Our early-season losses against Bemidji State (split, won second game 12-0), Notre Dame (0-1-1), and RPI (split), along with a late-season loss to Tech at home, outweighed our late-season defeats of North Dakota (2-0-1 last year), Minnesota (split), and St. Cloud (4-3 last year).
There will never be a perfect formula. At least now it's consistent.