NCAA Post-Season Format

[Wilbur]

Alright, its settled to me then:

Top eight get home ice in best of three first round of playoffs. After the first round, you reseed with the top four getting home ice and play a super regional best of three to go to the frozen four.

The NC$$ makes money, and attendance isn't a fricken disaster. Plus we don't have to wait two weeks for the frozen four. Semifinals Friday, and Championship Sunday afternoon or evening. Can't complain.

[MafiaMan]

Alright, its settled to me then:

Top eight get home ice in best of three first round of playoffs. After the first round, you reseed with the top four getting home ice and play a super regional best of three to go to the frozen four.

The NC$$ makes money, and attendance isn't a fricken disaster. Plus we don't have to wait two weeks for the frozen four. Semifinals Friday, and Championship Sunday afternoon or evening. Can't complain.

I'd be fine if the top 8 seeds in the first round host a best two out of three and then have the top four seeds remaining host a best two out of three for the right to go to the Frozen Four. Imagine the excitement on campus at BU, BC, Grand Forks, Minneapolis, Houghton, Miami, Denver, Bemidji, South Bend, Ann Arbor, Mankato, etc. with home crowds cheering on their teams. If you finish in the top eight in the country, your reward should NOT be traveling to a wasteland with 1,900 fans in it or worse yet, a near-home rink of another team.

[jodcon]

I'd be fine if the top 8 seeds in the first round host a best two out of three and then have the top four seeds remaining host a best two out of three for the right to go to the Frozen Four. Imagine the excitement on campus at BU, BC, Grand Forks, Minneapolis, Houghton, Miami, Denver, Bemidji, South Bend, Ann Arbor, Mankato, etc. with home crowds cheering on their teams. If you finish in the top eight in the country, your reward should NOT be traveling to a wasteland with 1,900 fans in it or worse yet, a near-home rink of another team.

That would be a great tournament and attendance would blow away the current format. The only negative I could see is it would be hard to follow your team if you weren't a top 8 seed, you could in theory be on the road for 5 straight weekends, that would be hard both getting time off and financially for most people. Still I would take it over the current setup in a second.

[MafiaMan]

That would be a great tournament and attendance would blow away the current format. The only negative I could see is it would be hard to follow your team if you weren't a top 8 seed, you could in theory be on the road for 5 straight weekends, that would be hard both getting time off and financially for most people. Still I would take it over the current setup in a second.

It would also place more emphasis on winning regular season games, wouldn't it? Conference playoff champions would still get an auto-bid, but if your team wasn't ranked in the top 8, you'd be on the road.

[squirtcoach]

Baseball does a regional, then a super regional.

Why not hockey?

[squirtcoach]

And they are double elimination

[Wilbur]

Could you imagine UND hosting a super regional at the Ralph against like Minnesota or Michigan for the right to go to the frozen four?

One word....epic.....

[82SiouxGuy]

Could you imagine UND hosting a super regional at the Ralph against like Minnesota or Michigan for the right to go to the frozen four?

One word....epic.....

I think that most of us already imagined a situation with UND and Minnesota playing a regional final at the Ralph, until something called Holy Cross happened. It was still epic.

[Fetch]

Some great ideas here - wouldnt mind the season being longer especially yrs like this when it re mains winter. 1\2 way thru April

[SiouxTupa]

I think that most of us already imagined a situation with UND and Minnesota playing a regional final at the Ralph, until something called Holy Cross happened. It was still epic.

Michigan was there too

I'm all for changing the format. Love the idea of a best of three for the first round. Four games for the whole shebang just doesn't seem like enough.

[Dustin]

Not sure why so many people think best-of-three series are needed for the tournament. If you're the better team, you shouldn't need three games to prove it - go out there and win the damn game! If you can't get geared up to win one game when it counts the most, then you deserve to lose. I think the 16-team single-elimination format is the right way to go - just let the #1 seeds host the regionals and the attendance problems are solved.

[MafiaMan]

Not sure why so many people think best-of-three series are needed for the tournament. If you're the better team, you shouldn't need three games to prove it - go out there and win the damn game! If you can't get geared up to win one game when it counts the most, then you deserve to lose. I think the 16-team single-elimination format is the right way to go - just let the #1 seeds host the regionals and the attendance problems are solved.

And what happens when the #1 seed is in Houghton, Michigan, and not one opponent but THREE are trying to make travel arrangements to the UP?

[krangodance]

Not sure why so many people think best-of-three series are needed for the tournament. If you're the better team, you shouldn't need three games to prove it - go out there and win the damn game! If you can't get geared up to win one game when it counts the most, then you deserve to lose. I think the 16-team single-elimination format is the right way to go - just let the #1 seeds host the regionals and the attendance problems are solved.

The greatest college hockey teams in the history of D1 NCAA hockey still lost about 1/4 to 1/3 of their games. That's why a best-of-three is preferred. The regular season is a five month grind of ups and downs. Getting to the tournament is a huge accomplishment. The one and done format minimizes the challenge of getting to the tournament by putting great teams in a position where they can get eliminated simply by running into a goalie on the best night of his life.

Hockey fans know that, more than any other sport, any team can win on any given night. Best-of-three in the first round and, preferably, the first two rounds will usually make for a stronger frozen four field.

I already did the work to prove this point using the NHL in another post a couple years ago so I'm not going to duplicate that effort (feel free to investigate yourself). Essentially, though, using the Stanley Cup playoffs as an example I clearly demonstrated that the better team usually wins in a best-of-seven series but only wins a little more than 50% of the time in the first game of the series.

This current format ignores the reality of the sport. Best-of-three is a much more logical option for hockey.

[MafiaMan]

The greatest college hockey teams in the history of D1 NCAA hockey still lost about 1/4 to 1/3 of their games. That's why a best-of-three is preferred. The regular season is a five month grind of ups and downs. Getting to the tournament is a huge accomplishment. The one and done format minimizes the challenge of getting to the tournament by putting great teams in a position where they can get eliminated simply by running into a goalie on the best night of his life.

Hockey fans know that, more than any other sport, any team can win on any given night. Best-of-three in the first round and, preferably, the first two rounds will usually make for a stronger frozen four field.

I already did the work to prove this point using the NHL in another post a couple years ago so I'm not going to duplicate that effort (feel free to investigate yourself). Essentially, though, using the Stanley Cup playoffs as an example I clearly demonstrated that the better team usually wins in a best-of-seven series but only wins a little more than 50% of the time in the first game of the series.

This current format ignores the reality of the sport. Best-of-three is a much more logical option for hockey.

Imagine Major League Baseball after 162 games picking the top NL team and the top AL team to play ONE GAME to determine its champion...Dave Hakstol is right, the fans AND players deserve better than stale regionals a thousand miles from the top seed's home.

[Dustin]

_{The same could be said for basketball, but everyone likes a Cinderella story, right? So let the Bemidji States of the college hockey world be a Cinderella. All the reasons you state benefit the dozen or so perennial NCAA hockey powers, but don't do much to create additional interest in the game.}

[iluvdebbies]

Imagine Major League Baseball after 162 games picking the top NL team and the top AL team to play ONE GAME to determine its champion...Dave Hakstol is right, the fans AND players deserve better than stale regionals a thousand miles from the top seed's home.

Agree....but why a best of three for just the first round and then a one and done after that.....I would rather see a best of three National championship series then a first round best of three, if I had to choose one or the other.

[MafiaMan]

Agree....but why a best of three for just the first round and then a one and done after that.....I would rather see a best of three National championship series then a first round best of three, if I had to choose one or the other.

Everyone likes the thrill of a championship 'game.' What if we had to see Michigan play Syracuse four more times? I guess it's more complicated and there really is no perfect solution, is there?

[iluvdebbies]

True..but lets use this example. What do people like more ...game 1 of the Stanley cup finals or game 7?

[MafiaMan]

True..but lets use this example. What do people like more ...game 1 of the Stanley cup finals or game 7?

Game 7's not a guarantee.

[siouxweet]

Not sure why so many people think best-of-three series are needed for the tournament. If you're the better team, you shouldn't need three games to prove it - go out there and win the damn game! If you can't get geared up to win one game when it counts the most, then you deserve to lose. I think the 16-team single-elimination format is the right way to go - just let the #1 seeds host the regionals and the attendance problems are solved.

why not, almost everyother level of hockey has a best of playoff format.

[siouxweet]

True..but lets use this example. What do people like more ...game 1 of the Stanley cup finals or game 7?

exactly, and to go even further how many times has an eventual stanley cup champion lost game one of a series and gone on to win the cup. i'm pretty sure quite a few. heck even in the nba it happens. there were several times when jordanplayed for the bulls they lost game one and went on to win the series.

[MafiaMan]

exactly, and to go even further how many times has an eventual stanley cup champion lost game one of a series and gone on to win the cup. i'm pretty sure quite a few. heck even in the nba it happens. there were several times when jordanplayed for the bulls they lost game one and went on to win the series.

That's because the NBA, David Stern, and officials knew it wasn't a money-maker to have the Bulls go 4-0 every time.

[iluvdebbies]

I guess

Game 7's not a guarantee.

I guess I just don't understand the importance of a first round best of three.....but have one and done the rest of the way.

[MafiaMan]

I guess

I guess I just don't understand the importance of a first round best of three.....but have one and done the rest of the way.

A best of three series with, say, #1 North Dakota hosting #16 Yale would generate two and possibly three games of excitement in front of 10,000 fans. Or, you can reward the #1 team with a trip to Boise ID for the western regional and play one game in front of 750 fans. Which is better for the fans and the players?

[iluvdebbies]

A best of three series with, say, #1 North Dakota hosting #16 Yale would generate two and possibly three games of excitement in front of 10,000 fans. Or, you can reward the #1 team with a trip to Boise ID for the western regional and play one game in front of 750 fans. Which is better for the fans and the players?

OK...I will buy this if its about attendance/ atmosphere....but if the argument goes to having a best of three to try and eliminate a fluke win, I'm selling!