Erik writes:
>>From the Star Tribune of Minneapolis, 4 April 1992:
>PLAYOFF REVISIONS ON HORIZON
>
>Northern Michigan Cach Rick Comley, a member of the NCAA hockey committee,
>said some revisions in the NCAA playoff format will take effect next
>season.
>
>"We'll continue to rank the teams six East and six West, and to guarantee
>site protection for the top two seeds," Comley said.  "But we'll seed the
>rest for the best draw, and re-seed the teams at the regionals.  In other
>words, if the No. 5 West team goes East, and is considered to be the third
>best in that field, we will re-seed them to show that."
 
I wonder if Rick read my suggestion here last week and passed it on to the
committee. :-)
 
Of course, it does not remove the possibility of a team desiring a lower
seed so that it could be sent to the other region and have an easier road
to Milwaukee, but at least it will be a little more equitable.
 
>... while Albany, Maine, Boston College, and
>Wooster, Mass. have submitted bids for the East regional next season.
 
ouch :-)...that's Worcester (pronounced "WUS-ter"), MA, as in the Worcester
Centrum - where the hoop East Regional First Round was held this year.  The
Centrum is mainly used for concerts, but also is home to some state tourney
high school games and Bruins exhibitions, and it hosted the Team USA-BU
exhibition this past season.  It's a good place to watch a game, centrally
located (between Springfield and Boston), and is about as big as Providence.
 
BC only seats 7,884, so that could be a problem.  But it does have the
advantage of hosting hockey all season long, so the ice is likely to be good.
I tend to think it is too small.  But then again, it is possible that BC is
bidding on behalf of the Garden.  The fine draw in Albany this weekend (about
34,000 for 3 games) is going to make the Knick a very attractive site.  I
would think the arena bidding in Maine is the Portland Civic Center, which I
have never been to.  And one final note, I am curious as to which team will
be designated host team in the event of the regional being awarded to
Worcester.  The closest DivI team is actually UMass-Lowell (an hour away) -
unless UMass-Amherst uses it as a springboard to launch their program (though
they have no experience in running such a widescale hockey tournament).
 
 
- mike