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Sound familiar? It seems like the MAC does this in men's hoops every year. I haven't seen all of the scores from tonight (because most aren't up yet), but Miami tied ND tonight 2-2, and I believe they are 1-2-1 in their last 4. Not a record you would want to see from the #2 team in the country. On a smaller scale, BG lost to a very poor WMU team tonight, and although they seem to have a proclivity for beating teams that are far superior to them, one wouldn't expect them to beat one of the hottest teams in the country - especially on the road.

I guess this is my question: is there more parity in the CCHA than in the WCHA who seems to have by far the most teams in the tourney the past few years? I don't know a whole lot about the WCHA, but Michigan Tech, I know, is one of the worst teams on the continent (although i believe they just tied the Gophers last week)? I am just curious to see what others think around here - especially those more knowledgable than I. I guess I have just been surprised by CCHA game outcomes of late and am wondering what the possible explanation might be. The standings, at least from 3-12, after all, are extremely close.

In my opinion, either there's a lot of parity, or just a ton of inconsistency. No matter what the scenario, there is no definitive way to tell.

I've been following college hockey since before the CCHA was founded. I can not recall any season where the standings have been so tightly clustered. Typically by this point in the season, the standings can be broken down in to three groups...the 'contenders', the 'pretenders' and the 'wait till next year'. Usually the races are very tight within those groups, but there is normally some seperation between the groups...not this year. A look at the USCHO poll shows 11 of 12 CCHA teams getting votes (all but ND).

Balance bewteen the conferences seems to run in cycles, and always has. The WCHA has been the dominant conference for the past several years, 7-10 years ago Hockey East was king, and 12-20 years ago it was CCHA...believe it or not, there once was a time when the ECAC ruled. It looks to me as tho the top half of the WCHA is still stronger than the top half of the CCHA, but the bottom half of the CCHA has caught up.

There is a good amount of parity in the CCHA but a ton of inconsistency. On any given night a almost anyone can beat anyone in college hockey's major conferences but over an entire season I don't think any team outside Miami and Michigan would have a chance of being in the top 6 of the WCHA. Could you imagine BG playing North Dakota, Minnesota, Denver, or the last couple weeks instead of Western, Ferris, and OSU.

dannyk wrote:... over an entire season I don't think any team outside Miami and Michigan would have a chance of being in the top 6 of the WCHA. Could you imagine BG playing North Dakota, Minnesota, Denver, or the last couple weeks instead of Western, Ferris, and OSU.

FYI, The top 6 teams in the WCHA are: Wiscy, Denver, Minny, CC, NoDak, and MS-Mankato. Ferris has beaten Denver, MSU has beaten NoDak, Fairbanks took 3 of 4 points from Minnesota, OSU split a pair with CC, Notre Dame split a pair with Mankato...only Wisconsin appears to be invulnerable.

Freddie wrote:

dannyk wrote:... over an entire season I don't think any team outside Miami and Michigan would have a chance of being in the top 6 of the WCHA. Could you imagine BG playing North Dakota, Minnesota, Denver, or the last couple weeks instead of Western, Ferris, and OSU.

FYI, The top 6 teams in the WCHA are: Wiscy, Denver, Minny, CC, NoDak, and MS-Mankato. Ferris has beaten Denver, MSU has beaten NoDak, Fairbanks took 3 of 4 points from Minnesota, OSU split a pair with CC, Notre Dame split a pair with Mankato...only Wisconsin appears to be invulnerable.

CC also lost to Massachusetts, who BGSU beat.

Freddie wrote: FYI, The top 6 teams in the WCHA are: Wiscy, Denver, Minny, CC, NoDak, and MS-Mankato. Ferris has beaten Denver, MSU has beaten NoDak, Fairbanks took 3 of 4 points from Minnesota, OSU split a pair with CC, Notre Dame split a pair with Mankato...only Wisconsin appears to be invulnerable.

And the latest PairWise rankings show Wisconsin, Minnesota, CC, UND, and St Cloud above BG. There are 9 CCHA teams above BG. Of course, this can, and usually does, change on a weekly basis as the end of regular season play nears.
http://www.uscho.com/rankings/pwr.php

Now, if conference games could count as "quality wins"..........

McConvey wrote:

Freddie wrote:

dannyk wrote:... over an entire season I don't think any team outside Miami and Michigan would have a chance of being in the top 6 of the WCHA. Could you imagine BG playing North Dakota, Minnesota, Denver, or the last couple weeks instead of Western, Ferris, and OSU.

FYI, The top 6 teams in the WCHA are: Wiscy, Denver, Minny, CC, NoDak, and MS-Mankato. Ferris has beaten Denver, MSU has beaten NoDak, Fairbanks took 3 of 4 points from Minnesota, OSU split a pair with CC, Notre Dame split a pair with Mankato...only Wisconsin appears to be invulnerable.

CC also lost to Massachusetts, who BGSU beat.

CC also soundly beat Michigan and Michigan State in the GLI...go figure