>
> Consider even further the Top 10 ratings in Hockey -- If I generously assume
> that the number of Div. I hockey schools is 50, being rated in the Top 10 only
> means your team is in the top 20 percent.   In basketball, they have
> a top 25, but approximately 300 teams compete.  This means your team is in
> the top 8 percent -- or twice as good as a relative team in hockey.
>
> Using a similar argument, 24% of hockey teams make the tournament, while
> only 21% of basketball.
>
I'm not in favor of increasing the tournament size, but arguments such as the
above based on cross-sport comparisons are misleading.  In college basketball
there is a far greater variance between the leagues.  One might argue that the
ECAC is the weakest hockey league - yet two ECAC teams have won the tournament
in the last ten years.  By contrast, how many MVC, SWAC, Big Sky, MAC, etc.
teams have even made the final 16 in hoop.  Perhaps only 20% of the Div. 1
basketball teams make it to the tournament, but a much larger percentage of
the major div. 1 programs do.
 
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Jon Greene
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Data General Corp., Westboro, MA
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