Mike Machnik wrote:
> Didn't we just go through a discussion recently where people claimed that
> the NCAA doesn't care about or doesn't work hard enough for college hockey?
> How are the members of the ice hockey selection committee going to get the
> NCAA to change an organization-wide policy or adjust it specially for their
> sport?
 
Ah, but I was one of the people who was DEFENDING the NCAA in that
discussion.  Somewhere in this whole mess, though, there is a major
problem.  As I will continue the discussion later in this post,
obviously this concern with conference match-ups is not absolute.  The
selection committee decided that they could live with the risk of a
Michigan-MSU quarterfinal, but not a Minnesota-North Dakota one.  This
seems to indicate some level of autonomy for the selection committee.
As I see it, the buck has to stop with them.
 
> And matchups are to be minimized but do not have to be completely avoided.
> It is within reason to set things up such that the only possible matchup is
> between the 12th and 1st ranked teams (MSU & Michigan) after #12 knocks off
> #4 Minnesota.  That's as wide a disparity as they could get.  Based
> strictly on the numbers, an MSU win would be the biggest upset possible in
> the first round.
 
By what measure is it within reason?  The change necessary to prevent a
Michigan-MSU game is very simple.  Just flip Cornell and State.  After
getting screwed into having to play the #1 seed to make it to Milwaukee,
I'd hardly be complaining about the difference between #12 & #13.  By
the numbers, Michigan should be entitled make someone earn the biggest
upset of the second round.  Instead, if Minnesota wins, it would be the
smallest upset (except perhaps the Vermont-BU game, but the numbers have
the upset in that game going the other way).
 
The numbers have been thrown out the window to produce these brackets.
It is senseless to invoke them to justify the minutiae considering what
is being let by.
 
J. Michael Neal
 
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