farce poobah

The regular season will still be 34 games, the NCAA limit, except for seasons where a team qualifies for additional games (games in Alaska, US Hockey Hall of Fame Game, Icebreaker). As to the championship format, I don't think any team has the locker rooms required for a tournament like that to be held at one site. In fact, I think some venues have only two locker rooms (Lawson to be sure) so even Vindy's idea of 4-team tournaments may not be feasible for facilities reasons. NCHC conference regular season will stay at 24 games. The old WCHA 28-game conference schedule was a huge dissatisfier (among many items) that led to the departures from WCHA. The 28 game conference season led to lower conference RPI's and fewer teams in NCAA's. Switching to 24 conference games has been a big reason why NCHC has regularly gotten more teams into NCAA's. That leaves 10 nonconference games most seasons (and up to 12 with the exceptions above). https://nchchockey.com/news/2023/7/5/mens-ice-hockey-arizona-state-to-join-nchc-starting-in-2024-2025-season.aspx

Especially with the turnaround from conference playoffs to NCAA shortening by a day (from Friday to Thursday for 2 of 4 regionals), giving more rest to contending NCHC teams makes a lot of sense. Now just two will play that weekend. The other 2-3-4 conference teams in the NCAA's will now have 11-13 days off (maybe more), giving loads of time for nagging injuries to heal, and for comprehensive scouting of likely opponents. The incentive to finish #7 in the regular season instead of #8 or #9 will create some energy and interest at the bottom of the standings also.

Trick question, since Amsoily Arena is never full. I hope that as part of moving to home ice for semis and final, that ticket allocations for travelling fans are increased to multiples of their regular season allocations.

https://nchchockey.com/news/2023/12/18/mens-ice-hockey-nchc-announces-new-playoff-format-starting-in-2026.aspx

At NDSU, the football coach picks the AD.

Yay Montana!

Well, I saw one line with over / under at 48.5 so I guess they figured they were gonna have to get the 49 all by themselves. But yes, I agree with your premise.

SDSU 28-0 Albany (or is it the Washington Generals). halfway through Q2

Also amazing is how much smarter my parents got when I was away at school.

Gasparini's last home series vs CC. An odd coincidence that he was honored this weekend.

https://www.nbcsports.com/college-football/news/proposal-to-create-new-tier-for-big-money-college-sports-is-just-a-start-ncaa-president-says One of the better elements of this IMHO is allowing athletic departments to operate NIL programs. Allows for comprehensive oversight, as well as integrated marketing.

I think NCAA Selection Committee should use xG instead of 3x3 overtime.

So .... what are the odds that Florida State (Seminoles) were {screwed over/insert euphermism here) in the FBS playoffs because of their nickname ... Asking for a friend.

Denver scheduled the extra long first intermission vs UND because they wanted to be less gassed. DU was on the ropes Friday; I wonder how many more we could have scored if we really needed to. Very happy that this team (which is still learning to play together) could go to the toughest conference foe and get 4 of 6 points in their barn. This weekend was a big step forward. And video reviews this week will show us what to work on.

Tonight's game was what I expected from last night too. Tight checking, DU using last change to get the matchups they want. Looking forward to getting them at the Ralph.

Let’s get the extra point boys!

It is the mile “high” city.

Johannes should get an assist for a perfect screen.

From last night, there are ingredients for tonight to get really fiery. The "sticks up" aspect of yesterday, couple body checks and scrums late in the game, and the early, early bragging rights for NCHC #1. Would love tonight's penalty mix to favor us again. Giving DU only two PP is part of the recipe for winning. If it were me, I'd be tempted to do a "stick drop" (mic drop) after scoring a goal, but will happily see what our guys come up with tonight.

A remarkable demonstration of skill on that goal. Not sure which was better: Blake's pass threading the needle between traffic in front of net, or McLaughlin's shot.

Early on, I think we were surprised by DU's speed in attack, and how many guys they were bringing deep into the zone. Credit that for their early goals. Later, we started moving our feet and skating like we've seen all season. Also I suspect some coaching adjustments to our play in neutral ice and our forecheck, but that's hard to tell on TV. DU didn't quit by any means, IMHO, but we started playing with real gusto. (They hit a pipe late, and Berg saved a goal by pulling it off the line into Persson, or it could have been 7-7.) And yeah conditioning seemed to play a role late on.

Stats tonight that make me smile (other than the obvious 7>5): Hunter Johannes led the plus minus with +3 on the night. Dependable. Other end of the spectrum is the national co-player of the month, DU Zeev Buium who got torched for -3.

Denver needs to be training at altitude. We looked fresh in the third, and they looked gassed.

Notre Dame 4-1 lead vs Michigan early 3rd not quite upset alert.

We get the edge in goaltending, on paper, since Halyk allowed 18 goals in 4 games vs ASU and Omaha (before double shutouts vs Yale). If we can keep sharp eyes on Rizzo and clear our own zone effectively, I like our chances, a lot. prediction 3-1 UND.