Patrick Abegg (and others related) wrote :

#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.

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.


Ok, all of the wild possibilities out there notwithstanding, does distance
rule over all else for selecting who goes where? For example, Ithaca
(Cornell) is 362 mi from Providence and 516 mi from Ann Arbor, whereas
Durham (UNH) is 120 mi from Providence but 823 mi from Ann Arbor. So, 516
+ 120 mi = 736 mi, vs 362 + 823 = 1185 mi. Seems to me, with this sadly
impending war, the selection committee would wish to keep teams closer to
home, which at the same time could generate the strongest fan support
(ka-ching, ka-ching). The only thing missing from an incredibly exciting
HE tourney this year was Maine, which could add some excitement to a
possible UNH-Maine match up in Providence. Another possible BU-BC match up
would fill the Centrum in Worcester. It also seems that the #1 and #2
seeds going to Mariucci and Yost, respectively, could fill those rinks?
Just some thoughts.

So, assuming Prov Coll has enough bonus RPI points(?), perhaps the
seedings could go like this (if not, sub Mich St for MAAC in Ann Arbor,
moving MAAC to Providence):

Providence: #3 UNH vs PC (h); Maine vs Ohio St (3/4 HE)
Worcester: #4 BU (h) vs Harvard; BC vs NoDak (3/4 "Beanpot")
Ann Arbor: #2 Cornell vs MAAC; Ferris vs Mich (h) (1/2 CCHA)
Minneapolis: #1 CC vs Wayne; Minn (h) vs Makato (3/4 WCHA)

Go Cats (UNH)!  Go Falcons (MAAC)!

Thom Davis
UNH '71