William grumbles:

> 3.  We need to address the NCAA neutral ice problem if we ever hope to grow
> college hockey's appeal.  We are like womens basketball was 10 years ago when
> the top seeds played at home, and always won, making an expanded tournament a
> farce for the lower seeds.  Yesterday afternoon showed that the Gophers have
> great Minnesota fans, but not necessarily great college hockey fans.  Filling
> the barn for the first semi, then leaving before the second is poor form.  This
> underscored why the NCAA must give the western schools an unfair advantage
> each year by having games at a home rink, rather than neutral ice as it is in the
> east.  As long as this situation exists, the final four will have a better
> chance of western teams being there.  Everyone must admit that playing on home
> ice gives a team an edge toward advancing.  Of course this sets up a circular
> argument about how to run a national tournament when few places have the
> apparent fan interest to sell out a random NCAA game.  Until the western areas can
> figure out how to get people to come and enjoy good hockey (even if the home
> team is not playing) we seem to be stuck with this problem.

Poor form my eye.  Suppose you juggled games around and put this regional in
Worcester:

BC vs North Dakota
Denver vs Bemidji State

Would the arena be full for the second game?  I think not.

I don't think this is a western phenomenon.

-- Erik