Punchline: if Cornell sweeps Clarkson and SLU, Princeton
sweeps Union and RPI and Vermont gets at least three points against
Brown and Harvard, the order of finish will be
 
1 Cornell
2 Clarkson
3 Vermont
4 Princeton
 
Jayson:
 
>> >If Clarkson wins and Cornell wins, Cornell wins the ECAC ONLY if
>> >Vermont and Princeton are in the Top4, and Harvard is in the Top 8.
 
me:
 
>>         Yep.  Cornell wins a tie-breaker with Clarkson if and only if
>> either
>>         a) Vermont and Princeton are the other two teams in the top 4,
>> and Harvard hangs onto 8th place.
>>         or b) Colgate is in the top 4.
 
Adam:
 
>No matter how crazy this is, I don't think anything can compare to last year,
>when going into Saturday's games, it was possible that the last tiebreaker
>(other than coin flip) was going to have to decide some things.
 
        Don't say that until after Friday; the Cornell-Vermont
tiebreaker *could* go down to goal differential vs. top eight.  (For
example, if Cornell loses to Clarkson by two goals, Princeton ends up
fourth, Harvard finishes eighth but loses to Vermont, and of course
Cornell and Vermont end up tied without RPI for company.)
 
>Princeton controls its own destiny, by the way, for a top 4 spot.  It is not at
>all farfetched to see them sweep the weekend series at home with Union and RPI,
>even though it will be difficult.  But since they win a tiebreaker with RPI,
>the Tigers control their own fate.  I'm not sure who would then win a
>tiebreaker for 3rd and 4th if Vermont splits and Princeton-Vermont tie for 3rd,
>but regardless, Princeton-Vermont would be in the top 4, and that's what
>Cornell wants, right?
 
        If Princeton and Vermont end up tied for third, Vermont wins
the tiebreaker (4-4 vs Cornell and Clarkson beats 0-8).
 
* UVM>Princeton (27)
Vermont   2-2 4-4
Princeton 2-2 0-8
 
        If Princeton, Vermont and RPI all end up tied for third with
27 points, the order of finish is 3 Princeton 4 RPI 5 Vermont.  (And
so Cornell loses the tiebreaker to Clarkson.)  This is because
Princeton will have swept RPI and split with UVM, while RPI took three
points from UVM, meaning Princeton has six points in the head-to-head
games, while RPI and Vermont both have three.  (Assuming I'm doing the
head-to-head right.  Jayson?)
 
* Princeton>RPI>UVM (27)
Princeton 6-2
RPI       3-5 3-1
UVM       3-5 1-3
 
        And as you say, if Princeton sweeps and RPI splits, so they
end up tied at 27 points (for third or fourth depending on Vermont),
Princeton wins the tiebreaker
 
* Princeton>RPI (27)
Princeton 4-0
RPI       0-4
 
        So for Cornell's purposes, in this scenario Vermont also needs
to outperform RPI (who can at best split) so they join Princeton in
the top four.  Note that if Cornell sweeps, it will ensure that
Harvard finishes eighth, the other necessary ingredient in this
scenario.
 
                                        John Whelan, Cornell '91
                                        <[log in to unmask]>
        <http://www.cc.utah.edu/~jtw16960/jshock.html>
 
Cornell Men's Ice Hockey: 1996-7 Ivy League Champions
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