NCAA seeding

[Blackheart]

NCAA swapping teams for attendance is a joke…most regionals attendance is well under 50%.

[rochsioux]

Straight pairing’s: 

 

Albany

Michigan (1) v Bentley (16)

UMD (8) v Penn State (9)

 

Sioux Falls

UND (2) v Merrimack (15)

Providence (7) v Quinnipiac (10)

 

Worcester

Michigan St (3) v UConn (14)

Dartmouth (6) v Cornell (11)

 

Loveland

Western Mich (4) v Mankato (13)

Denver (5) v Wisconsin (12)

 

My Objectives: 

No conference matchups in 1st round. 

Keep as close to strict pairings as possible. 

Help attendance if possible with very minimal pairings changes. 

 

Teams that are close in NPI:

PSU & Q are only separated by .02 in NPI. 

Cornell & Wisconsin by .13

Providence & UMD by .16

 

Conference matchups:

Have to breakup Dartmouth & Cornell. Logical swap is Cornell & Wisconsin since they are closest in NPI. 

 

Attendance issues?

Possibly in Albany. Swap Penn St and Q.  Only a .02 difference in NPI  

Might not be needed if Penn St fans travel well. It’s about 5 hours to Albany. 

 

New brackets:

Albany

Michigan (1) v Bentley (16)

UMD (8) v Quinnipiac (10)

 

Bentley is 2.5 hours from Albany

Q is 2.5 hours. 

 

Sioux Falls

UND (2) v Merrimack (15)

Providence (7) v  Penn State (9)

 

Worcester

Michigan St (3) v UConn (14)

Dartmouth (6) v  Wisconsin (12)

 

UConn is 1 hour from Worcester. 

Dartmouth is 2.5 hours. 

 

Loveland

Western Mich (4) v Mankato (13)

Denver (5) v Cornell (11)

[cberkas]

Straight bracket:

Albany:

Michigan - Bentley 

Duluth - Penn State

Sioux Falls:

North Dakota - Merrimack 

Providence - Quinnipiac 

Worcester:

Michigan State - UConn 

Dartmouth - Cornell

Loveland:

Western Michigan - Mankato

Denver - Wisconsin

Projected:

Albany:

Michigan - Bentley 

Duluth - Cornell

Sioux Falls:

North Dakota - Merrimack 

Providence - Quinnipiac 

Worcester:

Michigan State - UConn 

Dartmouth - Penn State

Loveland:

Western Michigan - Mankato

Denver - Wisconsin

Some how the committee will do something other than just changing the one matchup. 

[brianvf]

Here's Schloss' guess:

https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/und-hockey/bracketology-the-heralds-final-predicted-ncaa-hockey-bracket

Albany
1 Michigan vs. 16 Bentley
7 Providence vs. 11 Cornell

Sioux Falls
2 North Dakota vs. 15 Merrimack
8 Minnesota Duluth vs. 10 Quinnipiac

Worcester
3 Michigan State vs. 14 UConn
6 Dartmouth vs. 9 Penn State

Loveland
4 Western Michigan vs. 13 Minnesota State
5 Denver vs. 12 Wisconsin

Quote

The NCAA Committee will have to decide between seeding integrity and travel costs when assessing UND's first-round opponent.

If the Committee chooses to value seeding, UND will play Merrimack in the first round. If the Committee wants to cut down on flights and localize matchups, UND will play Minnesota State in the first round. Historically, the Committee has placed a much greater emphasis on seeding.

 

[fargosioux]

Here is the USCHO projection:

https://www.uscho.com/2026/03/22/bracketology-final-bracket-is-as-straightforward-as-they-come

Their only change is to swap Penn State & Cornell.

[Wilbur]

How about you swap the Q and Cornell?  The Q is in Connecticut, and it would make sense for them to go to Worcester.  Then you are flopping the 10 and 11 instead of the 9 and 10.

  

[fargosioux]

12 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

How about you swap the Q and Cornell?  The Q is in Connecticut, and it would make sense for them to go to Worcester.  Then you are flopping the 10 and 11 instead of the 9 and 10.

  

They are both ECAC and can't play Dartmouth in the first round.

[Wilbur]

5 minutes ago, fargosioux said:

They are both ECAC and can't play Dartmouth in the first round.

Ahh yes, good point.  My dream of Duluth vs Penn State right away crumbles....

[AJS]

25 minutes ago, fargosioux said:

Here is the USCHO projection:

https://www.uscho.com/2026/03/22/bracketology-final-bracket-is-as-straightforward-as-they-come

Their only change is to swap Penn State & Cornell.

My favorite quote from the article. 

“This year’s endgame was unusually clean”

USCHO & CHN predicting bracket integrity while Schlossman thinks location. I have not been paying attention recently as I’m still kind of blindsided by the potential to throw bracket integrity out the window. You’re Michigan and instead of getting the #8 seed, they give you a higher seed #7 who is also 2.5 hrs from the site. Seems so wild to me.

I’m going w/ USCHO & CHN, emphasizing that quote. 

[ND_Texan]

The NCAA could go a long way toward establishing some credibility (they currently have very little) if they used the NPI for bracketing. I don't give two sh*ts about travel costs. What the *&^% does that have to do with anything? Integrity in a national college sports championship matters far more.

Go to home team regionals next year, PULLLLLEASE!

[nodakgirl93]

We gotta stop swapping teams for attendance purposes. If you are doing that move it back to home sites. You will already have Western Michigan and DU in the same region who just recently played each other. There's no reason to move Duluth to Sioux Falls with UND who also just recently played each other. Follow bracket integrity. Only swapping needed is Dartmouth and Cornell. No more extra swaps needed. 

[franchise]

Swapping matchups for attendance at an event fundamentally designed for poor attendance is nuts.

[Oxbow6]

So UMD can hop on a plane to Dever for one game but needs to take a bus for potentially two games. Got it.

[Wilbur]

19 minutes ago, Oxbow6 said:

So UMD can hop on a plane to Dever for one game but needs to take a bus for potentially two games. Got it.

6 hour bus trip to Sioux Falls....yikes.

[burd]

The whole thing would be a lot more fun with cigar smoke-filled rooms and whispers of corruption and favoritism.  The games within which the hockey games would be played.

[Blackheart]

5 minutes ago, burd said:

The whole thing would be a lot more fun with cigar smoke-filled rooms and whispers of bribery and corruption.  The games within which the hockey games would be played.

And somehow BC, BU, and Minny would get in.

[burd]

2 minutes ago, Blackheart said:

And somehow BC, BU, and Minny would get in.

The Blue Blood Four.  

[ND_Texan]

It's interesting (telling) that attendance isn't an issue out west like it is with the east locales. SF and Loveland will be packed barns. They don't need to bring in UMD or other headliners for attendance purposes. Albany and Worchester are struggling, however, and thus the risk of the Committee rearing it's ugly head and doing something really dumb.

Hey recruits, take note! Eastern barns are no fun. Come join us out west, where hockey doesn't take a back seat and where our fans appreciate your skills and talents. 

[ND_Texan]

14 minutes ago, burd said:

The Blue Blood Four.  

....where hard work is just a pair of 4-letter words.

[MGsioux]

Does anyone know what time we expect und to play in Thursday?? 

[franchise]

6 minutes ago, MGsioux said:

Does anyone know what time we expect und to play in Thursday?? 

Better be 7pm

[Clark17]

The Loveland Regional looks like the toughest to me if the USCHO guys are correct - I really didn't want to see Mankato and I think they can come out of that one - I'd like to see Mankato knock off Wisconsin to go to FF - Denver just needs to be put down and I'll be happy - I'll throw in Mich. while I'm at it too

[cowboys5xsbs]

Didn't they used to do the release show at 10 am why is it so much later today 

[gfhockey]

46 minutes ago, franchise said:

Better be 7pm

As 1 seed I bet they take early game. More rest

[gfhockey]

Is it matvic