Jeff Kennedy wrote:
 
> I think the regionals needs to be near the maximum amount of DI schools if a
> neutral site is necessary.  That probably makes somewhere in Michigan the
> best solution for the west.  Either Worcester or Providence for the east.
 
There are two problems with this.  If you assume that it's possible that Michigan
and Michigan State might both miss the tournament some year, as Minnesota and
Wisconsin did this year, you'll see tumbleweeds blowing through Van Andel, or
Munn, or Yost.  The other part is that at these sites, you still have some of the
advantages of home ice for the local teams, namely a favorable crowd.  For this
advantage to accrue to the same schools year after year is not a good thing.  It
makes it tough to be Wisconsin or Minnesota, and any conceivable scenario like
this will never be fair to places like North Dakota, to say nothing of Denver and
Colorado College.
 
The West Regional is in Minneapolis next year.  Barring significant improvement
by the Gophers or Badgers (or perhaps SCSU), it has the potential to another
flop.  If this happens two years in a row, I doubt you'll see the regional back
out here.  So then we're left with just lower Michigan, and the your scenario,
until the fates conspire to make a couple tank there, too.
 
I really think that the only good western solution is to go to having the
regional at the campus site of the top seed, or having two mini-regionals at the
top two seeds.  This has the inconvience of having to make last minute travel
plans, but it has two advantages.  You're much more likely to be able to count on
good crowds, since you know that the local team will be in it.  And the advantage
of being close to home will belong to a team that has earned an advantage, rather
than going to the same small set of schools every year, regardless of
performance.
 
J. Michael Neal
 
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