There are five guaranteed slots, for all intents and
purposes, in the East bracket: BU, Harvard,
Lowell, UNH, and whoever wins the
RPI-Clarkson game.  That leaves the sixth seed,
and the NC$$ will almost certainly do one of the
following before letting the embarassment and
controversy continue by picking Maine:
 
1.  Have to pick a surprise winner of the ECAC or
HE tourny (Northeastern or Brown).
 
2.  Load a western team into the East bracket due
both to perceived superiority of West and/or
because a surprise team wins the CCHA or
WCHA tournament (either the surprise team or
maybe CC).
 
3.   Pick a third ECAC team to even out
participation from the two eastern conferences.
(almost certainly the loser of the RPI/Clarkson
game).
 
4.   Pick the fourth HE tourny seed (Northeastern)
due to perceived superiority of HE over ECAC.
 
Nobody affiliated with the NC$$ ever went
looking for trouble, and that's what they'll get,
from some direction, if they invite Maine.  There
are just too many reasons not to invite them,
entirely independent of their not deserving it with
a frankly mediocre record (or, if the NC$$
actually means what it says when it forfeits
games, a record worse than Cornell's).
 
 
Greg
Somerville
Let's Go Red!