Steve Jukes wrote:
> but if they manage to play well both games and escape
> with at least one victory (which i am predicting they will) alot of people
> will be putting their proverbial foot in their mouth (Aren't teams allowed
> to have an off weekend?) and we'll see Miami get vaulted in the poles..
> surely into the top 5.
I agree that Miami will move back up if they play well against Michigan
and go home with a split. Perhaps they can do it, but I think they are
2 goal underdogs going into Yost. Any Miami or Michigan fans know
Miami's all time record in Ann Arbor?
As for the polls and rankings, at least in the CCHP ratings, places 2-7
(Minnesota, North Dakota, New Hampshire, Boston U, Miami, and Clarkson)
are close enough there isn't much to differentiate between the teams.
You could totally reorder them and still have a reasonable selection. A
win against a team above you and up you may go to the top of the group
or out of it, in this case #2. A loss to someone below you and you'll
probably head the other direction but movement either way is tempered by
how the team has done all season.
Same for 8-10 (St. Cloud, Denver, Vermont). Colorado College is by
itself at #11, but then 12-18 (Michigan State, Maine, Lake Superior,
Minnesota-Duluth, Cornell, Wisconsin, Princeton) are also tightly
grouped. Lurking right behind them are 19-23 (Rensselaer, Union,
Colgate, Boston College and Bowling Green).
I have to wonder in comparison to computer ratings, if polls are a
little more influenced by "what has the team done lately". A win over a
ranked team or a loss to one completely unranked (in Miami's case
Ferris) has more of an impact. It's also easier to remember Miami
losing to Lake Superior last weekend then it is to remember they ended
Lake Superior's ten game winning streak in early December with two wins
at home.
I don't think this is necessarily bad, computer ratings can be
notoriously slow to respond to major changes unless they weight recent
games more heavily and it's a little hard to completely tell whether
it's just a bad spell. I've thought about adding a column of ratings
over recent games as something in the CCHP ratings that might help show
up changes that are starting to happen, but I'm not sure how useful it
would be.
With Miami too, you have to remember after the two wins they started a
stretch of games where 12 of 14 were or still are on the road. That may
end up hurting their status in the polls, but it may make for an even
better team by end of the season.
By the way both Miami-Michigan games should be available via Real
Audio. First listed is Miami broadcast, second is Michigan broadcast
Friday 8 pm EST
http://www.AudioNet.com/schools/muohio/hk/hk.ram
http://www.outreach.umich.edu/audio/UMOL/WTKA/hockey/hky1-24.RAM
Saturday
http://www.AudioNet.com/schools/muohio/hk/hk.ram
http://www.outreach.umich.edu/audio/UMOL/WTKA/hockey/hky1-25.RAM
Latest CCHP ratings can always be found at
http://www2.polarnet.com/~jcarlson/uafhockey/hratings.html
Good luck to the Redskins!
Eric Carlson
UAF Hockey Web Site
http://www2.polarnet.com/~jcarlson/uafhockey/
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