On Mar 13,  6:38, Joe LaCour wrote:
>>>> Bill Fenwick <[log in to unmask]> 03/11/97
>11:24am >>>
><SNIP>
>Vermont, by the way, apparently will have the dubious
>distinction of being the first-ever ECAC team to make the
>NCAA tournament despite not making it out of the ECAC
>quarterfinal round.
>==
>Dubious?  Actually I think it is a compliment to the ECAC
>that this year (at least) they had a good enough record out
>of conference (except vs WCHA) to have a good PWR team
>get in despite a 1st round loss.
 
Yeah, I guess you could look at it as a positive for the ECAC.  I think it's
"dubious" from the Vermont standpoint 'cause they'll be remembered as a team
that fell short of expectations all year, culminating in their quarterfinal loss
and "backing into" the NCAA tournament.  (Personally, as I said before, I think
their performance over the entire season warrants a bid, as PWR seems to
indicate)
 
>Only way UVM CAN'T get it:
>
>UMass-L or BC wins HE  (3 HE teams) and
>Princeton beats Cornell in ECAC finals.
 
If we go by PWR right now, it looks like a 7-5 West-East split.  The above
scenario would have the effect of making it a 6-6 split, with the two tourney
winners (Princeton and Mass-L/BC) knocking out the lowest-seeded non-auto-bid
Western team (the current #13 is Colorado College, who obviously would go if
they won the WCHA) and the lowest-seeded non-auto-bid Eastern team (Cornell).
 Vermont is high enough in the rankings that they don't have to worry about
dropping to that tenuous #5E spot, unless the committee does something screwy.
 
>If Cornell fails to make the ECAC finals, I think their NCAA
>chances are iffy.
 
If the Big Red isn't going to win the ECAC themselves, they've got to hope for
Clarkson to win it and that UNH or BU wins Hockey East.  Upsets in either
tournament would put Cornell in a lot of trouble bid-wise (it looks like, at
#6E, they would be competing with CC at #7W for that last spot, and CC is just
one PWR point and 0.0039 in the RPI tiebreaker behind them now).  Upset winners
in both Eastern tournaments would end Cornell's season, as mentioned above.
 
>As discussed earlier, I think their bye
>chances are slim  and none.
 
Actually, I believe Cornell's chances at a bye are none and none.
 
--
Disclaimer -- Unless otherwise noted, all opinions expressed above are
              strictly those of:
 
Bill Fenwick
Cornell '86 and '95
LET'S GO RED!!                                                  DJF  5/27/94
"I believe Marcel Marceau said it best."
-- Madeline Kahn, "Cosby"
 
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