So this week sucked after Monday night am I right? I don't know about you guys but I personally just wanted to punch a baby after that game. I was there and had to hear it from those alter boys all the way to the T and on the T for two stops before the MBTA took our train out of service. Apparently the fanboys were too rowdy. I hate BC kids more than well...anyone but even I didn't understand what they were doing by stopping the train. How about the MBTA gets out of a billion dollar debt then takes my train out of service whenever they want.It isn't like all the kids pouring out of the garden is a big surprise. It happens twice every year you idiots. I guess it has to do with those idiots down in Newton driving drunk and crashing into the T last spring. Anyway...moral of the story we walked the three miles home from Government Center scaring the shit out of a superfraud on the way.
Back to the point of this post...there is now less than a month left in the regular season and I figured it would be a good time to make my second crack at predicting the field on the NCAA tournament and breaking down what BU needs to do to get in without winning the HE post-season tourny. I took my first crack at this in late December and it looked like this.
My seedings are a wee bit off but the only total miss is having Maine in the field as they are sitting at a not-so-pretty T-22 in pairwise right now and would be left out in the cold for sure as of now. So here is my second shot at it and my analysis of what our Terriers need to do coming off this loss to those Newton Cupcakes.
-Based off of current Pairwise rankings
Overall Seedings:
1. Yale
2. Newton University
3. Minnesota-Duluth
4. North Dakota
5. Merrimack
6. Denver
7. UNH
8. Michigan
9. Wisconsin
10. BU
11. Notre Dame
12. Western Michigan
13. RPI
14. Union
15. Nebraska-Omaha
16. Robert Morris
These seedings would lead to a bracket that looks like this...
East Regional (Arena@HarborYard Bridgeport,CT)
1 Yale(1) vs. 4 Robert Morris- I just don't see Yale losing enough down the stretch to lose their #1 overall seed as they play cupcakes in conference. I think they are really only like the 10th best team in the country though. They will still roll Robert Morris but so would our Intramural hockey champs.
2 Michigan vs. 3 Wisconsin- Battle of two highly talented teams..I think the winner here owns Yale and goes to the Frozen Four in St. Paul
Northeast Regional( Verizon Center, Manchester, NH)
1 North Dakota(4) vs 4 RPI- The Fighting Sioux own these ECAC low lifes in the first round.
2. Merrihack vs. 3 Western Michigan- Merrimack surprises everyone with the highest #2 seed and #5 seed overall. I don't see them losing to Western Michigan either so they make it to a showdown with North Dakota for a chance at the frozen four.
Midwest (Resch Center, Green Bay,Wisconsin)
1 Minnesota-Duluth(3) vs 4. Union- The Connolly brothers make the clowns look silly in their first ever NCAA tournament appearance.
2 Denver vs. 3 Notre Dame- Denver makes Notre Dame look like the catholic team they are and knocks them out easily. Denver and UMD is a quite a showdown coming out of this bracket.
West( ScottTrade Center , St. Louis Missouri)-Lets get drunk!
1. Newton College(2) vs 4 Nebraska Omaha- BC gets in and gets the streakiest team in the country in the first round.
2 UNH vs 3 BU- This is a game where both teams hate BC and will do anything to get get the chance to end their season. This should be a highly contested battle but I see our Terriers sneaking it out.
Now to break down our Terriers chances to get in and what seed. I have them as a 3 seed and facing Wisconsin in the first round which isn't an ideal situation at all but it is better than being on the couch like we were this time last year. I think BU can pull together a nice run though and make it to be a 2 seed in the tournament. The only problem with this theory is it requires other teams to lose. RPI, Union, and Yale all play in the ECAC which is a joke of a conference and there are many games where they are not even challenged. That is why I see the 3 or 4 seed as a likely destination.
Many BU fans were down on the team this past week after the OT crushing to loss on Monday. It still hurts to think about. It is going to hurt when I go back to the Garden Monday to watch us play Harvard with no one in the stands. This is a defining point in BU's season though. The team can come together and play angry the rest of the way on the way to the tournament...or they can pack it in. I think last year's team packs it in. This year I am in agreemenent with Jim Connolly's article on USCHO that BU is a team to be reckoned with for the rest of the season. This is an extremely young team with enough talent to win it all. Not necessarily this year but in years to come. They are learning how to use that talent to win games right before our own eyes. They have the easiest remaining schedule in the conference with only #7 UMASS, #9 PC, #8 UVM, and #6 Northeastern remaining on the schedule. This is why we take the 3 seed in the conference.
This team will not overlook bad teams. That starts tonight with a UMASS team that got outscored 16-2 last weekend. They will be ready to play but I think our guys come out flying and bury them early. I think our Terriers finish theregular season 20-8-8 which ain't that bad despite what some of the haters on Boston Hockey blog will tell you. Those are pretty high expectations I know. Yes, I am predicting 7 wins in our last 8 games. I am giving Northeaster a tie at their place. This is because the team has no choice. Losing to the bottom of the conference is not an option. This schedule allows the Terriers to solidify third place while BC, UNH, Maine and Merrimack beat up on one another. This is a young team with a chance to get hot and make some postseason noise. I think we get to the HE tourny final by beating BC in the semifinals and then beat UNH in the finals because they ain't called university of no hardware for nothing.Mark this shit down. BU wins the HE tournment. This team has promise. In Parker we trust bitches...if you don't believe any of this shit...move to Newton you 'schmuck'(* That is trademark phrase of GW. Any other use of this phrase without his consent is prohibitied).
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