Well, since we don't know what the bonus points mean, this is even more
guess work than ever before.
St. Cloud and Denver have losses to Dartmouth, which are eliminated once the
tournament field is set.
Denver gets the 14th and last spot over Ohio State, which also eliminates
BU's loss to Ohio State.
So this means that Providence is in, Ohio State is out.
The top 5 ranks would be automatic: CC, Maine, Cornell, Minnesota, and UNH.
The other 9 go this way:
BU (7-1) loses to BC
Ferris (7-1) loses to BU
BC (6-2) loses to Ferris and Mich
Mich (5-3) loses to Ferris, BU, and ND
ND (4-4) loses to Ferris, BU, BC, and Prov
MSUM (3-5) beats SC, Prov, and Denv
SC (2-6) beats Prov and Denv
Denver (1-7) beats only Prov
Providence (1-7) beats only ND
Using RPI to break ties, the 6-14 bids go in the order listed above.
Now for the tournament selection rules.
#1 seeds: CC, Maine, Cornell, Minn (host).
#2 host is BU at Worcester
#3 host is Michigan at Ann Arbor
#4 host is Providence
#1 seeds draft home sites: #4 Minnesota is at home in Minneapolis, #1 CC is
closest to Ann Arbor, #2 Maine is closest to Worcester and can't play #4
host Providence in any case, #3 Cornell is left with Providence.
#4 Denver has to come to Worcester since they can't play a WCHA #1.
#2's left are UNH, BC, and Ferris - it's clear that Ferris can't play
Michigan, so they could be either in Providence or Minneapolis. UNH and BC
are not restricted (and essentially interchangeable), so let's keep UNH
closer to home in Providence.
#3's left are the three WCHA teams; SC, ND, MSUM. Completely
interchangeable, so place them in rank order with the #2's. The only other
thought here would be to put one of the Minnesota schools in Minneapolis
based on being closer. I'll let the WCHA folks decide whether MSUM, SC, or
ND would be the best draw in Minneapolis.
Providence: #3 Cornell vs. #14 Providence, #5 UNH vs. #12 St. Cloud
Worcester: #2 Maine vs. #13 Denver, #6 BU vs. #11 MSU-Mankato
Ann Arbor: #1 CC vs. Mercyhurst (MAAC), #8 BC vs. #9 Mich
Minneapolis: #4 Minn vs. Alabama-Huntsville (CHA), #7 Ferris vs. #10 ND
Patrick Abegg
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