College Hockey Update:

FIRST:  IF YOU are going to the Frozen Four in Pittsburgh on April 8 and 10 (or if you know someone who will be going), please email me right away and let me know — thanks.  Now:

PLEASE DO NOT SEND ME BACK A COMPLETED BRACKET.

THEY ARE VERY HARD TO DEAL WITH!!!! 

PLEASE FOLLOW DIRECTIONS AND THE EXAMPLES BELOW IN THIS POSTING AND AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BRACKET.  THANK YOU.

Ok, now, first things first, and this is important — I have emailed you your own 2019 NCAA Tournament bracket (my email list just is not as complete as the email list on the system — if you did not get an email from me with a bracket please contact me right away with your email address and I’ll send one to you; my email address appears below right above the rankings table); please open it immediately, make your picks, and email your picks back to me in a single typed line as my picks are below, including the score of your final game. My picks are provided here as an example of how your picks should look when they are sent to me (note that the number before each pick is the number under the space where you would write the score for each game on the bracket; it’s a “game number.”): 

EXAMPLE #1 — HORIZONTALLY:

1.Boston College 2. Boston University 3.University of Minnesota 4.Mankato State University 5.University of North Dakota 6.University of Minnesota-Duluth 7.University of Wisconsin 8.Massachusetts-Amherst 9.Boston University 10.University of Minnesota 11.University of North Dakota 12.Massachusetts-Amherst 13.Boston University 14.Massachusetts-Amherst 15. Boston University, 3-2

3-2

EXMPLE #2 — VERTICALLY:

1. Boston College
2. Boston University
3. University of Minnesota
4. Mankato State University
5. University of North Dakota
6. University of Minnesota-Duluth
7. University of Wisconsin
8. University of Massachusetts-Amherst
9. Boston University
10. University of Minnesota
11. University of North Dakota
12. University of Massachusetts-Amherst
13. Boston University
14. University of Massachusetts-Amherst
15. Boston University 3-2

You don’t have to feel like you really know who is going to win, and remember — It costs nothing to play, and the winner gets a prize.  So do it now!

There were three conference winners last weekend that were not the highest ranked team in that conference, so let’s quickly run through this, conference by conference.

Atlantic Hockey:  American International got an early bye in the quarterfinals when Bentley dropped out of play because of the virus. In the semifinals, Canisius beat then-#19 Army, and American International beat Niagara.  In the championship game, AIC beat Canisius, so Atlantic Hockey sends one team, it’s champion, AIC, ranked #15 at the end of the season, to the NCAA Tournament.

Big Ten:  These folks finished up on March 15 and 16, when Wisconsin beat Pennsylvania State, and Minnesota beat Michigan in the semifinals, and then Minnesota beat Wisconsin the next night in the championship game.  So the Big Ten sends four teams to the NCAA Tournament field of sixteen:  #2 Minnesota; #4 Wisconsin; #8 Michigan, and #18 Notre Dame.

ECAC:  Quinnipiac got a bye in the semifinals when Clarkson dropped out because of the virus; the sole semifinal game was reconfigured to be Colgate vs. St. Lawrence, with St. Lawrence the winner.  They then beat Quinnipiac in the championship game, but then St. Lawrence had to drop out because their coach tested positive for the virus.  So the ECAC sends one team, it most highly ranked team it the pole, and the ECAC championship runner-up, Quinnipiac, ranked #11 at the end of the season, to the NCAA Tournament.

Hockey East:  The story of the Hockey East tournament has to be UMass-Lowell, beating BU in the quarterfinals; beating BC in the semifinals; and then being narrowly beaten by Massachusetts in the championship game.  Lowell ended the 2019-2020 season ranked #20, then didn’t have a particularly good run this season — until the tournament.  Hockey East sends three teams to the NCAA tournament:  #2 Boston College; #6 Massachusetts; and #10 Boston University, but not #16 Providence, which beat highly-regarded Connecticut in the Hockey East quarterfinals.

NCHC:  North Dakota beat Denver and St. Cloud State beat Minnesota-Duluth in the semifinals, and then North Dakota beat St. Cloud State in the championship game.  The NCHC sends four teams to the NCAA Tournament: #1 North Dakota; #7 St. Cloud State; #9 Minnesota-Duluth; and #12 Nebraska-Omaha.

WCHA:  Couple of surprises, as Lake Superior State beat Bemidji State, and Northern Michigan beat Mankato State in the semifinals, to set up an all-Michigan final, played on Mankato State’s ice!  Lake Superior State beat Northern Michigan in the Championship game, securing an auto-bid to the NCAA tournament, so the WCHA sends three teams to the NCAA Tournament:  #5 Mankato State; #13 Lake Superior State; and #14 Bemidji State.

INDEPENDENT:  Neither Arizona State nor Long Island University played in any post season tournaments since they are independent and not in any conference.  Neither team advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

This year the top fifteen ranked teams, plus the team ranked #18, comprise the sixteen team field for the NCAA Tournament.  So, this year the NCAA Division I Ice Hockey Tournament Contestants, and Regional Assignments are:

• Friday, March 26th, in Bridgeport, CT., #4 Wisconsin faces #14 Bemidji State at 10:00am Pacific Time on ESPN2, and #6 Massachusetts faces #13 Lake Superior State at 3:30pm Pacific Time on ESPNU.  Winners play Saturday, March 27th, at 1:00pm Pacific Time on ESPNU.
• Also Friday, March 26th, in Fargo, N.D., #8 Michigan faces #9 Minnesota-Duluth at 1:00pm Pacific Time on ESPNU, and #1 North Dakota faces #15 American International at 6:30pm Pacific Time on ESPN3.  Winners play Saturday, March 27th, at 3:30pm Pacific Time on ESPNU.
• Saturday, March 27th, in Albany, N.Y., #2 Boston College faces #18 Notre Dame at 10:00am Pacific Time on ESPNews, and #7 St. Cloud State faces #10 Boston University at 3:30pm Pacific Time on ESPNews.  Winners play Sunday, March 28th, at 2:30pm Pacific Time on ESPN2.
• Also Saturday, March 27th, in Loveland, CO., #5 Mankato State faces #11 Quinnipiac at 1:00pm Pacific Time on ESPN3, and #2 Minnesota faces #12 Nebraska-Omaha at 6:00pm Pacific Time on ESPNU.  Winners play Sunday, March 28th at 5:00pm Pacific Time on ESPN2.

So here we go!  Your bracket has been emailed to you.  IMPORTANT:  DO NOT SEND ME BACK A COPY OF A COMPLETED BRACKET — THEY ARE VERY HARD TO DEAL WITH.  Each game has a number under the line where you would write the game winner.  Once you have made your picks, send them to me in a typed line, in game number order, listing the winner.  THIS CAN BE DONE HORIZONTALLY OR VERTICALLY — PLEASE SEE THE TWO EXAMPLES AT THE TOP OF THIS POSTING.  Remember, it costs nothing to play, and the winner gets a prize.

REMEMBER THE WIENBAR-RAMSEY RULE: if you pick the eventual winner, you get TWO additional points for choosing that eventual winner to win, for a total of three points.  Therefore if you tie in number of correct picks with someone who did not pick the winner, your extra points would make you the winner between the two of you.

ALL PICKS MUST BE SENT TO ME BY THURSDAY NIGHT, MARCH 25TH, AT 8:00PM PACIFIC TIME — THAT IS ABOUT 50 HOURS FROM THE TIME OF THIS POSTING.  If you did not receive a bracket email me for one at:  [email protected]

This provides the top twenty teams, rankings, records and last week’s results:

[table id=228 /]

That’s all for now.  Stay tuned, and go Terriers!

— Tom