Rankings (for those who care)

[jpfalcon09]

Looking at our schedule....there really won't be any excuse for us to not make the tourney at this point. Other than Robert Morris and Michigan Tech we don't have anyone else in the top 20 currently. There are definitely a solid group of teams behind us in the pairwise and my guess is a team like a quinnipiac and a Boston College will make their way into the top 12 when it is all said and done. Looking at where us, Michigan Tech and Minnesota State are ranked, it would be hard to think all three don't get in at this point.
The funny thing is, if you put any of those 3 in the NCHC, Big Ten, or Hockey East, you'd be looking at a 3rd or 4th place team. We are definitely benefiting from being the big fish in the small pond with all these D2 schools. If 3 teams from the WCHA make it this year, you'll see some type of changes. Either from the conference landscape or the computer formulas.

Funny things happen in college hockey. BG has certainly played better in the 2nd half of the season in recent years and the schedule as you said is favorable, but there are some series that could be tricky (Ferris and Bemidji). They control their own destiny and should hit 20 wins for the season which would be a great benchmark. Keep in mind as well that the WCHA playoffs can also have an impact on the PWR.

[Freddie]

Looking at our schedule....there really won't be any excuse for us to not make the tourney at this point. Other than Robert Morris and Michigan Tech we don't have anyone else in the top 20 currently. There are definitely a solid group of teams behind us in the pairwise and my guess is a team like a quinnipiac and a Boston College will make their way into the top 12 when it is all said and done. Looking at where us, Michigan Tech and Minnesota State are ranked, it would be hard to think all three don't get in at this point.
The funny thing is, if you put any of those 3 in the NCHC, Big Ten, or Hockey East, you'd be looking at a 3rd or 4th place team. We are definitely benefiting from being the big fish in the small pond with all these D2 schools. If 3 teams from the WCHA make it this year, you'll see some type of changes. Either from the conference landscape or the computer formulas.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. The PWR is extremely volatile, and will remain so right through the conference tournaments. Note how we dropped from #8 to #10 over the course of last weekend, despite being idle. It's not that we lost points in the standings, its that North Dakota and Boston U gained points from playing quality opponents. And that's where the problem lies...we only have 2 games on our remaining schedule against teams currently inside the PWR bubble (both at Michigan Tech). Our 'strength of schedule' (a MAJOR component of the RPI and PWR) is going to take a beating when we play Lake State (#55 PWR), Hunstville (#50), Anchorage (#42), Bemidji (#37) and Ferris (#35). Losses to any of those teams will see our PWR drop like a rock. We've got to recognize these games for the 'traps' that they really are.

I don't really agree with your "big fish in the small pond" analogy. The PWR ranks teams without regard to their conference affiliations or reputations...and certainly doesn't care what division any school plays football or basketball in. In terms of hockey, Lake Superior and Holy Cross are D1, same as Minnesota and Boston College.

I'd say there's a good chance that there will be pressure from the 'big fish' to tweak the PWR...it gets some sort of tweak nearly every year. The B1G, HEA and NCHC will want to reduce or eliminate the bonus points currently given for road wins, and/or the reduced value currently given for home wins. This tweak went in to place to discourage those 'big fish' from loading up their non-conference schedules with all HOME games.

[apollo]

What I meant with the "big fish" analogy is that our schedule is extremely easier playing against the D2 colleges. It has nothing to do with the pairwise.

[jpfalcon09]

What I meant with the "big fish" analogy is that our schedule is extremely easier playing against the D2 colleges. It has nothing to do with the pairwise.

None of these schools are Division 2 for hockey so I have no idea what you're talking about. This isn't like football where the big schools mash the little guys. Hell Michigan hasn't won a national championship since 1997. Every team in the WCHA is Division 1 for hockey and their football divisional counterparts have no bearing on the matter.

[apollo]

If you don't think that not having to play Michigan, Michigan State, Miami, OSU and Notre Dame every other weekend doesn't factor into the success we are having then you're wrong.

[jpfalcon09]

If you don't think that not having to play Michigan, Michigan State, Miami, and Notre Dame every other weekend is easier on us than it is now, you are mistaken.

I think you're vastly over-estimating the power those programs have in college hockey. Many smaller colleges have dominated the landscape for the past five years or so. Union College won last year, Ferris State made the final a couple years ago. Its not a big boys dominate all sport like football is.

And for the record, BG split with Miami this year, Michigan is 8-7 and Michigan State is 6-9, so how good are they? Penn State is leading their conference in only their second year of Division 1 hockey. Just because they're notable names doesn't mean they're good every year.

[Schadenfreude]

What I hear apollo saying is that our conference is weaker than the CCHA was. I think that's fair.

I disagree with him on thinking that you can look ahead on BG's schedule and think the Falcons have no excuse to make the NCAA tournament or assume that three WCHA teams are likely to A lot can happen. If the WCHA leaders regress to the mean, we could easily become a one-bid conference.

[Critical Thinker]

During our bye weeks, we've moved into the top 5 in PWR:

1 Minnesota State
2 Harvard
3 Minnesota-Duluth
4 Boston University
5 Bowling Green
6 Miami
7 Nebraska-Omaha
8 Michigan Tech
9 Vermont
10 North Dakota


Tech and Miami have dropped from doing poorly in holiday tournaments, and Vermont had been dominating a weak schedule until now, allowing us to leap frog them. My guess is that Harvard will fall down much like Vermont, but we'll see.

[Critical Thinker]

Yikes, and now we've dropped 4 spots after a tie! I can't even imagine how much we're going to drop if we lose to anyone but Tech from here on out.

[jbakerifm]

Pairwise is scary. Look how far Tech dropped after a single off night vs. Wisconsin (Badgers are terrible but still). Fortunately our non conference has turned out to be pretty strong, should help out some come selection time.

[jpfalcon09]

BG is back to 5th after beating RMU tonight. The series with Tech is going to be huge and even a split there would do well to solidify chances of making the tournament.

[Critical Thinker]

Even more important than beating Tech is taking care of weaker teams (LSSU, UAA, etc.). Any loss to those teams will see us plummet just like Tech this weekend. The last thing we need is to fall asleep and have a repeat of the Huntsville game from last year. Tech is the only "good" team left on our schedule, so if we lose to a "bad" team, we'd have to rely on other teams (Duluth, Miami, NoDak) to lose as well.

And lucky for us, we couldn't be playing Tech at a better time, just two weeks after their dumpster fire in Wisconsin.

[BGFan]

We moved up 2 in the USCHO poll to 11th, and down 1 in the USA Hockey/USA Today poll to 14th.

[pdt1081]

Even more important than beating Tech is taking care of weaker teams (LSSU, UAA, etc.). Any loss to those teams will see us plummet just like Tech this weekend. The last thing we need is to fall asleep and have a repeat of the Huntsville game from last year. Tech is the only "good" team left on our schedule, so if we lose to a "bad" team, we'd have to rely on other teams (Duluth, Miami, NoDak) to lose as well.

And lucky for us, we couldn't be playing Tech at a better time, just two weeks after their dumpster fire in Wisconsin.

After the playoff series last season, I really don't think Tech needed MORE motivation for the games against us. The loss to Wisconsin, one of the worst teams in college hockey this season, I see Tech being highly motivated for the rest of the season.

[Falconfreak90]

Just awesome...keep rolling.