accommodate potential conference champions. It remains the same with the exception of Maine losing its spot to AIC.
- North Dakota (21-3-3)
- Minnesota State (24-4-2)
- Cornell (15-2-4)
- Denver (17-6-5)
- Boston College (16-7-1)
- Minnesota Duluth (15-9-2)
- Clarkson (19-6-2)
- Northeastern (15-7-2)
- UMass (16-9-2)
- Arizona State (18-9-3)
- Ohio State (16-9-3)
- Penn State (17-9-2)
- Providence (14-7-5)
- Quinnipiac (16-9-1)
- Northern Michigan (16-8-4)
- AIC (15-11-1)
With the 16-team field set we can begin assigning seedings, beginning with the No. 1 seeds.
No. 1 North Dakota is placed in the West Regional in Loveland, CO.
No. 2 Minnesota State is placed in the Midwest Regional in Allentown, PA.
No. 3 Cornell is placed in the East Regional in Albany, NY.
No. 4 Denver is placed in the Northeast Regional in Worcester, MA.
Two Seeds
No. 8 Northeastern is placed in No. 1 North Dakota’s regional, the West Regional.
No. 7 Clarkson is placed in No. 2 Minnesota State’s regional, the Midwest Regional.
No. 6 Minnesota Duluth is placed in No. 3 Cornell’s regional, the East Regional.
No. 5 Boston College is placed in No. 4 Denver’s regional, the Northeast Regional.
Three Seeds
No. 9 UMass is placed in No. 8 Northeastern’s regional, the West Regional.
No. 10 Arizona State is placed in No. 7 Clarkson’s regional, the Midwest Regional.
No. 11 Ohio State is placed in No. 6 Minnesota State’s regional, the East Regional.
No. 12 Penn State is placed in No. 5 Boston College’s regional, the Northeast Regional.
Four Seeds
No. 16 AIC is placed in No. 1 North Dakota’s regional, the West Regional
No. 15 N. Michigan is placed in No. 2 Minnesota State’s regional, the Midwest regional.
No. 14 Quinnipiac is placed in No. 3 Cornell’s regional, the East Regional.
No. 13 Providence is placed in No. 4 Denver’s regional, the Northeast Regional.
Resulting in this initial bracket:
West
1 North Dakota vs. 4 AIC
2 Northeastern vs. 3 UMass
Northeast
1 Denver vs. 4 Providence
2 Boston College vs. 3 Penn State
East
1 Cornell vs. 4 Quinnipiac
2 Minnesota Duluth vs. 3 Ohio State
Midwest
1 Minnesota State vs. 4 Northern Michigan
2 Clarkson vs. 3 Arizona State
First and foremost, we must accommodate regional hosts. Penn State is the host of the Midwest Regional in Allentown, while Denver is the host of the West Regional in Loveland. We swap North Dakota vs. AIC with Denver vs. Providence, and simply swap Penn State with Arizona State.
West
1 Denver vs. 4 Providence
2 Northeastern vs. 3 UMass
Northeast
1 North Dakota vs. 2 AIC
2 Boston College vs. 3 Arizona State
East
1 Cornell vs. 4 Quinnipiac
2 Minnesota Duluth vs. 3 Ohio State
Midwest
1 Minnesota State vs. 4 Northern Michigan
2 Clarkson vs. 3 Penn State
Now, we must eliminate inter-conference matchups in the first round (Northeastern vs. UMass, Minnesota State vs. Northern Michigan, Cornell vs. Quinnipiac). We swap Quinnipiac with Northern Michigan, and we swap Minnesota Duluth with Northeastern.
West
1 Denver vs. 4 Providence
2 Minnesota Duluth vs. 3 UMass
Northeast
1 North Dakota vs. 4 AIC
2 Boston College vs. 3 Arizona State
East
1 Cornell vs. 4 Northern Michigan
2 Northeastern vs. 3 Ohio State
Midwest
1 Minnesota State vs. 4 Quinnipiac
2 Clarkson vs. 3 Penn State
With no inter-conference matchups and all hosts accommodated, we can now switch up matchups to generate the best possible attendance at each event.
*Note* In fairness to No. 1 overall North Dakota, they must stay matched up with No. 16 AIC.
Denver and Penn State must remain in their respective regionals.
Considering AIC’s proximity to Worcester (about 50 miles), it does not seem fair to have that matchup in the Northeast as it would be a major disadvantage to North Dakota. We will swap this matchup with Minnesota State vs. Quinnipiac.
West
1 Denver vs. 4 Providence
2 Minnesota Duluth vs. 3 UMass
Northeast
1 Minnesota State vs. 4 Quinnipiac
2 Boston College vs. 3 Arizona State
East
1 Cornell vs. 4 Northern Michigan
2 Northeastern vs. 3 Ohio State
Midwest
1 North Dakota vs. 4 AIC
2 Clarkson vs. 3 Penn State
We can also swap Providence with Northern Michigan.
West
1 Denver vs. 4 Northern Michigan
2 Minnesota Duluth vs. 3 UMass
Northeast
1 Minnesota State vs. 4 Quinnipiac
2 Boston College vs. 3 Arizona State
East
1 Cornell vs. 4 Providence
2 Northeastern vs. 3 Ohio State
Midwest
1 North Dakota vs. 4 AIC
2 Clarkson vs. 3 Penn State
We also would like to get more Hockey East and ECAC teams into the Northeast. To do this, we swap Boston College with Clarkson in order to avoid an inter-conference matchup with UMass. Arizona State moves to the West in place of UMass.
West
1 Denver vs. 4 Northern Michigan
2 Minnesota Duluth vs. 3 Arizona State
Northeast
1 Minnesota State vs. 4 Quinnipiac
2 Clarkson vs. 3 UMass
East
1 Cornell vs. 4 Providence
2 Northeastern vs. 3 Ohio State
Midwest
1 North Dakota vs. 4 AIC
2 Boston College vs. 3 Penn State
This looks pretty good to me. You could make an argument to put BC back in Worcester or for Clarkson to be in Albany but I think considering the circumstances with the No. 1 seeds this is a pretty solid result for both the East and Northeast as far as attendance. We just need to reorder the regionals so that the bracket aligns with the No. 1 vs. No. 4 and No. 2 vs. No. 3 overall seeding format.
Here is the final bracket for this week:
Midwest
1 North Dakota vs. 4 AIC
2 Boston College vs. 3 Penn State
West
1 Denver vs. 4 Northern Michigan
2 Minnesota Duluth vs. 3 Arizona State
Northeast
1 Minnesota State vs. 4 Quinnipiac
2 Clarkson vs. 3 UMass
East
1 Cornell vs. 4 Providence
2 Northeastern vs. 3 Ohio State
Flanny's Thoughts 