Kudos to the Minnesota State Mankato Mavericks. What a win. At Englestad
no less. Not even a neutral venue.
 
        With that single win, Mankato wrought a sea change in the debate between
some in the establishment and those of the non-establishment over NCAA
bids. To be more accurate, they simply ended it. Full stop.
 
        Play with the numbers all you want, folks. You can make an argument for
just about anything. There's a process in place. It ought to be used. Yes,
it can produce an MSU/UND type match-up. Absolutely. No chance? Well, on
the contrary: chance -- as last night proved so well.
 
        To be honest, during this past week many folks were wondering if the
following Division I institutions have an opportunity to compete in the
NCAA Championships because they could win their league championships:
 
TEAM            W/L/T           RPI
 
Minn-Duluth     4-20-4          48
Merrimack       7-16-1          41
LSSU            10-17-3         39
Brown           5-12-5          36
 
        ... then the following D-I institutions should also be given very
serious consideration:
 
TEAM            W/L/T           RPI
 
Quinnipiac      17-4-2          9
Connecticut     14-7-2          18
Holy Cross      13-9-2          27
Niagara         11-10-3         32
 
        Well, at 13-12-4 (before yesterday's game) and an RPI rank of 19,
MSU-Mankato, who fit very nicely into the latter group, proved that idea is
not so far-fetched as some of the establishment might have us believe.
 
        -- Dick Tuthill
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.