The 14th tournament bid goes to Michigan State, replacing St. Cloud from
last week.

Once the tournament is set, Minnesota, North Dakota, Harvard, and Michigan
State each get points back from losses to non-tournament teams.

This brings Minnesota into a circular tie with Maine and Ferris, so they go
in RPI order: Minnesota #5, Maine #6, Ferris #7.

North Dakota moves ahead of Michigan to #9. There are no other PWR ties.

#1 seeds: CC, Cornell, UNH, BU (host).

#2 host is Minnesota at Minneapolis
#3 host is Michigan at Ann Arbor
Providence is hostless.

#1 seeds draft home sites: #4 BU at home in Worcester, #1 CC is
closest to Minneapolis, #2 Cornell is closest to Providence, #3 UNH is left
with Ann Arbor.

#2's left are BC, Maine and Ferris - it's clear that Ferris can't play
Michigan, so they could be either in Providence or Worcester. However,
Providence should get a Hockey East team for attendance purposes, so match
lower-ranked BC with higher-ranked #1 Cornell (note that this reflects a
change in my thinking from last week). Then Ferris goes to Worcester, Maine
to Ann Arbor.

#3's left are ND, OSU, and MSUM. Place OSU in Minneapolis to avoid the WCHA
matchup with Minnesota. Put higher-ranked ND up against lower-ranked BC in
Providence.

#4 Harvard must avoid Cornell, so put them in Worcester, and Michigan State
goes to Ann Arbor.

Providence: #2 Cornell vs. Mercyhurst (MAAC), #8 BC vs. #9 ND
Worcester: #4 BU vs. #13 Harvard, #7 Ferris vs. #11 MSU-Mankato
Ann Arbor: #3 UNH vs. #14 MSU, #6 Maine vs. #10 Mich
Minneapolis: #1 CC vs. Wayne State, #5 Minn vs. #12 OSU

Looking ahead to next week, there are some really wild possibilities out
there. Maine could still move ahead of BU if Quinnipiac or Mercyhurst
qualify (Maine has beaten them both and would pick up the TUC comparison
with BU) - but if Ferris wins out, the three-way tie for #4 goes to BU.

Farther down the rankings, Michigan State and Northern Michigan play an
elimination game on Thursday in the CCHA tournament, with potentially the
CCHA consolation game deciding whether the survivor gets in ahead of
Providence, St. Cloud, and the Harvard/Dartmouth loser.

Patrick Abegg