Greg Ambrose wrote:
> I don't know if this qualifies as an expert opinion, but I agree that if
> either BU or UNH wins the HE tournament championship (even if they do not
> meet in the final), they will be rewarded with a bye in Worcester (E2 if
> Clarkson wins the ECAC, possibly E1 if Clarkson flames out, which I don't
> believe they will).  If they meet in the final, I predict that the loser
> will get the E3 seed over UVM, although that may mean conference matchups
> on Saturday in Worcester.
 
Based on an NCAA conference call today, only four schools have a shot at
the "automatic bye."  That's BU, North Dakota, Clarkson, and Michigan.  UNH
and Minnesota, who both tied for their conference championship but lost the
tie-breaker, are NOT included in the automatic bye.
 
According to the current Pairwise Rankings, Vermont is ahead of UNH (even
after losing to Princeton) but only by one PWR point.  As a result, if
UNH wins the Hockey East championship, they won't get an "automatic" bye,
but I would guess that their two wins would give them enough to bypass
Vermont, especially if it's over BU in the final.
 
But if UMass-Lowell upsets BU in the other semifinal, it could be that wins
over BC and UMass-Lowell, neither of whom are teams under consideration,
won't be enough to get them past Vermont.  In that case, Vermont will get
the bye, not UNH.
 
I suspect that even the above scenario will put UNH ahead of Vermont, though,
because they only have to gain one PWR point.  If tied in PWR, the tiebreaker
goes to the RPI in which UNH would win over Vermont.
 
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Dave Hendrickson     [log in to unmask]
Hockey East writer for U.S. College Hockey Online
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