Mike Machnik wrote:
 
>Re-seeding the East, Denver hops up to third ahead of Clarkson because of
>overall ranking:
>
>        west                east
>1       CC (2)              BU (1)
>2       minnesota (3)       vermont (9)
>3       western mich (4)    denver (10)
>4       michigan (5)        clarkson (11)
>5       msu (6)             lowell (12)
>6       lssu (8)            bowling green (13)
 
If this is the way the seedings end up, and these are in fact the final PWR
numbers (unlikely though it is to remain unchanged) I'd be somewhat
perturbed.  (Make that steamed.)  I'm not that worried about the bye, since
I think it's of somewhat dubious advantage.  This seeding, though,
guarantees that one of the Final Four entrants will have finished with a
ranking no better than 9th, a lower ranking than any of the teams in the
West Regional.  What a fine reward to Michigan for being near the top of
the CCHA; they would have to beat MSU and CC to advance to Cincinatti
(against what is likely to be a hostile crowd, no less) while Bowling
Green, the fifth place team in the conference (and eight rankings lower),
faces Denver and Vermont.  Which sounds like the easier road to you?
Denver is a darn good team and I haven't seen Vermont, but I know the one
I'd pick.
 
If the final standings look like these, the NCAA has to move at least one
stronger West team to the East regional or they'll make a mockery of their
own seeding process.
 
J. Michael Jackson
 
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