Monday, February 28, 2011

NCAA Hockey Tournament predictions -take 4

Here goes attempt number 4 to predict the NCAA Tournament Field for Mens Ice Hockey. The first three are linked up here(1st-12/19,2nd-2/11,3rd-2/21 so you can see how quickly things can change with the Pairwise System. So here is my "expert" opinion of how things shake out now. This will probably seem mathematically impossible by next monday but it is worth a shot. Here goes nothing. Here is how I see the Pairwise ending today...

1. Yale- Once again they don't play anyone tough so they won't lose enough to lose the number one spot overall.
2. North Dakota- I think they win the WCHA and get rewarded with the second best #1 seed.
3. Michigan- This team is hot right now behind legendary coach Red Berenson
4. Boston College- The superfrauds get their wish and #1 seed in the tournament despite losing the HE final to an undecided team(Choose from BU, Merrihack or Maine)
5. Denver- They take a #2 seed and prepare for a run in the tourny
6. Union- They are the second most overrated team in the country behind Yale but simply are playing ECAC teams down the stretch and therfore will continue to win
7. Merrimack- They will bounce back after getting trounced up in Maine and still get a 2 seed.
8. Notre Dame- They are getting hot at the right time of the year
9. Nebraska-Omaha- They are so damn streaky but I think they end the year hot enough to grab a tourny at-large bid
10. Miami- This team is too skilled to not get in and will be one of the toughest outs once they get there
11. Minnesota-Duluth- ChrisCo's brother puts the team on his back and gives them a good chance to make a run this year
12. BU- The Terriers make a deep run into the HE tournament racking up TUC wins against Maine and UNH along the way to solidify their playoff berth. Yeah I m a homer
13. UNH- The University of No Hardware knows they need wins this weekend to solidify their positioning along with a good conference tournament. They seem bound to face UMASS in the first round so that should not be an issue.
14. RPI- I hate this team that is all
15. Colorado College- They sneak in with a few clutch wins coming down the straight
16. Robert Morris- They get Yale in the first round after winning the great Atlantic Hockey conference tournament

Here is what the brackets would look like
Bridgeport
1 Yale vs. 4 Robert Morris
2 Notre Dame vs 3 Nebraska Omaha

Manchester
1 BC vs 4 RPI
2 Denver vs 3 BU

Saint Louis
1 Michigan vs 4 Colorado College
2 Merrimack vs 3 Minnesota-Duluth

Green Bay
1 North Dakota vs 4 UNH
2 Union vs 3 Miami (OH)

Bracket winners here
Manchester- Denver
Bridgeport- Notre Dame
Saint Louis-Michigan
Green Bay- Miami(OH)

Championship- Michigan over Denver (5-3)

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