The four league playoff winners, who are guaranteed places in the national tournament--do they get to stay at home in the regionals, or can they be seeded low enough that they may end up going to the other regional? (In other words, is winning the playoff title totally unrelated to tournament seeding?) Is it imaginable that a team could win a league playoff and yet not be even invited to the NCAA? Also, on a more argumentative (and somewhat premature) front: Mike Machik and some others have suggested that NMU will probably be seeded 5th or 6th in the West, if the Wildcats do make the tournament. I'm not sure I follow this. There's no question that Minnesota's and Michigan's overall records clearly give them the top two Western seeds. But to me it appears there's very little to choose from among the records of Michigan State, Lake Superior State, Wisconsin, and NMU. NMU's record against these competitors is at least as good as any of the others', as well--the 'Cats are 2-2 vs Minnesota and Wisconsin, 1-1 vs LSSU. Mike, do you or the others out there who have been analyzing the tournament possibilites have any additional light you can shed on your thinking? I would have to think that particularly should NMU win the WCHA tournament they would be in the top 4 in the West, and in fact should be seeded 3rd. If NMU finishes 2nd in the WCHA playoff I would also think they'd be in the top 4 in the West, although I suppose if either Michigan State or LSSU wins the CCHA tournament they could edge out the Wildcats for 3rd and even 4th in the NCAA. Of course, if NMU finishes 3rd in the WCHA playoff I can see they would probably have to leave the region, and if they finish 4th they could be deep puckey! :-) *********************************** * Steve Christopher, NMU * * "Go 'Cats!''Going for two in '92!" * * [log in to unmask] * ***********************************