Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Bracketology Attempt 1

So last year, I took my first shot at predicting the Frozen Four Field in December and ended up getting 3 out 4 for the actual Frozen Four. I think we all know that was more luck than me actually knowing anything but we are going to see if I can capture that magic again. So here we go.
Here is the Pairwise rankings(which the NCAA goes by in determining the field) as of right now
1. Minnesota Duluth
2. The Ohio State
3. BU
4. BC
5. Michigan
5. Notre Dame
7. Merrimack
7. Northern Michigan
7. Minnesota
10. Western Michigan
11. Lowell
12. Cornell
13. Ferris State
14. Colorado College
15. Michigan State
16. AHA Hockey Winner
So this field would most likely look like this.

Now we are going to take a look at my expert opinion on how things will shake out. I think the final rankings end like this:
1. Minnesota-Duluth- just don't see anyone catching them here
2. Notre Dame
3. BU- They just win baby
4. The Ohio State
5. Michigan
6. Northern Michigan
7. Minnesota
8. Merrimack
9. BC(swim and dive team)
10. Western Michigan
11. Colorado College
12. Cornell
13. North Dakota- They're punching guys in the hand-shake line so that means they're getting back to North Dakota hockey so I think they have a strong second half
14. Lowell
15. Denver
16. AHA winner/ UCONN

So the brackets look like this

Northeast(DCU Center-Worcester,MA)
1. BU vs 4 North Dakota- Nice East-West big program stand off to begin the tournament
2. Northern Michigan vs 3 Cornell - And the other game that no one cares about in this regional

Midwest(Resch Center, Green Bay,WI)
1. Notre Dame vs 4. Denver- Quality CCHA WCHA matchup in the first round
2. Michigan vs 3 Colorado College- Another one here with two big name programs going at it.

East(Bridgeport Arena, Bridgeport,CT)
1.Ohio State vs 4 Lowell- Lowell gets into the tourny only to get ousted by Ohio State quickly
2 Merrimack vs 3 Western Michigan -Merrimack gets another close regional and doesn't draw Duluth which gives them a chance for the Frozen Four

West (XCEL Energy Center, St. Paul Minnesota)
1. Minnesota-Duluth vs 4 UCONN- The West Regional gets what it wants with Minnesota and UMD in the same bracket with two eastern teams
2. Minnesota vs 3 BC- Great first round Matchup with West East again

Frozen Four: BU, Michigan, Ohio State, Minnesota Duluth

Here is another projected look at the field that might be less biased than me

In other notes- BU gets a good mention in the USCHO TMQ with captain Chris Connolly getting a solid action picture as well.

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