Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty to begin with. Here are my projected brackets for the NCAA tournament:<\/p>\n
Grand Forks:
\nMichigan vs. North Dakota
\nHoly Cross vs. Minnesota<\/p>\n
Green Bay:
\nColorado College vs. Miami
\nBemidji State vs. Wisconsin<\/p>\n
Worcester:
\nNebraska-Omaha vs. Boston University
\nBoston College vs. Cornell<\/p>\n
Albany:
\nMaine vs. Harvard
\nNew Hampshire vs. Michigan State<\/p>\n
How did I get here?<\/p>\n
It’s pretty simple except for one thing.<\/p>\n
Here are the PairWise Rankings for the top 16 teams, plus any autobids not in the top 16, with all games accounted for and with the RPI “bonus.”<\/p>\n
1 Wisconsin
\n2 Minnesota
\n3 Boston University
\n4 Michigan State
\n5 Harvard
\n6t Cornell
\n6t Miami
\n6t North Dakota
\n9 Michigan
\n10 Colorado College
\n11 Boston College
\n12t Maine
\n12t New Hampshire
\n12t Nebraska-Omaha
\n15t Dartmouth
\n15t Denver
\n21t Holy Cross
\n28t Bemidji State<\/p>\n
Let’s separate out the bands. Here they are:<\/p>\n
One Seeds<\/b>: Wisconsin, Minnesota, Boston University, Michigan State
\nTwo Seeds<\/b>: Harvard, Cornell, Miami, North Dakota
\nThree Seeds<\/b>: Michigan, Colorado College, Boston College, Maine
\nFour Seeds<\/b>: New Hampshire, Nebraska-Omaha, Holy Cross, Bemidji State<\/p>\n
In the past, we’ve given everyone a number from 1-16 based upon their ranking in the PWR. It’s time to put that to the test.<\/p>\n
Let’s begin placing teams in regionals.<\/p>\n
Number One Seed Band<\/b>
\nNo. 3 Boston University, as the host, is placed in the Northeast Regional in Worcester.
\nNo. 1 Wisconsin is placed in the Midwest Regional in Green Bay.
\nNo. 2 Minnesota is placed in the West Regional in Grand Forks.
\nNo. 4 Michigan State is placed in the East Regional in Albany.<\/p>\n
Number Two Seed Band<\/b>
\nNo. 7 North Dakota, as the host, is placed in No. 2 Minnesota’s Regional, the West Regional.
\nNo. 5 Harvard is placed in No. 4 Michigan State’s Regional, the East Regional.
\nNo. 6 Miami is placed in No. 3 Boston University’s Regional, the Northeast Regional.
\nNo. 8 Cornell is placed in No. 1 Wisconsin’s Regional, the Midwest Regional.<\/p>\n
Number Three Seed Band<\/b>
\nNo. 9 Michigan is placed in No. 8 Cornell’s Regional, the Midwest Regional.
\nNo. 10 Colorado College is placed in No. 7 North Dakota’s Regional, the West Regional.
\nNo. 11 Boston College is placed in No. 6 Miami’s Regional, the Northeast Regional.
\nNo. 12 Maine is placed in No. 5 Harvard’s Regional, the East Regional.<\/p>\n
Number Four Seed Band<\/b>
\nNo. 13 New Hampshire is placed in No. 4 Michigan State’s Regional, the East Regional.
\nNo. 14 Nebraska-Omaha is placed in No. 3 Boston University’s Regional, the Northeast Regional.
\nNo. 15 Holy Cross is placed in No. 2 Minnesota’s Regional, the West Regional.
\nNo. 16 Bemidji State is placed in No. 1 Wisconsin’s Regional, the Midwest Regional.<\/p>\n
So, our brackets:<\/p>\n
Green Bay:
\nMichigan vs. Cornell
\nBemidji State vs. Wisconsin<\/p>\n
Grand Forks:
\nColorado College vs. North Dakota
\nHoly Cross vs. Minnesota<\/p>\n
Worcester:
\nBoston College vs. Miami
\nNebraska-Omaha vs. Boston University<\/p>\n
Albany:
\nMaine vs. Harvard
\nNew Hampshire vs. Michigan State<\/p>\n
We have one intraconference matchup and that’s Colorado College vs. North Dakota. So we swap Colorado College with Michigan.<\/p>\n
Our new bracket:<\/p>\n
Green Bay:
\nColorado College vs. Cornell
\nBemidji State vs. Wisconsin<\/p>\n
Grand Forks:
\nMichigan vs. North Dakota
\nHoly Cross vs. Minnesota<\/p>\n
Worcester:
\nBoston College vs. Miami
\nNebraska-Omaha vs. Boston University<\/p>\n
Albany:
\nMaine vs. Harvard
\nNew Hampshire vs. Michigan State<\/p>\n
So that’s our bracket, right?<\/p>\n
Hmmmm.<\/p>\n
Let’s examine the PairWise a little more closely.<\/p>\n
In the two band, we have Cornell, Miami and North Dakota all tied for the sixth spot.<\/p>\n
We have a round-robin of sorts amongst this group. Miami beats North Dakota, North Dakota beats Cornell and Cornell beats Miami if you look at the individual comparisons.<\/p>\n
We’ve already put Harvard into the No. 5 slot. That’s a given because Harvard is higher in the PWR by two full comparisons.<\/p>\n
So we’re trying to slot three teams into three different slots as Nos. 6, 7 and 8. We know that North Dakota must play in Grand Forks, so we will assign the Fighting Sioux the No. 7 seed. And based upon the rule that RPI breaks a tie, that’s where it sits on the rankings after breaking ties.<\/p>\n
Not we’re left with Cornell and Miami, for seeds No. 6 and 8. Cornell has beaten Miami in the individual comparison. By that means, Cornell is No. 6 and Miami is No. 8.<\/p>\n
Which changes our bracket to:<\/p>\n
Green Bay:
\nColorado College vs. Miami
\nBemidji State vs. Wisconsin<\/p>\n
Grand Forks:
\nMichigan vs. North Dakota
\nHoly Cross vs. Minnesota<\/p>\n
Worcester:
\nBoston College vs. Cornell
\nNebraska-Omaha vs. Boston University<\/p>\n
Albany:
\nMaine vs. Harvard
\nNew Hampshire vs. Michigan State<\/p>\n
Well, what do you say now?<\/p>\n
Attendance is possibly better, and let’s not forget that attendance is a factor in the committee’s decision-making.<\/p>\n
And now that we’ve said the dreaded word “attendance,” can we make one more argument — that we should switch Cornell and Harvard?<\/p>\n
After all, with both BU and BC in the same bracket in Worcester, attendance is not going to be a problem. So why not send Cornell and its 2000 fans to Albany to boost attendance?<\/p>\n
I would not make that switch because Harvard is too far ahead in the PairWise to legitimately make that argument.<\/p>\n
So I am not comfortable with that. But I am comfortable enough with the bracket that I’ve laid out.<\/p>\n
So here it is, the final bracket projection from Bracketology:<\/p>\n
Green Bay:
\nColorado College vs. Miami
\nBemidji State vs. Wisconsin<\/p>\n
Grand Forks:
\nMichigan vs. North Dakota
\nHoly Cross vs. Minnesota<\/p>\n
Worcester:
\nBoston College vs. Cornell
\nNebraska-Omaha vs. Boston University<\/p>\n
Albany:
\nMaine vs. Harvard
\nNew Hampshire vs. Michigan State<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With the games over and done, Jayson Moy projects the NCAA bracket pending Sunday’s Selection Show.<\/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":[5],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n