There’s one week left to go, which means the time for idle chatter is over.
It’s time to figure out who will finish where and who will get a week off. Some of those items have been decided, but most of the details are still up in the air.
What follows is a fan’s guide to each team. We’ll give you the possibilities, the best and worst finishes, what needs to happen and who you — as a fan — should be rooting for and against. Remember that the finishing combinations we list may not be the only possibilities for that outcome.
Cornell
Best Possible Finish — First
How? — All the Big Red needs is one point. One measly point. The Big Red tie either Yale or Princeton.
Worst Possible Finish — Second
How? — The Big Red lose two and Harvard wins two.
You’re Rooting For — Cornell, Clarkson and St. Lawrence
Most Likely Finish — First
The Big Red are too strong to drop two games this weekend; it just won’t happen. The Big Red clinch the Cleary Cup in Princeton on Friday night.
Harvard
Best Possible Finish — First
How? — The Crimson sweep and Cornell gets swept.
Worst Possible Finish — Second
How? — Cornell gets one point.
You’re Rooting For — Yale and Princeton
Most Likely Finish — Second
For the Big Red to get swept would be a miracle, so the Crimson finish second.
Yale
Best Possible Finish — Third
How? — One point. One measly point.
Worst Possible Finish — Fifth
How? — The Bulldogs get swept and Dartmouth and Brown sweep.
You’re Rooting For — Rensselaer, Union, Clarkson and St. Lawrence.
Most Likely Finish — Third
The Bulldogs need one point, we don’t believe that Yale will get swept at Ingalls Rink.
Dartmouth
Best Possible Finish — Third
How? — Dartmouth sweeps and Yale gets swept.
Worst Possible Finish — Seventh
How? — Dartmouth gets swept, Clarkson gets three points, Colgate sweeps
You’re Rooting For — Cornell and Colgate.
Most Likely Finish — Fourth
The Big Green does what Brown does and finishes fourth.
Brown
Best Possible Finish — Third
How? — Brown sweeps, Yale gets swept and Dartmouth gets no more than three points.
Worst Possible Finish — Seventh
How? — Brown gets swept, Clarkson defeats Harvard, Dartmouth gets one point and Union gets at least three points.
You’re Rooting For — Colgate, Cornell, Rensselaer and Union.
Most Likely Finish — Fifth
The Bears have to do better than Dartmouth this weekend.
Union
Best Possible Finish — Fourth
How? — Union sweeps, Dartmouth gets no more than two points, and Brown gets no more than one point.
Worst Possible Finish — Eighth
How? — Union gets swept, Colgate gets at least two points, Clarkson gets at least two points.
You’re Rooting For — Rensselaer, Clarkson and St. Lawrence.
Most Likely Finish — Fifth
The Dutchmen can win at home and the Big Green visit, a chance to tie them in the standings and win the tiebreaker.
Clarkson
Best Possible Finish — Fourth
How? — Clarkson sweeps, Dartmouth and Brown get swept, Vermont defeats Union.
Worst Possible Finish — 10th
How? — Clarkson gets swept, SLU sweeps, Colgate sweeps, Vermont sweeps.
You’re Rooting For — Rensselaer or Union to beat Dartmouth and Vermont to defeat Union.
Most Likely Finish — Seventh or Eighth
The Golden Knights need at least one win this weekend, which will be tough. Colgate gets Princeton, which on paper, is a win.
Colgate
Best Possible Finish — Sixth
How? — Colgate sweeps, Union does not get at least three points and Brown and Dartmouth get at least one point.
Worst Possible Finish — 10th
How? — Colgate gets swept, SLU gets at least two points, Vermont gets at least three points.
You’re Rooting For — Vermont and Dartmouth and Brown.
Most Likely Finish — Seventh or Eighth
The Raiders look like they’ll get at least two points on the road this weekend while the Knights may get none.
Vermont
Best Possible Finish — Seventh
How? — Vermont sweeps, Clarkson gets swept, Colgate gets no more than one point.
Worst Possible Finish — 10th
How? — St. Lawrence gets one more point this weekend than Vermont.
You’re Rooting For — Harvard, Brown, Yale and Princeton.
Most Likely Finish — Ninth or 10th
We’ll hedge here because you just don’t know which Cat team will come out.
St. Lawrence
Best Possible Finish — Seventh
How? — St. Lawrence sweeps, Clarkson gets no more than one point, Vermont gets no more than three points, Colgate gets no more than two points.
Worst Possible Finish — 10th
How? — St. Lawrence gets swept.
You’re Rooting For — Brown and Harvard to beat Clarkson, Rensselaer, Clarkson, Yale and Princeton.
Most Likely Finish — Ninth or 10th
Same hedge as Vermont.
Rensselaer
Best Possible Finish — 11th
How? — The Engineers get one point by tying Dartmouth or Vermont.
Worst Possible Finish — 12th
How? — The Engineers get swept and Princeton sweeps.
You’re Rooting For — Rensselaer, Colgate and Cornell.
Most Likely Finish — 11th
For Princeton to sweep would mean the Tigers have to beat Cornell and Colgate. We don’t think that will happen.
Princeton
Best Possible Finish — 11th
How? — The Tigers sweep and Rensselaer gets swept.
Worst Possible Finish — 12th
How? — Rensselaer gets one point.
You’re Rooting For — Vermont and Dartmouth.
Most Likely Finish — 12th
See above under Rensselaer for why.
The Wild and Wacky
Let’s take a look at some ways the ECAC standings can turn out. Now remember, these aren’t the only combinations of games that can produce these results. We’ll tell you how to have some fun yourselves later on.
Travel Partners
It’s always fun to see travel partner series in the playoffs because the intensity is high. So what permutations give us the most travel partner series?
Cornell and Harvard have already clinched byes, so we can’t get Colgate-Cornell or Harvard-Brown. That means that the most that we can come up with is three travel partner matchups in the first round. We can’t get four, because Colgate cannot finish in the top four.
To get there:
Friday:
Colgate defeats Yale
Cornell defeats Princeton
Brown defeats St. Lawrence
Clarkson defeats Harvard
Dartmouth defeats Rensselaer
Union defeats Vermont
Saturday:
Cornell defeats Yale
Harvard defeats St. Lawrence
Brown defeats Clarkson
Rensselaer defeats Vermont
Dartmouth defeats Union
Colgate and Princeton tie
The standings then look like…
1. Cornell
2. Harvard
3. Brown
3. Dartmouth
3. Yale
6. Union
7. Clarkson
7. Colgate
9. St. Lawrence
9. Vermont
11. Rensselaer
12. Princeton
Let’s break the ties.
For third place, Dartmouth wins the head-to-head-to-head tiebreaker, and then Brown wins the tiebreaker over Yale for record versus the Top Four teams.
Dartmouth — third
Brown — Fourth
Yale — Fifth
For seventh place, Clarkson wins the head-to-head tiebreaker with Colgate.
Clarkson — seventh
Colgate — eighth
For ninth place, Vermont wins the head-to-head tiebreaker with St. Lawrence.
Vermont — ninth
St. Lawrence — 10th
So the playoffs become:
First-Round Byes
Cornell, Harvard, Dartmouth, Brown
First-Round Matchups
Princeton at Yale
Rensselaer at Union
St. Lawrence at Clarkson
Vermont at Colgate
Oh, yes — if all the home teams win, you then get Colgate at Cornell for the next round, another travel partner series. Or if two of St. Lawrence, Rensselaer or Princeton win their series, then Vermont is at Dartmouth — another one.
Most Teams Tied
How do we get the most teams tied in the final standings?
Looking at the numbers, the maximum is five. So what has to happen?
Friday:
Colgate defeats Yale
Cornell defeats Princeton
St. Lawrence defeats Brown
Vermont defeats Union
Rensselaer defeats Dartmouth
Clarkson ties Harvard
Saturday:
Colgate defeats Princeton
Cornell defeats Yale
St. Lawrence defeats Harvard
Clarkson defeats Brown
Rensselaer defeats Vermont
Union defeats Dartmouth
How do the standings come out?
1. Cornell
2. Harvard
3. Yale
4. Brown
4. Clarkson
4. Colgate
4. Dartmouth
4. Union
9. St. Lawrence
10. Vermont
11. Rensselaer
12. Princeton
Let’s break the five-way tie for fourth — the last home-ice spot.
For fourth place, head-to-head-to-head-to-head-to-head, who wins? Clarkson and Union are tied, which means Clarkson and Union place fourth and fifth. Who wins that tiebreaker? Head-to-head Union went 1-0-1 against Clarkson.
Union — Fourth
Clarkson — Fifth
Let’s break the tie for sixth place now. Head-to-head-to-head Brown, Colgate and Dartmouth are tied. We move to record versus Top Four. Brown has one more point that Colgate and Dartmouth.
Brown — Sixth
For seventh place we go head-to-head between Colgate and Dartmouth. The two teams are tied, so we move to record versus Top Four. They’re still tied. So we move to record versus Top Eight. Dartmouth wins it.
Dartmouth — Seventh
Colgate — Eighth
The playoffs:
First-Round Matchups:
Cornell, Harvard, Yale, Union
First-Round Series:
Princeton at Clarkson
Rensselaer at Brown
Vermont at Dartmouth
St. Lawrence at Colgate
Wait!
There’s another way for a five-way tie. How?
Friday:
Yale defeats Colgate
Cornell defeats Princeton
St. Lawrence defeats Brown
Dartmouth defeats Rensselaer
Vermont defeats Union
Clarkson ties Harvard
Saturday:
Colgate defeats Princeton
Cornell defeats Yale
St. Lawrence defeats Harvard
Brown defeats Clarkson
Vermont defeats Rensselaer
Dartmouth defeats Union
And the standings?
1. Cornell
2. Harvard
3. Yale
4. Dartmouth
5. Brown
6. Clarkson
6. Colgate
6. St. Lawrence
6. Union
6. Vermont
11. Rensselaer
12. Princeton
For sixth place, head-to-head-to-head-to-head-to-head, who wins? Union breaks away with 11 points from the other four teams.
Union — Sixth
For seventh place, head-to-head-to-head-to-head, who wins? Vermont takes eight points from the other three teams.
Vermont — Seventh
For eighth place, head-to-head-to-head, who wins? St. Lawrence has taken six points from Clarkson and Colgate.
St. Lawrence — Eighth
Now for ninth place, who wins? Clarkson has swept Colgate.
Clarkson — Ninth
Colgate — 10th
The playoffs:
First-Round Byes:
Cornell, Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth
First-Round Matchups:
Princeton at Brown
Rensselaer at Union
Colgate at Vermont
Clarkson at St. Lawrence
Hey, two travel partner matchups!
We’re Home This Year
How about giving four playoff home series to teams that were not hosting playoffs last year?
Friday:
Union defeats Vermont
Dartmouth defeats Rensselaer
Colgate ties Yale
Cornell defeats Princeton
St. Lawrence defeats Brown
Harvard defeats Clarkson
Saturday:
Dartmouth defeats Union
Vermont defeats Rensselaer
St. Lawrence defeats Harvard
Brown defeats Clarkson
Cornell defeats Yale
Colgate defeats Princeton
The standings?
1. Cornell
2. Harvard
3. Yale
4. Dartmouth
5. Brown
6. Union
7. Colgate
8. St. Lawrence
9. Clarkson
10. Vermont
11. Rensselaer
12. Princeton
The playoffs:
First-Round Byes:
Cornell, Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth
First-Round Matchups:
Princeton at Brown
Rensselaer at Union
Vermont at Colgate
Clarkson at St. Lawrence
This means two travel partner matchups and a revisit to the great Princeton-Brown rivalry.
Five Out Of Six Ain’t Bad
How do we get the top five teams to be Ivies? Easy, they all win out.
How We See It
Here’s how we see this weekend shaping up.
Friday:
Cornell defeats Princeton
Harvard defeats Clarkson
Brown defeats St. Lawrence
Yale defeats Colgate
Dartmouth defeats Rensselaer
Union defeats Vermont
Saturday:
Cornell defeats Yale
Colgate defeats Princeton
Harvard defeats St. Lawrence
Brown defeats Clarkson
Union defeats Dartmouth
Rensselaer defeats Vermont
Our new standings:
1. Cornell
2. Harvard
3. Yale
4. Brown
5. Dartmouth
5. Union
7. Clarkson
8. Colgate
9. St. Lawrence
9. Vermont
11. Rensselaer
12. Princeton
Tiebreaking again…
For fifth place, head-to-head between Union and Dartmouth sees the Dutchmen sweeping the Big Green
Union — fifth
Dartmouth — sixth
For ninth place, head-to-head Vermont swept St. Lawrence.
Vermont — ninth
St. Lawrence — 10th
So our playoffs are:
First-Round Byes:
Cornell, Harvard, Yale, Brown
First-Round Matchups:
Princeton at Union
Rensselaer at Dartmouth
St. Lawrence at Clarkson
Vermont at Colgate
Try your own hand at working up combinations. Head to John Whelan’s great ECAC Playoff Possibilities Script for the fun.
See everyone at the rinks!
