College Hockey Update

                                                         NOTICE:  

                        Picks are DUE THURSDAY by 7AM Pacific Time ! ! ! !

    The NCAA has changed the tournament to begin on THURSDAY, NOT Friday!!

So, PICKS ARE DUE TO ME WITHIN 24 HOURS OF THE TIME THE EMAILS GO OUT.

                        Picks are DUE THURSDAY by 7AM Pacific Time ! ! ! !

                                NO EXCEPTIONS.   NO EXTENSIONS.

          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.

NOW, FIRST:  IF YOU are going to the Frozen Four in Boston on April 7 and 9 (or if you know someone who will be going), please email me right away and let me know — thanks.

Ok, THIS IS IMPORTANT — I have emailed you your own 2022 NCAA Tournament bracket (my email might not be 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 the bracket document 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. Mankato 2. North Dakota 3. Western Michigan 4. UMass 5. Denver 6. Minn-Duluth 7. Michigan 8. Quinnipiac 9. Mankato 10. UMass 11. Minn-Duluth 12. Quinnipiac 13. UMass 14. Minn-Duluth 15. UMass, 3-2

EXMPLE #2 — VERTICALLY:

1. Mankato
2. North Dakota
3. Western Michigan
4. UMass
5. Denver
6. Minn-Duluth
7. Michigan
8. Quinnipiac
9. Mankato
10. UMass
11. Minn-Duluth
12. Quinnipiac
13. UMass
14. Minn-Duluth
15. UMass 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!

Let’s quickly run through the conference tournament results and the teams going to the NCAA Tournament, conference by conference.

Atlantic Hockey:  American International beat Mercyhurst in the semifinal to advance to play the other semifinal winner Air Force.  In the championship game, AIC beat Air Force, so Atlantic Hockey sends one team, it’s champion, AIC, ranked #18 at the end of the season, to the NCAA Tournament.

Big Ten:  Michigan beat Minnesota in the championship game.  So the Big Ten sends three teams to the NCAA Tournament field of sixteen:  #2 Michigan; #5 Minnesota; and #9 Notre Dame.

ECAC:  Quinnipiac beat Colgate in the semifinal, and Harvard beat Clarkson in the other semifinal.  In the championship game Harvard beat Quinnipiac.  So the ECAC sends two teams, #8 Quinnipiac, and #15 Harvard, to the NCAA Tournament.

Hockey East:  UMass beat UMass-Lowell in the semifinal, and Connecticut beat Northeastern in the other semifinal, and then UMass beat Connecticut in the championship game.  Hockey East sends three teams to the NCAA tournament:  #10 Massachusetts; and #12 Northeastern, and #13 UMass-Lowell.

NCHC:  Minnesota-Duluth beat Denver and Western Michigan beat North Dakota in the semifinals, and then Minnesota-Duluth beat Western Michigan in the championship game.  The NCHC sends five teams to the NCAA Tournament: #3 Denver; #4 Western Michigan; #6 Minnesota-Duluth; #7 North Dakota; and #11 St. Cloud State.

WCHA:  A conference full of surprises, as in the eventual winner had to win the game twice on Saturday night for the Championship.  Not kidding.  Mankato State beat Bemidji State, they had the trophy ceremony, and after everyone cleared the ice and left the arena, they decided to play back the video of the winning goal, they then disallowed it, and they then replayed the game starting at that point on the clock.  Mankato State eventually scored again, and then took the trophy back again.  Sheeesh!  So, the WCHA sends two teams to the NCAA Tournament:  #1 Mankato State; and #14 Michigan Tech.

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:

• Thursday, March 24th, in Albany, N.Y., #1 Mankato State faces #15 Harvard at 9:00am Pacific time on ESPNU, and #7 North Dakota faces #9 Notre Dame at 3:00pm Pacific Time on ESPNU.  Winners play Saturday, March 26th, at 1:00pm or 3:30 Pacific Time on ESPNU, time coordinated with the game in Loveland, Colorado.
• Also Thursday, March 24th, in Loveland, Colorado, #6 Minnesota-Duluth faces #14 Michigan Tech at 12:00 noon on ESPNU, and  #3 Denver faces #13 Massachusetts-Lowell at 6:00pm Pacific Time on ESPNU.  Winners play Saturday, March 26th, at 1:00pm or 3:30pm Pacific Time on ESPNU, time coordinated with the game in Albany, N.Y.
• Friday, March 25th, in Worcester, Massachusetts, #4 Western Michigan faces #12 Northeastern at 9:00am Pacific Time on ESPU, and #6 Minnesota faces #10 Massachusetts at 3:00pm Pacific Time on ESPNU.  Winners play Sunday, March 27th, at 1:00pm or 3:30pm Pacific Time on ESPN2, time coordinated with the game in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
• Also Friday, March 25th, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, #2 Michigan faces #18 American International at 12:00 noon Pacific Time on ESPNU, and #8 Quinnipiac faces #11 St. Cloud State at 5:00pm Pacific Time on ESPNews.  Winners play Sunday, March 27th, at 1:00pm or 3:30pm Pacific Time on ESPNews, time coordinated with the game in Worcester, Massachusetts.

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 MORNING, MARCH 24TH, AT 7:00AM PACIFIC TIME — THAT IS ABOUT 24 HOURS FROM THE TIME OF THIS POSTING.  If you did not receive a bracket email me for one at:  [email protected]

DO YOUR PICKS AND SEND THEM NOW ! ! !

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

[table id=236 /]

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

— Tom