At 12:42 PM -0600 3/16/97, Ken Pavelle wrote:
> > The biggest question is which teams will be swapped.  I am inclined to
> > think that Denver & CC will go East, while along with MSU, Cornell will go
> > West.  But there have been rumblings that Vermont may go West instead of
> > Cornell.  This would be an odd twist since I don't believe that the
> > committee has ever really "punished" teams for losing early in their
> > conference tourneys before.  The attendance factor seems about equal, and
> > Vermont ranks higher.
>
> This is an interesting situation -- Cornell is rated lower than Vermont,
> yet they win the PWR comparison.  Furthermore, Cornell finished higher
> in the regular season ECAC standings, and also did better in the ECAC
> tournament.  I think you can also add in the intangible of Mr. Dryden's
> name being invoked.  I won't be surprised if Cornell gets to stay East.
 
Precedent appeared to have been set in 1995 when UNH was knocked out in the
HE quarterfinals but stayed in the East.  I believe that if the attendance
factor in Worcester seemed to favor Cornell, then Cornell would stay in the
East, but against Vermont it seems to be a tossup.
 
Still, you never know.  There seems to be a new twist every year.  This
could be it.
 
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                [log in to unmask]               *HMM* 11/13/93
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