NCAA Tournament

[unfalconbelievable]

Watching the selection show last night I was interested what BG would have had to do in order to get into the tournament without winning the league tournament. College Hockey News website has an option in the pairwise ranking where you can change the results to see how that inpacts the ratings.

In order for BG to get in the tournament given being swept in the quarterfinals we would have had to go 28 - 8, that would have put BG at 13th in the pairwise.

Just tells you how weak our conference is, this year might have been a bad year for the conference but typically it takes around 25 wins.
Only 1 team has more wins then that and it's the #1 team in Boston College.

[pdt1081]

Watching the selection show last night I was interested what BG would have had to do in order to get into the tournament without winning the league tournament. College Hockey News website has an option in the pairwise ranking where you can change the results to see how that inpacts the ratings.

In order for BG to get in the tournament given being swept in the quarterfinals we would have had to go 28 - 8, that would have put BG at 13th in the pairwise.

Just tells you how weak our conference is, this year might have been a bad year for the conference but typically it takes around 25 wins.
Only 1 team has more wins then that and it's the #1 team in Boston College.

Ironically, this was one of the reasons for not bringing the UA*s with the move to the CCHA.

[mbenecke]

Watching the selection show last night I was interested what BG would have had to do in order to get into the tournament without winning the league tournament. College Hockey News website has an option in the pairwise ranking where you can change the results to see how that inpacts the ratings.

In order for BG to get in the tournament given being swept in the quarterfinals we would have had to go 28 - 8, that would have put BG at 13th in the pairwise.

Just tells you how weak our conference is, this year might have been a bad year for the conference but typically it takes around 25 wins.
Only 1 team has more wins then that and it's the #1 team in Boston College.

Ironically, this was one of the reasons for not bringing the UA*s with the move to the CCHA.

What's extra wild about that is that Fairbanks actually finished higher in the Pairwise this year than anyone in the CCHA. Anchorage also finished higher than we did, as well.

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

Here's the final strength of schedule rankings for the teams discussed above. Look who had the easiest schedule this year.

Code: Select all

Team           SOS Rank (out of 64)
Augustana            33
Alaska-Anchorage     34
Alaska               36
Minnesota State      42
Michigan Tech        43
Bemidji State        44
Ferris State         46
St. Thomas           47
Lake Superior        48
Northern Michigan    50
Bowling Green        57

[pdt1081]

What's extra wild about that is that Fairbanks actually finished higher in the Pairwise this year than anyone in the CCHA. Anchorage also finished higher than we did, as well.

LSSU with 10 more wins finished 3 spots better than Miami. Alaska was 20 spots better than LSSU with the same amount of wins. It's as much scheduling as it is winning. The more opponents you have from different conferences, the easier it is to rise in the PWR.

A scheduling partner, probably Ferris at this point, needs to happen for out of conference games. Playing RIT and Niagra one game each is better than playing 2 games against either one, especially if you win. Same with playing 1 game against both Miami and Western vs 2 games against either. More opponents provides more opportunity to "win" comparisons against other teams.

[jpfalcon09]

Recruiting marginal talent from the USHL/NAHL and smaller Canadian junior leagues gets you here. I posted an article a few months ago that CCHA programs looking to Europe for talent, namely Sweden and Finland. Hockey is lagging behind the NIL curve, but I suspect things will start moving in the next 3-5 years that will further push the smaller collegiate hockey conferences into irrelevance.

Lucia deserves a ton of criticism for the weakness of the CCHA. Taking on St. Thomas was a big risk and the jury still remains out on them, while Augie becomes a full member next year. The league can and needs to do better in 2024-25.

[bgbill]

A scheduling partner, probably Ferris at this point, needs to happen for out of conference games. Playing RIT and Niagra one game each is better than playing 2 games against either one, especially if you win. Same with playing 1 game against both Miami and Western vs 2 games against either. More opponents provides more opportunity to "win" comparisons against other teams.

I think a better scheduling partner for BG would be Michigan. For example, we and M could go to Boston and play BC and BU or any of the several teams in the neighborhood, and those teams could come this way and play at Ann Arbor and BG without a travel burden once they're here,

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

A scheduling partner, probably Ferris at this point, needs to happen for out of conference games. Playing RIT and Niagra one game each is better than playing 2 games against either one, especially if you win. Same with playing 1 game against both Miami and Western vs 2 games against either. More opponents provides more opportunity to "win" comparisons against other teams.

I think a better scheduling partner for BG would be Michigan. For example, we and M could go to Boston and play BC and BU or any of the several teams in the neighborhood, and those teams could come this way and play at Ann Arbor and BG without a travel burden once they're here,

I was thinking Western Michigan would be a better fit than Ferris but it'd be hard to top Michigan, especially with a 1h commute to AA vs. 2.5h to K'zoo.

Edit: Munn is about 40 min closer to us than Lawson so I guess throw Sparty in there too.

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

A scheduling partner, probably Ferris at this point, needs to happen for out of conference games. Playing RIT and Niagra one game each is better than playing 2 games against either one, especially if you win. Same with playing 1 game against both Miami and Western vs 2 games against either. More opponents provides more opportunity to "win" comparisons against other teams.

I think a better scheduling partner for BG would be Michigan. For example, we and M could go to Boston and play BC and BU or any of the several teams in the neighborhood, and those teams could come this way and play at Ann Arbor and BG without a travel burden once they're here,

I was thinking Western Michigan would be a better fit than Ferris but it'd be hard to top Michigan, especially with a 1h commute to AA vs. 2.5h to K'zoo.

Edit: Munn is about 40 min closer to us than Lawson so I guess throw Sparty in there too along with the Buckeyes (who are also 2h away).

[pdt1081]

I think a better scheduling partner for BG would be Michigan. For example, we and M could go to Boston and play BC and BU or any of the several teams in the neighborhood, and those teams could come this way and play at Ann Arbor and BG without a travel burden once they're here,

I was thinking Western Michigan would be a better fit than Ferris but it'd be hard to top Michigan, especially with a 1h commute to AA vs. 2.5h to K'zoo.

Edit: Munn is about 40 min closer to us than Lawson so I guess throw Sparty in there too.

I only said Ferris trying to be realistic. scUM doesn't even want to play BG unless it's 2 for 1 or better. Besides, they'd just partner with the Egg Suckers. About the same drive. I could see Western, Ferris, Miami, or possibly OSU being willing to entertain the idea. Even Notre Dame would probably be more willing than scUM.

As much as I hate to admit it, having an Ohio Cup holiday tournament could do wonders for all involved if an Eastern team accepted an invite. CCHA, NCHC, B1G, plus HEA or ECAC could shake up the PWR quite a bit.

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

I think a better scheduling partner for BG would be Michigan. For example, we and M could go to Boston and play BC and BU or any of the several teams in the neighborhood, and those teams could come this way and play at Ann Arbor and BG without a travel burden once they're here,

I was thinking Western Michigan would be a better fit than Ferris but it'd be hard to top Michigan, especially with a 1h commute to AA vs. 2.5h to K'zoo.

Edit: Munn is about 40 min closer to us than Lawson so I guess throw Sparty in there too.

I only said Ferris trying to be realistic. scUM doesn't even want to play BG unless it's 2 for 1 or better. Besides, they'd just partner with the Egg Suckers. About the same drive. I could see Western, Ferris, Miami, or possibly OSU being willing to entertain the idea. Even Notre Dame would probably be more willing than scUM.

As much as I hate to admit it, having an Ohio Cup holiday tournament could do wonders for all involved if an Eastern team accepted an invite. CCHA, NCHC, B1G, plus HEA or ECAC could shake up the PWR quite a bit.

Great idea on the Ohio Cup, but no one from Ohio would ever win

[Critical Thinker]

Recruiting marginal talent from the USHL/NAHL and smaller Canadian junior leagues gets you here. I posted an article a few months ago that CCHA programs looking to Europe for talent, namely Sweden and Finland. Hockey is lagging behind the NIL curve, but I suspect things will start moving in the next 3-5 years that will further push the smaller collegiate hockey conferences into irrelevance.

Lucia deserves a ton of criticism for the weakness of the CCHA. Taking on St. Thomas was a big risk and the jury still remains out on them, while Augie becomes a full member next year. The league can and needs to do better in 2024-25.

Whatever Lucia did or didn't do isn't nearly as important as us and Ferris running our programs into the ground, with Northern and Lake State not far behind. We're not going to have a competitive league if half of it is in the bottom 20 of PWR.