>Did those extra games against Ohio State take them out of the tourney?
 
Haven't run that scenraio yet, but there is another way to look at it.
 
The schedule is set before the season starts (for the most part). What
do the players and coaches have the most control over? The game results,
of course. Given their current schedule, the Falcons could have been selected
if they could turn a loss and a tie into two wins. This would increase
their record enough to boost their rating over Denver's. Then BG would win
the criteria tie-breaker and be the #12 team.
 
Where could these extra 3 points come from? The loss at Ohio State, a tie
to WMU late in the season after leading in the third period, two terrible games
at Lake Superior, a loss at Ferris State, two close losses at Yost, that game
in the tournament where they got homered by the refs. And so on.
 
Also, removing those OSU games from the schedule would affect the season as
a whole. That first game vs OSU, 10-2 win at home, was a great morale booster
for the players. Everyone got to play and they all racked up some points. Even
the loss at OSU could be seen in a good light: it woke the team up and they
went 8-2-1 in their next 11 games, with the only losses coming to Wisconsin
and Michigan. Included in that stretch is a 9-3 conference win over OSU. The
team certainly took OSU seriously that night. (Perhaps the only scheduling
blunder I see is placing the 2nd OSU NC game the night *after* playing
MSU at home. Playing a non-conference game after a huge, huge league game the
night before is not a good idea.)
 
The point is, given their schedule, BGSU could have made the big dance.
They just didn't get it done. Sorry. If the cards had fallen the right way,
BG could have been in, even with their current set of numbers. Those are
the breaks. Life goes on.
 
Yes, they finished #2 in the league, but like some unmentionable team last
year, they finished only slightly ahead of the next few teams in the league.
 
No whining here. BGSU had a great year! They exceeded all expectations. They
will do even better next year, I predict. I do feel sorry for the seniors.
And I hope the Falcon's non-selection does not detract from Brian Holzinger's
great season. I *will* whine if Hobey doesn't get the Holzinger, er, Holzinger
doesn't get the Hobey.
 
 
Keith