On Mar 20, 11:22am, Paulette Dwen wrote:
> Subject: Re: Lowell, NCAA bids, and Squeaking
> >No, this is not true at all.  My whole point is that season long
> >performance is what should be used to determine the 12 best teams and where
> >they are seeded.
>
> Why?  Why not consider the tournament as well.  Take Cornell's case this
> year.  Our first game was against MSU, and it wasn't pretty.  We didn't
> have all of our players eligible (not the fault of the current coaching
> staff), we didn't know the best combination of lines (who does in the first
> game), and we had only a few weeks of on-ice practice.  The players were
> trying to adjust to a new coach.  Why should it count as much as a game
> later in the season?
>
>-- End of excerpt from Paulette Dwen
 
Both these arguments make me glad we have things the way they are. IMO,
it takes a better "team" to win a regular season conference championship.
It shows the team can win consistantly against that level of competition.
But I also like the idea of the conference tournament winner being selected,
just not as much.  Some teams peak at different times during the season
and exciting tournaments are made of teams who are red hot.  However, I
am a little uncomfortable with the quarterfinals/regionals being
single elimination.
 
As far as teams who've won the regular season having no reason to work
in a conference tournament let me say this: the NCAA tournament is
the BIG show, but it's the teams in your conference that you play all
year(s) and have the greatest rivalries with.  That alone should make
teams want to wipe up at the tourney.  Last Saturday watching the
LSSU/Michigan game, I didn't see either team taking this conference
tourney anything less than dead serious.
 
--
Matt Wickey                                 LSSU '86
CIMLINC Inc.                                NCAA Champs 88 92 94
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