Here's the selection process as I understand it. This has been
explained to me several times by Phil Buttafuoco at the NCAA, so I
think I have everything right by now.
 
The only new rule this year (the "CC rule") is 2.5.
 
 
 
1. Each of the 4 leagues (CCHA, ECAC, HEA, WCHA) is given 1 automatic
   bid to award any way they want. They have to specify how the
   auto-bid is awarded at the beginning of the season. In theory, they
   could say the last place team gets the auto-bid, but that would be
   kind of dumb. The only two logical choices are the regular season
   winner or the play-off winner. All 4 leagues have always chosen the
   play-off winner.
 
2. The season ends and the four auto-bids are determined.
 
2.5 If any conference regular season champion did not receive an
    auto-bid, they are selected as an at-large team. This is not so
    much an official rule that you will find in a book somewhere, but
    is a statement made by the current selection committee, declaring
    what will happen. This not quite like the auto-bid, so I call it
    a "courtesy bid". Out of courtesy for the regular season champion,
    the committee will select them over some other team in the conference.
 
3. Each conference is guaranteed two teams, so at this point, if a
   conference only has 1 team selected, another is chosen from that
   conference. The selection criteria of RPI, head-to-head, common
   opponents, record in last 20 games, and record against teams under
   consideration are used to select teams. (You can find these criteria
   listed in some NCAA handbook.) Again, this two-team-minimum is just
   an announcement by the selection committee that this is what they
   will be doing. Again, this is a courtesy bid--out of courtesy to
   each conference, the committee will select a second team, even
   if the numbers do not indicate that it is deserving.
 
4. The remaining at-large teams are truly at-large, since they can come
   from any conference (and the independents). There will always be 4
   of these teams. They are chosen based on the same criteria in #3.
 
5. The 12 teams are seeded.... (won't get into that right now)
 
 
What is important, and what is often misunderstood, is that:
 
   --the conference has to decide BEFORE THE SEASON how it determines
        the auto-bid
   --if the same team wins both the regular season and play-offs, the
        LEAGUE does not get to pick a second team (the committee does)
 
In essence, with the addition of rule 2.5, the committee is saying that
they will pick the regular season winner as your second team, if it did
not win the play-offs. They will ignore the RPI and the other criteria
in this instance.
 
So, in my own lingo, you have:
    automatic bids (4 teams)
    regular-season-champion-courtesy bids (0-4 teams)
    conference-courtesy bids (0-4 teams)
    true-at-large bids (4 teams)
 
 
 
Keith