Why Are There 16 Teams in the Tournament?

[iluvdebbies]

I understand it is not a factor in determining seeds. Im just saying there would have been something seriously wrong with the Gophers playing a road game against a team they dominated during the season and finished a mile adhead in the standings. Its a moot point anyway because the NCAA will not go back to on campus sites.

If UND would have hosted the west regional this year the gophers wouldnt have been in it anyway. Duluth most likely would have been in the west. So your reward for your magical wire to wire season most likely would have been BC region.

[buckysieve]

If UND would have hosted the west regional this year the gophers wouldnt have been in it anyway. Duluth most likely would have been in the west. So your reward for your magical wire to wire season most likely would have been BC region.

And that would have been fine with me because it would not have been played in BC's home arena.

[GFG]

One thing that kind of pisses me off is that no regionals are anywhere near our region next year. The farthest west a regional comes is Grand Rapids, MI. Every regional next season is in the eastern time zone

[nodak hockey fanatic]

One thing that kind of pisses me off is that no regionals are anywhere near our region next year. The farthest west a regional comes is Grand Rapids, MI. Every regional next season is in the eastern time zone

oh no, the goofs might acutally have to leave the vicinity of the cities in march next year... whats a poor girl to do

that will make for some pi$$ poor attendence though...

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

I understand it is not a factor in determining seeds. Im just saying there would have been something seriously wrong with the Gophers playing a road game against a team they dominated during the season and finished a mile adhead in the standings. Its a moot point anyway because the NCAA will not go back to on campus sites.

Well then I think there is something seriously wrong with the Sioux being the 1 seed and playing across the river from the U's campus, but it's because the Gophers are given a host regional/Frozen Four so often. In the only standings that matter come NCAA time the Sioux finished well ahead of your Rodents because of your less than stellar non-conference play. It's not just the WCHA games that matter. I wouldn't say you were exactly "dominant" when you gave up 6 unanswered goals for a loss leading into NCAA tournament play which resulted in you winning 3 of the 5 meetings up until that time. You were ahead but "dominant" is taking it too far.

[Siouxperfan7]

Whoever on here posted about the idea of going to back to 2 regioanly sites was on to something. Have an East and West Region, 8 teams at each site. 2 games Thursday, 2 games friday, Thursdays winners play Saturday, and Fridays Winners play Sunday. That way instead of having empty arenas, you could have them in 18000 seat arenas with fans from 8 fanbases there. There will be fans going to just their games, but you will also get fans of other teams that will want to go to the other games as well. College hockey fans love college hockey no matter who is playing. I think that you would have a better total attendance at 2 sites than 4 sites. Plus it would be a great fan experience to have all those fanbases there. I wonder if the NCAA would ever consider going back to that? How many quarter full arenas do they have to see at these arenas before they make a change?!!

[buckysieve]

Well then I think there is something seriously wrong with the Sioux being the 1 seed and playing across the river from the U's campus, but it's because the Gophers are given a host regional/Frozen Four so often. In the only standings that matter come NCAA time the Sioux finished well ahead of your Rodents because of your less than stellar non-conference play. It's not just the WCHA games that matter. I wouldn't say you were exactly "dominant" when you gave up 6 unanswered goals for a loss leading into NCAA tournament play which resulted in you winning 3 of the 5 meetings up until that time. You were ahead but "dominant" is taking it too far.

Wrong. They bid for regionals so often, they are not given to Minnesota.

[buckysieve]

Whoever on here posted about the idea of going to back to 2 regioanly sites was on to something. Have an East and West Region, 8 teams at each site. 2 games Thursday, 2 games friday, Thursdays winners play Saturday, and Fridays Winners play Sunday. That way instead of having empty arenas, you could have them in 18000 seat arenas with fans from 8 fanbases there. There will be fans going to just their games, but you will also get fans of other teams that will want to go to the other games as well. College hockey fans love college hockey no matter who is playing. I think that you would have a better total attendance at 2 sites than 4 sites. Plus it would be a great fan experience to have all those fanbases there. I wonder if the NCAA would ever consider going back to that? How many quarter full arenas do they have to see at these arenas before they make a change?!!

I like this idea.

[Ray77]

I think they said things like the floor don't need to be covered up. Problem is this. Will the NCAA want to allow UND to host a regional after what they've put the NCAA through?

That's kind of funny to read right there. "After what they've put the NCAA through" - referring to what UND has put the NCAA through?!!! Whatever, man.

[Johnny Five]

Whoever on here posted about the idea of going to back to 2 regioanly sites was on to something. Have an East and West Region, 8 teams at each site. 2 games Thursday, 2 games friday, Thursdays winners play Saturday, and Fridays Winners play Sunday. That way instead of having empty arenas, you could have them in 18000 seat arenas with fans from 8 fanbases there. There will be fans going to just their games, but you will also get fans of other teams that will want to go to the other games as well. College hockey fans love college hockey no matter who is playing. I think that you would have a better total attendance at 2 sites than 4 sites. Plus it would be a great fan experience to have all those fanbases there. I wonder if the NCAA would ever consider going back to that? How many quarter full arenas do they have to see at these arenas before they make a change?!!

Would be sweet! Excellent post.

I'm literally not trying to stir the pot here, but it seems like there's some serious butt hurt going on here. The Gophers would've won that game had it been played at Gambucci. Life goes on guys, holy balls. Without looking it up, it's literally the first time in about 8 years the Gopher's had a better team than UND...think about that. Yes, a lot played into that, but its freaking sports and the better team won. Had the Sioux been full squad, who knows? But they weren't and that's part of sports. It sure seemed like UND fans were happy going to the X before the Regional, so in hindsight the complaints are a little shortsighted IMHO.

It's obvious there is a problem with the Regionals. Looks like next year everyone who is lucky enough to qualify for the WCHA will be traveling.

[brianvf]

Wrong. They bid for regionals so often, they are not given to Minnesota.

Imagine if the Gophers made the NCAA tourney more than once every four years...they could have actually used that home-ice advantage more than once recently!

[buckysieve]

Imagine if the Gophers made the NCAA tourney more than once every four years...they could have actually used that home-ice advantage more than once recently!

Yeah we really wasted some nice opportunities the last few years thats for sure.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

Wrong. They bid for regionals so often, they are not given to Minnesota.

That's the point you wanted to key in on? So do other arenas have a "bid" in for these events or do they prefer not to have regionals in their town because they hate all of the business it brings in?

[buckysieve]

That's the point you wanted to key in on? So do other arenas have a "bid" in for these events or do they prefer not to have regionals in their town because they hate all of the business it brings in?

The Twin Cities is one of the few hockey hotbeds in the country. It makes sense that there will be regionals and an occasional Frozen Four there.

[siouxnews]

I couldn't disagree more. The "crappier" team should not have any advantages...the advantage should always go to the better team from the past 6 months/35 games of the season. That is how it is in every professional playoff format and this is how it is in the WCHA playoffs. They used to play a 2 game total goal series at the higher seeds rink to advance to the frozen four back in the 80's so this is not without NCAA tournament history...I much prefer best of 3 to 2 game total goals...

their advantage is that they are the better team, matched up with a worse team! now you want it at the favorites building. and then you want a 3 game series? come on. win 1 game against a worse team and move on in the tournament. if you cant do that- you dont deserve it.

[GFG]

I think the best way to solve attendance issues is to do what has been said already, have 2 regional locations with 8 teams at each site.

[GFG]

oh no, the goofs might acutally have to leave the vicinity of the cities in march next year... whats a poor girl to do

that will make for some pi$$ poor attendence though...

How can any fan of a team in the western side of college hockey not be mad that EVERY regional is in the east next year? The WEST regional is in MICHIGAN. Our schools are in the middle of the country and the closest regional is 900-1,000 miles to the east for UND and about 600-700 miles for Minnesota. When you have 4 regionals to place it's inexcusable that something like this should ever happen, IMO.

[Siouxman]

The non-conference schedule and performance really hurt the Gophers this year. Here is a look at the non-conference games for UND and UM, plus the opponents PWR.

UND

Air Force 1-0-0 (22nd)

Boston College 0-1-0 (1st)

Maine 1-0-1 (9th)

Harvard 1-0-1 (20th)

Clarkson 1-0-0 (NR)

Bemidji State 2-0-0 (29th)

St. Cloud 1-0-0 (25th)

Minnesota 1-1-0 (8th)

Western Michigan 1-0-0 (14th)

UM

Sacred Heart 2-0-0 (NR)

Vermont 1-1-0 (NR)

Michigan St. 0-1-1 (15th)

Niagara 1-0-0 (30th)

Northeastern 0-1-0 (27th

Notre Dame 0-1-0 (18th)

Alaska Anchorage 2-0-0 (NR)

North Dakota 1-1-0 (4th)

Boston Univ 1-0-0 (9th)

In summary, both teams played 14 non-conference games. In those games UND was 10-2-2 and UM was 8-5-1. But even more telling for the pairwise:

In games against TUCs 1-10: UND was 2-2-1 and UM was 2-1-0

In games against TUCs 11-20: UND was 3-0-1 and UM was 0-2-1

In games against TUCs 21-30: UND was 4-0-0 and UM was 1-1-0

In other games: UND was 1-0 and UM was 5-1-0

Against TUCs in non-conference games overall, UND was 9-2-2 and UM was 3-4-1.

While UM had the better conference record than UND, it was not sufficiently better to overcome the differential impact of non-conference games against TUCs. UM's only non-conference victories against TUC's rated better than 30th place were the two regional games against BU and UND.

NOTE: This is not a critique of either UND or UM non-conference schedules, but only an illustration to show how UM could win the regular season conference, but UND got a higher NCAA seed. The NCAA tournament is a national tournament, and not a conference tournament so non-conference play has as much impact as conference play.

[GFG]

The non-conference schedule and performance really hurt the Gophers this year. Here is a look at the non-conference games for UND and UM, plus the opponents PWR.

UND

Air Force 1-0-0 (22nd)

Boston College 0-1-0 (1st)

Maine 1-0-1 (9th)

Harvard 1-0-1 (20th)

Clarkson 1-0-0 (NR)

Bemidji State 2-0-0 (29th)

St. Cloud 1-0-0 (25th)

Minnesota 1-1-0 (8th)

Western Michigan 1-0-0 (14th)

UM

Sacred Heart 2-0-0 (NR)

Vermont 1-1-0 (NR)

Michigan St. 0-1-1 (15th)

Niagara 1-0-0 (30th)

Northeastern 0-1-0 (27th

Notre Dame 0-1-0 (18th)

Alaska Anchorage 2-0-0 (NR)

North Dakota 1-1-0 (4th)

Boston Univ 1-0-0 (9th)

In summary, both teams played 14 non-conference games. In those games UND was 10-2-2 and UM was 8-5-1. But even more telling for the pairwise:

In games against TUCs 1-10: UND was 2-2-1 and UM was 2-1-0

In games against TUCs 11-20: UND was 3-0-1 and UM was 0-2-1

In games against TUCs 21-30: UND was 4-0-0 and UM was 1-1-0

In other games: UND was 1-0 and UM was 5-1-0

Against TUCs in non-conference games overall, UND was 9-2-2 and UM was 3-4-1.

While UM had the better conference record than UND, it was not sufficiently better to overcome the differential impact of non-conference games against TUCs. UM's only non-conference victories against TUC's rated better than 30th place were the two regional games against BU and UND.

NOTE: This is not a critique of either UND or UM non-conference schedules, but only an illustration to show how UM could win the regular season conference, but UND got a higher NCAA seed. The NCAA tournament is a national tournament, and not a conference tournament so non-conference play has as much impact as conference play.

This is true. Minnesota's performance in non-conference games killed them. Had they just beaten Northeastern and Vermont, they probably would have had a #1 seed.

[Siouxman]

This is true. Minnesota's performance in non-conference games killed them. Had they just beaten Northeastern and Vermont, they probably would have had a #1 seed.

If I understand PWR correctly it would have had minimal impact. Vermont is not a TUC and Northeastern is barely a TUC. A loss to MN might have made them not be a TUC. UM needed to beat somebody that mattered, like Michigan State and Notre Dame.

[GFG]

If I understand PWR correctly it would have had minimal impact. Vermont is not a TUC and Northeastern is barely a TUC. A loss to MN might have made them not be a TUC. UM needed to beat somebody that mattered, like Michigan State and Notre Dame.

They don't really gain anything from beating those two schools, but losing to them hurt Minnesota's RPI and dropped them. I know at one point when there was only a month or so left in the season somebody on GPL messed around with that calculator thing and at that point they found that if they switched only the Vermont loss with a win Minnesota would have been #1 in the PWR instead of, I think, #9. It would have flipped over a lot of COP from HE that Minnesota lost due to splitting with Vermont.

[ksixpack]

Interesting that out of 43 games this year the Goophs have only played 16 out of the twin cities. In addition, for the umpteenth season they did not play a single non conference game on the road. Good luck against BC ...this team is not prepared for what's coming....

[MafiaMan]

Interesting that out of 43 games this year the Goophs have only played 16 out of the twin cities. In addition, for the umpteenth season they did not play a single non conference game on the road. Good luck against BC ...this team is not prepared for what's coming....

Had a Gopher fan ask me the other day if I was "supporting the WCHA" by cheering for the Gophers. Almost had to laugh at the idea of supporting the conference, the same conference that Minnesota has helped to destroy as we currently know it. No thanks, Mr. Arnold, I want to see a Boston College smackdown next weekend.

[ksixpack]

Oops...I stand corrected...they actually ventured out on the road for a non conference series at future Big Ten member Michigan State which they lost and tied.

[tnt]

Interesting that out of 43 games this year the Goophs have only played 16 out of the twin cities. In addition, for the umpteenth season they did not play a single non conference game on the road. Good luck against BC ...this team is not prepared for what's coming....

Perhaps not, but great goaltending and a timely goal sure can make players a little more confident or less confident depending on which team is getting those. Let's face it, with the elite teams, the talent is there, it's just a matter of when/if it comes through. Just because BC has had UND's number doesn't necessarily mean Minnesota follows suit. Certain teams have a nemesis, Minnesota's has been Denver lately, and ours has been BC. I would imagine that if BC jumped on them early, it could hurt the confidence of Minnesota, however if Minnesota puts one in early, they could ride Patterson's goaltending. It would have been nice for UND to score the first goal against Minnesota in the rematch to see how they responded, but it didn't happen, so I think it will be interesting in this game as well.