I will tell you this, if the NCAA seedings mirrored John's predictions, you
would have plenty of unhappy people in Durham, NH and Orono, ME.
Personally, I cannot see this scenario happening because, first, the NCAA
wants to make some money and, second, from what I read today in the Boston
Globe and on USCHO the travel issue seems to be of paramount importance.

However, if there were no travel restrictions and John is correct in his
interpretation of the rule regarding host teams, it would take absurdity to
new heights IMHO.  To penalize the top ranked team by shipping them out,
solely because the host team is in position for a lower seeded bye, would
turn logic on its head for the sake of complying with some arbitrary rule.
I'm just wondering, when this host team rule was inserted, did Jack Parker
happen to be on the committee?  Just wondering.

I want to give kudos to my UNH traveling companion, Jim Love.  Two or three
weeks ago, based on comments of HEA commish Joe Bertagna, we discussed the
possibility of travel restrictions affecting the tournament seedings and
placement. Jim surmised that Eastern teams - say UNH, BU, Maine & Cornell -
would remain in Worcester while the top two WCHA teams, plus Michigan & MSU
would stay in Ann Arbor.  The remainder of the field would be filled by
other far flung schools - CC, UAF, etc. - which would have to fly to either
regional.  And since Mercyhurst is closer to Ann Arbor than Boston, they
would be slotted in the West.

I'm not sure what the exact placement of the schools will be, but I feel
pretty confident that I will see my beloved Wildcats in Worcester.

Greg Ambrose



> From: "John T. Whelan" <[log in to unmask]>
> Reply-To: "John T. Whelan" <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 17:47:11 -0600
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Question about bye seeding and travel restrictions
>
> Dear Tom Jacobs,
>
> I wonder if you or someone on the selection committee could clear up a
> question that has arisen in connection with the Division I Men's Ice
> Hockey Tournament.
>
> Currently, the top four teams according to the selection criteria are
> 1. New Hampshire 2. Minnesota 3. Denver 4. Boston University.
> According to the Division I Championships Manual, page 12,
>
> The top four-seeded teams will be placed in the bracket so
> that if all four teams advance to the Men's Frozen Four, the
> No. 1 seed will play the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed will
> play the No. 3 seed in the semifinals.
>
> This would seem to indicate that New Hampshire and Boston University
> have to be placed in different regionals in order to be properly
> bracketed.  Although it's not mentioned in the Championships Manual,
> it's also my understanding that BU, as the host institution, must play
> in the East Regional if the qualify, which means according to the
> current criteria, New Hampshire would be the #1 West seed and BU the
> #2 East seed, with either Minnesota or Denver taking the #1 seed in
> the East.
>
> I realize that after the championships manual was published, the NCAA
> made some changes in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks.
> My information on the details of this policy comes from the documents
> http://www1.ncaa.org/membership/governance/division_I/docs/champ_cabinet/20020
> 2_d1_ccc_meeting/Supp_5_MEM-Fall_Champs_Adjust_2-02.htm
> and
> http://www1.ncaa.org/membership/governance/division_I/docs/champ_cabinet/20020
> 2_d1_ccc_meeting/200202_d1_ccc_report/Report_to_MC.htm
> In the latter document I read the following:
>
> For championships that have been given approval to seed
> teams and that have a bracket size of less than 64 teams,
> the number of seeded teams shall not exceed a ratio of one
> to four.  [Note: This does not permit sports committees to
> seed more teams than they currently are approved to seed.]
> Once teams have been seeded, the remaining teams shall be
> placed in the bracket based on geographic considerations.
> The only exceptions for being able to seed more than a one
> to four ratio would be provided for men's ice hockey and
> men's lacrosse.  These two championships have a bracket size
> of 12 teams each.  Seeding twenty-five percent of the
> bracket would result in the ability to seed only three
> teams, therefore, these two championships will retain the
> ability to seed four teams each.
>
> My interpretation of this, along with the statements "Seeded
> teams will be placed in the bracket first" and "Teams seeded
> Nos. 5-16 will be placed geographically to minimize flight
> travel." from the former document is that the original
> guidelines still hold with respect to placing the bye teams
> in the bracket, and the Sept 11 modifications only apply to
> the placement of the non-bye teams.
>
> Is this correct?
>
> Also, is there any mechanism for disseminating the results
> of the weekly or bi-weekly telephone conference calls?
> Since my impression is that these conference calls often
> lead to clarifications in the selection and seeding
> procedures, it would be useful to have a summary of rulings
> and clarifications on the web in some central place rather
> than waiting for a newspaper story to turn up somewhere in
> the country.
> Thanks,
> John Whelan, Cornell '91
> [log in to unmask]
> http://www.amurgsval.org/joe/
>
> Enjoy the latest Hockey Geek tools at slack.net/hockey