Dustin

Based on current NPI, which I know will have some changes, and assuming the AHA champ will have the lowest overall NPI, I would design my bracket like this: Albany, NY - (1) Michigan vs (4) AHA Champ, (2) Dartmouth vs (3) Penn St. Loveland, CO - (1) Western Michigan vs (4) UConn, (2) Denver vs (3) Wisconsin Worcester, MA - (1) Michigan St. vs (4) UMass, (2) Providence vs (3) Cornell Sioux Falls, SD - (1) North Dakota vs (4) St. Thomas, (2) Minnesota-Duluth vs (3) Quinnipiac

I also don't feel there is an attendance problem with the Men's BB Tourney, either.

To expand my point, switching around any of the teams encircled in black for attendance purposes would be acceptable.

If these are the teams in consideration for the 4 seeds, you can't tell me that there's enough NPI difference to not swap St. Thomas (over UConn) to Sioux Falls for attendance purposes.

Agreed. Just play the game.

The only potential game without last change is the national championship if we play Michigan.

Correct.

All and all, prefect time to get an ugly loss out of the way. I’ll bet they come back laser focused.

Or Bentley, if Harvard or Clarkson win their conferences.

Could be Ohio St., Princeton, or Merrimack, for that matter then, too.

Because they could steal the #15 pairwise spot, is that what you're saying? Otherwise, they are not in the #15 column.

So if I am understanding this correctly, with perfect bracket integrity, UND's first round opponent will be either St. Thomas, UMass, UConn, or Augustana?

Sunday, March 22. After the conference championship games.

Also, is Augustana still alive? Seems like they are at the mercy of the HEA playoffs, and potentially the CCHA championship game.

you beat me to it

There are a couple flaws in this list, too. Clarkson and Princeton are both still alive in the ECAC. Clarkson would be a lower seed than Bentley, if it happened to work that way. Princeton should have been up by Merrimack. Harvard still technically still alive, too.

True.

As the #2 overall seed, yes. If we were #3, bracket integrity could take us to Loveland if Denver is #6.

1 Michigan - playing for Big Ten championship 2 North Dakota - not playing 3 Michigan State - not playing 4 Western Michigan - not playing 5 Denver - playing for NCHC championship 6 Minnesota-Duluth - playing for NCHC championship 7 Providence - not playing 8 Dartmouth - playing in ECAC semi-final 9 Cornell - playing tomorrow in deciding quarterfinal game; next week's status TBD 10 Penn State - not playing 11 Quinnipiac - not playing 12 Wisconsin - not playing -----Safe Line----- 13 St. Thomas - playing for CCHA championship 14 Massachusetts - playing in HEA semi-final 15 Connecticut - playing in HEA semi-final 16 Augustana - not playing 17 Minnesota State - playing for CCHA championship 18 Boston College - playing in HEA semi-final 19 Ohio State - playing for Big Ten championship 24 Merrimack - playing in HEA semi-final -----Three teams will come from this group----- Atlantic Hockey Champion (could be Bentley, Robert Morris, or Sacred Heart) -----Lowest Overall Seed-----

Yeah, there would be a lot of conference pride, but the NCAA learned their lesson in 2005 when they had WCHA teams in all four regionals and the Frozen Four was the Frozen WCHA.

We probably want to cheer for Duluth next weekend (maybe we would anyway? Hard to root for either of them) in case they can move to #5, which would pretty much guarantee they would not be swapped with an eastern team (like Providence).

Can they make up 0.61 in one game?

NPI is updated on CHN.

I wouldn't doubt Duluth and Providence are swapped to keep each team closer to home. I would bet that UMD is with us in Sioux Falls. Plus, the committee would enjoy pairing 2 NCHC teams in a regional to make sure the Frozen Four isn't the Frozen NCHC.

Yes, it seems that they have embraced the new format. Of course, they were never in a good position to travel to the conference tournament previously.