nodakvindy

At the regionals and Frozen Four, they work for the NCAA. The rest of the year they work for Sheperd and McLeod. Nuff said.

The sad part is that BC has basically just taken the blueprint of the late 90s Sioux while we have reverted to the Gino-era style of play.

At this point all I can say is Go Notre Dame!

Gotta put the puck on net. That power play was awful. Quit with the cutesy passing.

This is reminiscent of the Kansas-North Carolina game. Just need to put pucks on net. Also maybe skate the puck in and not just dump it. Gerbe has made the plays, now we need to see that from our big guns.

Firstdibz.com is starting to get more expensive for round 1, but round 2 ticket futures are still pretty cheap for the upper bowl.

Norway Qualifies for U18 in USA This is a little bit of extra good news. Nice to have another team to cheer for.

Check out firstdibz.com They have futures for a possible game five pretty cheap, and second round options and beyond are very reasonable.

I was lucky and noticed on his website back in February that he was doing a WCHA print. I figured it would sell out, but not this quickly. He has done some great work. His classic Mariucci print of the Sioux and Gophers is now worth several thousand dollars.

Definitely take 85. Then hop on 90 over to Sundance Wyoming and head south. 85 through the Black Hills is slow and windy, scenic but a pain if you are in a hurry. Another option is to take 90 all the way to Gillette and then take Wyoming 59 south to Douglas where you hit I-25. Just make sure to get gas in Gillette, because there isn't anything until Douglas which is about 110 miles.

The Casey tribute was quite prominent at the old arena. I've never found it at the new one. Pretty inexplicable. That 12 should be hanging from the rafters.

If it's on ESPN360 it should be on channelsurfing.net The North Dakota Michigan game was on last year.

I disagree, the big ice is makes it easier to bog down the game. The 2004 regional is perfect evidence of that. About the only offense created is via special teams. Look at the teams that feast on the power play, St. Cloud, Minnesota and CC. That's no coincidence. You can spread things out more and really take advantage. That's why, with the inconsistency of the Sioux power play, I was really hoping to go east to avoid the Olympic rinks.

What a joke, UND-Princeton should have been in Worcester and Miami-Air Force should have been in Madison. What a terrible job by the committee! The pairings were looking good after two regions.

With the trouble caused by Wisconsin getting in and the whole potential Notre Dame tie debacle, I wouldn't be entirely shocked if the committee finds a way to "reevaluate" the teams and puts in Mankato and leaves out the Badgers. The under .500 record is certainly a wart on the system and I think the NCAA always likes to show they can be arbitrary. The current process has been perhaps too transparent. I don't think it will happen, but I'm beginning to think that it could.

I can't see them sending New Hampshire to the Springs, that's why I predicted what I did. Attendance is still a factor and it will be awful in the east without UNH.

Here's my prediction with what I think will happen the rest of tonight (Michigan, BC, Denver and Harvard winning) This bracket would be very balanced spreading out the WCHA and CCHA teams about as well as possible and still have pretty strong attendance. It would be a very interesting region for the Sioux. Madison 1 Michigan 16 Air Force 8 St. Cloud State 9 Michigan State Colorado Springs 2 Miami 15 Niagara 5 Colorado College 12 Harvard Worcester 3 North Dakota 13 Notre Dame 6 Boston College 11 Minnesota Albany 4 New Hampshire 14 Minnesota State 7 Denver 10 Clarkson

It's no coincidence that when you take away the horrible WCHA refs, the games open up and skill flourishes. It's amazing that you can see 8-5 or 6-5 shootouts against the likes of Michigan and Boston College, but games against Tech and UMD, etc. end up 2-1 or 1-0.

Genoway

While I don't believe that 8 teams will make it in, I'm not sure why everyone thinks that all the bubble teams will fall out. Sure, if UMD is swept by Minnesota and then swept in the playoffs they won't make it, but if they can split with the Gophers and take a playoff series to 3 games, I don't think it is impossible for them to make it. The teams on the wrong side of the bubble are going to have to lose games as well, unless they win out and then they would get the autobid anyway. Notre Dame is hurt by being a #4 seed. They will have a tough matchup in the 2nd round and could easily be knocked out. The same holds true for Princeton. The WCHA teams all just keep helping each others' RPI and TUC records. Michigan Tech's TUC status will likely be a big factor for the lower tier WCHA bubble teams. The other big threat are upsets in Hockey East and the ECAC especially. Clarkson is likely in, even if they get swept in the first round. That's this fan's take.

Hawaii has struggled to fill its schedule in recent years. That would be a nice reward, especially for a game around Thanksgiving or the first week of December. I just can't see getting another decent home game. If you can get another FCS team great, but I think it makes more sense to take another road game as the first half of a home and home to and then have a real solid schedule for '09. The other option that I would be OK with is the second game against USD.

I think evening games are fine early in the season, but later on you run the risk of conflicting with hockey, and there are a lot of people that like to go to both. That's not an insignificant consideration in a market the size of Grand Forks.

great win for the Sioux, tough loss for the Dogs. Now just need to get a little help from the Pios to get at least a piece of the MacNaughton.

Damn, Forgot to come back in and make my pick. Good luck to all!

That's exactly it. CC lost to a TUC, so it hurt their TUC record. So at least for PWR, its better to lose to a bad team than a good one. Although losing to a bad team hurts your RPI more. Michigan had such a big RPI lead, that the Ferris loss didn't hurt them as much. CC's RPI drop after the loss allow UND to flip the comparison for now. In other news, UND is now #1 in KRACH.