I think some things are getting missed in the discussion of Lowell being sent
to the West.  A couple of folks have talked about the RiverHawks having an
easier draw in the West.  Given that BU has struggled a bit lately, this
argument relies on the assumption that CC's woeful playoff performance will
continue.  I'm not sure that I would bet on this.  The other main argument in
favor of the current seedings are that Lowell was the 8th or 9th ranked team
in PWR and thus only merited a 4th seed, necessitating a move out west for a
couple of reasons (avoiding an all-HE quarterfinal and balancing the
strength).
 
I think these miss the objections of the Lowell fans.  It sounds to me as if
they would rather have had a #6 seed and played the Detroit Red Wings so long
as they could do it close to home where the fans could attend.
 
My only counter-argument to this is that Lowell isn't the only team affected.
 In addition to avoiding conference match-ups, I suspect that the committee
was trying to reward Lake State and Western Michigan by sending them east.
 Putting Lowell in Albany instead of either Clarkson or Cornell would damage
this.  Any comments from Kalamazoo or the Soo about how folks feel about
going east?
 
That said, I probably would have tried to find a way to keep Lowell in Albany
if for no other reason than they were the team victimized two years ago.
 Each year taken in isolation makes sense, given the competing and, I think,
legitimate priorities being juggled.  The price for these priorities should
be spread around, though.
 
J. Michael Jackson
 
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