Mike Machnik writes of Division-I schools that play less than 20 D-I
games:
 
>  Currently there
>is no incentive for DivI teams to play these teams, or DivII-III teams,
>because those games do not count towards NCAA tourney selection.
 
        Is this true?  Of course, games against D2-3 schools don't
count for the NCAA, but I was under the impression that, for example,
if Minnesota played Wisconsin, Air Force and Mankato State, all three
games would count towards the selection criteria.  Didn't someone
point out, when Mankato was deciding to move up, that it might hurt
their scheduling prospects because the games *would* count in the eyes
of the NCAA, and thus lower a prospective opponent's Ratings
Percentage Index (because their strength of schedule would go down)?
 
        If the NCAA only counts games between eligible D1 teams
towards tournament selection, rather than all D1 games played by
eligible teams, that means that last year Army, which played exactly
the minimum number of D1 games, 20, to be eligible, had only 14 of
those games count towards the selection criteria.  Since the NCAA uses
performance in the last 20 games as one of those criteria, I would
think it's not a coincidence that the minimum for eligibility is 20 D1
games, and thus that all 20 of those would count.
 
        Does anyone know what precisely the NCAA has said about this
matter?
                                        John Whelan, Cornell '91
                                        <[log in to unmask]>
        <http://www.cc.utah.edu/~jtw16960/jshock.html>
 
1996 Cornell Hockey: Ivy League Women's Champions
Ivy League Men's Champions/ECAC Men's Champions
 
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