Dan,
 
>It was also said that if Maine were to win that it might very well have
>pushed UNH out of the tournament.  It might very well have.  Who can
really
>say for sure that the committee might look beyond the comparisons to
place
>three teams from each conference into the tournament?
 
I can say for sure.
 
Dan - this simply does not happen.  PERIOD.  The committee never looks
beyond the comparisons to pick the field.  If Maine won the tournament,
CC would have been out.   This is not open to debate.
 
If you'd like, I can point you to more explanatory articles.
 
 
>We also pointed out
>that there were many comparisons to be considered and that one of them
was
>performance over the last 20 games.  Specifically, the reason we
brought up
>this comparison was to point out that with a win BC would have deserved
a
>bye over Clarkson because that comparison would have given the Eagles
the
>overall comparison between those two clubs.   We never said that this
>comparison was given special consideration, simply that it was one of
the
>comparisons considered.  The whole point of this part of the broadcast
was
>to let people know that comparisons went far beyond PWR.
 
No they do not ... the comparisons ARE  PWR.   PWR consists of these
things that you mentioned.  PWR is 5 criteria -- record in Last 20 games
being just one of them ...
 
There is no such thing as "deserving" something.  Everything in choosing
the field is by the numbers.  Nothing goes far beyond PWR -- nothing
goes beyond PWR even slightly (until we get to seedings).
 
I'd suggest reading the FAQ and other literature on USCHO ... I'd send
you the URL, but I don't know what it is right now ... e-mail privately
and I'll help you out.
 
 
>Before you criticize Jim get your facts straight.  I had no access to a
>computer on Friday or Saturday to re-check PWR, et al.  And you can't
>possibly think that the league had anything prepared for that in our
press
>notes.
 
None of this is a criticism, by the way ... There was a time three years
ago that I had no clue how this worked, and it basically took Mike
Machnik pounding me over the head about it to realize what was going on.
 
None of the broadcasters on the conference tournament coverage (with
perhaps the exception of Frank on MSC) had the slightest idea how the
committee picks the field -- especially in relation to PWR.
 
The people who don't know about the process fall into two categories ...
 
1) Those who have never been informed (the LARGE majority)
2) Those who refuse to believe the at large bids are picked solely by
numbers
 
I get frustrated at both, because I wish everyone would know.  When
announcers accidentally mislead everyone, it just makes the information
process harder.  But group #2 is more frustrating.
 
Actually, what's even more frustrating is that the NCAA is not informing
everyone themselves -- leaving it up to USCHO to do that job for them.
Last year, at the convention, they said a concerted effort would be made
to educate the public and the coaches.  I haven't seen that from them --
though I'm sure USCHO would be more than happy to help, if asked.
 
AW
 
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