Jeff B. writes:
 
>I've got to agree with Steve Weisfeldt:
>
>>am I the only that thinks the teams
>>with the "bye" somehow get an unfair advantage?  I do realize they've
>>worked hard to get one of the top two seeds, but IMO getting to play the
>>lower seed AND getting a bye seems like it should be enough.  Give the
>>winner from the first night a day off!
>
>It seemed excessively brutal to me that, for example, after their first
>round win, Wisconsin had to play BU at 4pm the next day, when BU had a
>bye.  The NC$$ seems to understand the need for a day of rest from their
>Final 4 schedule; otherwise they would be maximizing profit (like always)
>and making the games Friday/Saturday.  I'm amazed that any teams seeded
>5-12 ever make the final 4.
 
There's sort of a built-in case study here.  The NC$$ tourney has been in
its present single-elimination, 12-team, top-four-get-byes format for three
years.  In the first year, 1992, the winners in the first round did get a
day off before they faced their respective bye teams for the right to go to
the semis.  And what happened -- three of the four non-bye teams advanced
to the Phinal Phour.  Over the past two years, the regionals have been played
with no day off between the two games, and until Lake Superior knocked off
Michigan on Sunday, no non-bye team had made it to the Phinal Phour.
 
Then again, teams should be used to playing back-to-back games by the time
the NC$$ tournament rolls around, since they've spent the entire season
more or less doing just that.  If anyone has loads of free time (not me),
I'd be interested in seeing what the results were of those games during the
regular season in which one team had a week off and the other team had just
played the night before.  It might be a bit enlightening.
 
This debate reminds me of the one that raged back in the "old" days (actually,
not that long ago) when the NC$$ semis were played on Thursday and Friday,
rather than both on Thursday as they are now.  The championship game was on
Saturday, and some obscene number of championships were won by teams that had
played their semifinal games on Thursday.  The setup was perceived as grossly
unfair, which it probably was.
 
By the way, a minor correction on an AP story or two that I've seen posted
on HOCKEY-L.  The statement was made that this is Boston University's second
trip to the Phinal Phour in four years -- it's actually the Terriers' third
trip in that time (and fourth in the last five years).
--
Disclaimer -- Unless otherwise noted, all opinions expressed above are
              strictly those of:
 
Bill Fenwick                        |  Send your HOCKEY-L poll responses to:
Cornell '86 and '94 (.5)            |  [log in to unmask]
LET'S GO RED!!
"Jesse Helms recently had heart surgery -- so there goes a theory of mine."
-- Bobcat Goldthwait