If you read last week’s Bracketology, you are familiar with the nightmare that was created when you had three Hockey East teams in the No. 1 seed and UMass, the host in the Springfield, Mass., regional, sitting as a four seed.
What it created was either the conundrum to move North Dakota from the Sioux Falls regional to Springfield, swapping for a Hockey East team like Boston University or Maine, or do the relative unthinkable and allow two Hockey East teams to face one another in the opening round, typically taboo when seeding the NCAA tournament.
The good news: UMass won twice this past weekend and moved to a No. 3 seed, while Maine dropped to a No. 2 seed. That translates to being able to keep the remaining two Hockey East No. 1 seeds – Boston College and Boston University – in the two eastern-area regions.
The bad news: We’ll still need to maneuver some team placement to place UMass in Springfield and still protect things like attendance and bracket integrity.
Let’s start, though, with the easy things. Namely, determining the 16 teams in the field.
Here they are:
1. Boston College
2. North Dakota
3. Boston University
4. Wisconsin
5. Michigan State
6. Maine
7. Denver
8. Minnesota
9. Quinnipiac
10. Massachusetts
11. Western Michigan
12. Providence
13. St. Cloud State
14. Cornell
15. RIT (current top winning percentage in AHA)
16. Bemidji State (current top winning percentage in CCHA)
Here are how the four brackets would shake out based on the perfect 1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15, etc. bracketing.
1. Boston College
8. Minnesota
9. Quinnipiac
16. Bemidji State
2. North Dakota
7. Denver
10. Massachusetts
15. RIT
3. Boston University
6. Maine
11. Western Michigan
14. Cornell
4. Wisconsin
5. Michigan State
12. Providence
13. St. Cloud State
Let’s look for first-round interconference matchups. Right now, we have none. So let’s assign each bracket to a region, remembering that UMass has to play in Springfield.
Providence, R.I.
1. Boston College
8. Minnesota
9. Quinnipiac
16. Bemidji State
Springfield, Mass.
2. North Dakota
7. Denver
10. Massachusetts
15. RIT
Sioux Falls, S.D.
3. Boston University
6. Maine
11. Western Michigan
14. Cornell
Maryland Heights, Mo.
4. Wisconsin
5. Michigan State
12. Providence
13. St. Cloud State
Right away, I see one major issue. Boston University and North Dakota, two top seeds are about as far from home as they can get. Does it make sense to switch those two teams alone? It wouldn’t really destroy the bracket. But how about if you simply swap the 1 vs. 4 seed matchup in each region?
Thus, you’d have:
Providence, R.I.
1. Boston College
8. Minnesota
9. Quinnipiac
16. Bemidji State
Springfield, Mass.
3. Boston University
7. Denver
10. Massachusetts
14. Cornell
Sioux Falls, S.D.
2. North Dakota
6. Maine
11. Western Michigan
15. RIT
Maryland Heights, Mo.
4. Wisconsin
5. Michigan State
12. Providence
13. St. Cloud State
Personally, I like this bracket as it brings both North Dakota and BU to appropriate regions and also allows BU rival Cornell to be their first round opponent at a venue about halfway between the two campuses. It also maintains 2 vs. 15 and 3 vs. 14 matchups in the first round.
Could there be another swap? Possibly if you want to move Providence from the Maryland Heights Regional to the Providence Regional. The Friars are not the host in Providence (Brown is). And with both Boston College and Quinnipiac in this region, I’m not that worried about attendance. Moving Providence would also be complex if you want to try to maintain any semblance of bracket integrity (you’ve be swapping a 9 seed for a 12 seed, allowed but not very fair).
We’ve seen the committee twice keep Providence local in the two past regionals hosted by Brown. And maybe it will eventually shake out that way, but I’m not inclined to do that right now.
So my final bracket is:
Providence, R.I.
1. Boston College
8. Minnesota
9. Quinnipiac
16. Bemidji State
Springfield, Mass.
3. Boston University
7. Denver
10. Massachusetts
14. Cornell
Sioux Falls, S.D.
2. North Dakota
6. Maine
11. Western Michigan
15. RIT
Maryland Heights, Mo.
4. Wisconsin
5. Michigan State
12. Providence
13. St. Cloud State
