Tony Biscardi wrote:
>>Examining the recent RPI ratings, something very interesting
>>began to go through my mind...
 
The way I understand it, the RPI will not be used this year to come up with
an initial ranking of teams as has been done in the past.  This is only one
way in which the RPI has been de-emphasized.  I am not certain how the
initial ranking will be done - it could be by strict DivI winning
percentage followed by a number of pairwise comparisons among the teams
with the team that wins the most comparisons being ranked first overall,
and so on.  The pairwise comparisons would involve the five criteria that
have been stated here before, with the RPI being one of those criteria.
 
But, it is important to note that just because the RPI indicates that the
West is top-heavy doesn't mean that this is how the committee will see it.
The RPI will weigh no more heavily than criteria such as record vs common
opponents, record in last 20 DivI games, etc.  The big question is how that
initial ranking of teams will be determined.
 
Now, the question about whether a Western team could obtain a bye in the East...
 
I believe the answer is yes, it is possible, but not in any of the ways
that have been mentioned yet.
 
Pam Sweeney said:
>Remember that the committee did give Lowell a number-3-West seed two years
>ago when two Eastern teams ended up ranked 5-6 nationally, thus giving both
>#3s to Eastern teams, so there certainly is precedent to show that they
>would put a top Western team out East.
 
Recall the way this happened...when Lowell was shifted to the West Regional
in 1994 (because RPI had to stay home), the re-seeding resulted in Lowell
being 3W.  This was because in the final ranking of the 12 tourney teams,
Lowell ranked ahead of the team that was third highest from the West.  When
the crossover teams are determined along with the makeup of each regional,
then the six teams in each regional are re-seeded according to their top 12
ranking.
 
It is not a stretch to say that if Lowell had also ranked ahead of the
second highest team from the West, then Lowell could have received a bye in
1994.
 
This is how I can see a Western team receiving a bye in the East.  If the
highest ranked Western team that crosses over happens to be ranked ahead of
the second highest Eastern team (or the highest), then it is quite possible
that that team could receive a bye.
 
This would surprise some people, but it would not be inconsistent with the
way seeding has been done in the past.
 
Because MSU must stay home if it receives a bid, it is possible that a
Western team that is ranked higher than MSU would have to cross over, and
that team could also be ranked higher than one or both of the top two
Eastern teams.
 
Greenie said:
>Sorry gang, but I heartedly disagree. The first-round byes are given to the
>two best teams from East, and the two best teams from the West.
 
Not necessarily...I believe the committee has said in the past that it is
not required to give both byes in a region to teams from that region.  It
has just always worked out that way.
 
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                   [log in to unmask]            *HMM* 11/13/93
>> Co-owner of the College Hockey Lists at University of Maine System  <<
*****       Unofficial Merrimack Hockey home page located at:       *****
*****   http://www.tiac.net/users/machnik/MChockey/MChockey.html    *****
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.