PairWise Rankings (PWR)<\/a>, and the No. 1 seeds in their conference tournaments (through all games of March 6, 2012): <\/p>\n1 Boston College \n2t Michigan \n2t Massachusetts-Lowell \n2t Minnesota-Duuth \n5 Ferris State \n6t Boston University \n6t Minnesota \n8 Union \n9t Miami \n9t Maine \n11 Denver \n12 Michigan State \n13 North Dakota \n14t Cornell \n14t Merrimack \n16 Northern Michigan \n29t Air Force<\/p>\n
Here are the current No. 1 seeds in their respective tournaments:<\/p>\n
Atlantic Hockey:<\/b> Air Force \nCCHA:<\/b> Ferris State \nECAC Hockey:<\/b> Union \nHockey East:<\/b> Boston College \nWCHA:<\/b> Minnesota<\/p>\nNotes<\/h4>\n
• Bracketology assumes that the season has ended and there are no more games to be played. i.e.<\/i>, the NCAA tournament starts tomorrow.<\/p>\n
• I will be using the No. 1 seed in each conference tournament. This team is my assumed conference tournament champion and is awarded the automatic bid.<\/p>\n
Step one<\/h4>\n From the committee’s report, choose the 16 teams in the tournament. <\/p>\n
We break ties in the PWR by looking at how the teams rank in the Ratings Percentage Index, and add in any No. 1 seeds that are not currently in the top 16. The only team that is not is Air Force.<\/p>\n
From there, we can start looking at the ties and bubbles in a more detailed fashion.<\/p>\n
The ties and bubbles consist of Michigan, Massachusetts-Lowell and Minnesota-Duluth at 2, Boston University and Minnesota at 6, Miami and Maine at 9, and Cornell and Merrimack at 14.<\/p>\n
We break all of our ties based upon the RPI.<\/p>\n
Therefore the 16 teams in the tournament, in rank order, and adding in any conference leaders not already in the Top 16, are:<\/p>\n
1 Boston College \n2 Michigan \n3 Massachusetts-Lowell \n4 Minnesota-Duluth \n5 Ferris State \n6 Boston University \n7 Minnesota \n8 Union \n9 Miami \n10 Maine \n11 Denver \n12 Michigan State \n13 North Dakota \n14 Cornell \n15 Merrimack \n16 Air Force<\/p>\n
Step two<\/h4>\n Now it’s time to assign the seeds.<\/p>\n
No. 1 seeds — Boston College, Michigan, Massachusetts-Lowell, Minnesota-Duluth \nNo. 2 seeds — Ferris State, Boston University, Minnesota, Union \nNo. 3 seeds — Miami, Maine, Denver, Michigan State \nNo. 4 seeds — North Dakota, Cornell, Merrimack, Air Force<\/p>\n
Step three<\/h4>\n Place the No. 1 seeds in regionals. <\/p>\n
No. 1 Boston College is placed in the Northeast Regional in Worcester. \nNo. 2 Michigan is placed in the Midwest Regional in Green Bay. \nNo. 3 Massachusetts-Lowell is placed in the East Regional in Bridgeport. \nNo. 4 Minnesota-Duluth is placed in the West Regional in St. Paul.<\/p>\n
Step four<\/h4>\n Now we place the other 12 teams so as to avoid intra-conference matchups if possible. <\/p>\n
Begin by filling in each bracket by banding groups. Remember that teams are not<\/b><\/i> assigned to the regional closest to their campus sites by ranking order within the banding (unless you are a host school, in which case you must be assigned to your home regional). <\/p>\n
If this is the case, as it was last year, then the committee should seed so that the quarterfinals are seeded such that the four regional championships are played by No. 1 vs. No. 8, No. 2 vs. No. 7, No. 3 vs. No. 6 and No. 4 vs. No. 5.<\/p>\n
We have to place Minnesota first as a host institution.<\/p>\n
So therefore:<\/p>\n
No. 2 seeds<\/i> <\/p>\n
No. 7 Minnesota is placed in No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth’s regional, the West Regional. \nNo. 8 Union is placed in No. 1 Boston College’s regional, the Northeast Regional. \nNo. 6 Boston University is placed in No. 2 Michigan’s regional, the Midwest Regional. \nNo. 5 Ferris State is placed in No. 3 Massachusetts-Lowell’s regional, the East Regional.<\/p>\n
No. 3 seeds<\/i> <\/p>\n
Our bracketing system has one regional containing seeds 1, 8, 9, and 16, another with 2, 7, 10, 15, another with 3, 6, 11, 14 and another with 4, 5, 12 and 13.<\/p>\n
No. 9 Miami is placed in No. 8 Union’s regional, the Northeast Regional. \nNo. 10 Maine is placed in No. 7 Minnesota’s regional, the West Regional. \nNo. 11 Denver is placed in No. 6 Boston University’s regional, the Midwest Regional. \nNo. 12 Michigan State is placed in No. 5 Ferris State’s regional, the East Regional.<\/p>\n
No. 4 seeds<\/i> <\/p>\n
One more time, taking No. 16 vs. No. 1, No. 15 vs. No. 2, etc. <\/p>\n
No. 16 Air Force is sent to No. 1 Boston College’s regional, the Northeast Regional. \nNo. 15 Merrimack is sent to No. 2 Michigan’s regional, the Midwest Regional. \nNo. 14 Cornell is sent to No. 3 Massachusetts-Lowell’s regional, the East Regional. \nNo. 13 North Dakota is sent to No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth’s regional, the West Regional.<\/p>\n
The brackets as we have set them up:<\/p>\n
West Regional:<\/b> \nNorth Dakota vs. Minnesota-Duluth \nMaine vs. Minnesota<\/p>\n
Midwest Regional:<\/b> \nMerrimack vs. Michigan \nDenver vs. Boston University<\/p>\n
Northeast Regional:<\/b> \nAir Force vs. Boston College \nMiami vs. Union<\/p>\n
East Regional:<\/b> \nCornell vs. Massachusetts-Lowell \nMichigan State vs. Ferris State<\/p>\n
Our first concern is avoiding intra-conference matchups. We have North Dakota vs. Minnesota-Duluth and also Michigan State vs. Ferris State.<\/p>\n
Let’s take care of our WCHA-WCHA matchup first.<\/p>\n
So let’s swap North Dakota with Merrimack.<\/p>\n
Now, we take care of Michigan State vs. Ferris State. Usually we will swap the lower seeds. But in this case, why can’t we bring Boston University back out east and Ferris State out west? Makes sense to me. So let’s swap BU with Ferris State.<\/p>\n
We now have:<\/p>\n
West Regional:<\/b> \nMerrimack vs. Minnesota-Duluth \nMaine vs. Minnesota<\/p>\n
Midwest Regional:<\/b> \nNorth Dakota vs. Michigan \nDenver vs. Ferris State<\/p>\n
Northeast Regional:<\/b> \nAir Force vs. Boston College \nMiami vs. Union<\/p>\n
East Regional:<\/b> \nCornell vs. Massachusetts-Lowell \nMichigan State vs. Boston University<\/p>\n
I honestly like what I see here, but I think that I would like to make one more change: swapping Miami and Maine. They’re tied at 9 in the PairWise, so it’s not a big stretch to make.<\/p>\n
West Regional:<\/b> \nMerrimack vs. Minnesota-Duluth \nMiami vs. Minnesota<\/p>\n
Midwest Regional:<\/b> \nNorth Dakota vs. Michigan \nDenver vs. Ferris State<\/p>\n
Northeast Regional:<\/b> \nAir Force vs. Boston College \nMaine vs. Union<\/p>\n
East Regional:<\/b> \nCornell vs. Massachusetts-Lowell \nMichigan State vs. Boston University<\/p>\n
I like that a lot better.<\/p>\n
I am done.<\/p>\n
See you here next week for the next Bracketology.<\/p>\n
Here’s a summary of everything that we have covered.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nThis week’s brackets<\/h4>\n <\/a><\/p>\n
St. Paul<\/b> \n15 Merrimack vs. 4 Minnesota-Duluth \n9 Miami vs. 7 Minnesota<\/p>\n
Green Bay<\/b> \n13 North Dakota vs. 2 Michigan \n11 Denver vs. 5 Ferris State<\/p>\n
Bridgeport<\/b> \n14 Cornell vs. 3 Massachusetts-Lowell \n12 Michigan State vs. 6 Boston University<\/p>\n
Worcester<\/b> \n16 Air Force vs. 1 Boston College \n10 Maine vs. 8 Union<\/p>\nConference breakdowns<\/h4>\n
HEA — 5 \nCCHA — 4 \nWCHA — 4 \nECAC — 2 \nAHA — 1<\/p>\n
On the move<\/h4>\n In:<\/b> Cornell \nOut:<\/b> Northern Michigan<\/p>\nAttendance woes?<\/h4>\n
I like it!<\/p>\n
Last week’s brackets<\/h4>\n St. Paul<\/b> \n16 Air Force vs. 1 Minnesota-Duluth \n11 Michigan State vs. 7 Minnesota<\/p>\n
Green Bay<\/b> \n14 North Dakota vs. 3 Michigan \n10 Maine vs. 8 Miami<\/p>\n
Bridgeport<\/b> \n15 Merrimack vs. 4 Ferris State \n12 Northern Michigan vs. 5 Boston University<\/p>\n
Worcester<\/b> \n13 Denver vs. 2 Boston College \n9 Union vs. 6 Massachusetts-Lowell<\/p>\nTidbits<\/h4>\n
See you in the Fall:<\/b> Here are the teams that have concluded their seasons, the 13 teams eliminated from the NCAA tournament.<\/p>\n
AHA: American International, Army, Canisius, Sacred Heart \nCCHA: Alaska, Ohio State \nIndependent: Alabama-Huntsville \nECAC: Brown, Clarkson, Princeton, St. Lawrence \nHockey East: Northeastern, Vermont<\/p>\n
Northern Michigan:<\/b> Northern Michigan is sitting, hoping and waiting. Losing in the first round of the CCHA tournament has the Wildcats rooting for certain teams to falter. Basically, if you’re hoping that the Wildcats get in, you’re looking for everyone below you to lose, and some teams ahead of you to lose, too. In this case, if you’re a Wildcats fan, you are rooting hard for Maine to beat Merrimack, Dartmouth to beat Cornell, Bemidji State to beat North Dakota and Miami to sweep Michigan State.<\/p>\n
A lot of teams to root for this weekend, Wildcats fans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Welcome to the next installment of our Bracketology, and we’ll keep bringing you a new one every week until we make our final picks before the field is announced. If you want to skip the inner workings and get to the results of the analysis, then click here. Here are the facts: • Sixteen teams […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":140328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[947],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Shuffling No. 3 seeds to keep them in their region - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n