What I Believe I Believe
| View Comments The playoffs are in full swing and we all know what that means. Yep, Scott’s productivity has gone through the basement floor due to one invention… the Pairwise Predictor. I could play with this thing for hours, working every different combination of wins and losses possible. So I finally made the decision to wean myself off it, and make one pass, with my best estimate of what will happen. Here we go…
In the CCHA, I think that Miami is finally playing like we all thought they would all season long. I have them beating Western Michigan and Michigan to win the CCHA Tournament and the automatic bid. I also think that Bowling Green’s heroic run will end with losses to Michigan in the semi finals and Western in the consolation game.
In the WCHA, I think that Denver will beat Michigan Tech, and North Dakota will knock off St. Cloud State in the play in games. But that’s all she wrote for both as I think Minnesota and Minnesota Duluth will play an all Maroon and Gold final with the Gophers beating the Bulldogs.
In Hockey East, I believe that Maine is rolling and will knock off Boston U in one semi final, and that Boston College will beat both Providence and the Black Bears to win the title.
In the ECAC, I have absolutely no clue, but I’m guessing that Union will beat Cornell for the title, while Harvard will “paste” Colgate (I couldn’t resist!) in the consolation game.
And finally, in Atlantic Hockey, I predict that Air Force (why are they in ATLANTIC Hockey???) will beat Niagara for the title, and the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Based on all of these results, and with help from the aforementioned Pairwise Predictor, Here is how I believe I believe the brackets will turn out. The teams making the tournament will be…
1 Boston College
2 Michigan
3 Minnesota
4 Miami
5 Union
6 Minnesota Duluth
7 Ferris
8 Boston U
9 North Dakota
10 Maine
11Massachusetts - Lowell
12 Denver
13 Cornell
14 Michigan State
15 Western Michigan
16 Air Force
The top seeds get placed in the closest regions. BC to Worcester, Michigan to Green Bay, Minnesota to St. Paul and Miami to Bridgeport. Then the rest of the field serpentines into place so that 1 plays 16, 2 plays 15 and so on. That gives us these brackets…
Worcester
1 Boston College
2 Boston University
3 North Dakota
4 Air Force
Green Bay
1 Michigan
2 Ferris
3 Maine
4 Western Michigan
St. Paul
1 Minnesota
2 Minnesota Duluth
3 Massachusetts Lowell
4 Michigan State
Bridgeport
1 Miami
2 Union
3 Denver
4 Cornell
The committee then gets to work. They don’t like conference matchups in the first round, and we’ve got one in Green Bay with Michigan facing Western Michigan. There’s an easy fix. Swap seeds 15 & 16 putting Western in Worcester and Air Force in Green Bay. The other thing the committee looks at is possible attendance. One additional swap will help. I think they could flip flop the 10 and 12 seeds, putting Maine in Bridgeport and Denver in Green Bay. This puts both teams closer to home. So this is how I believe I believe the brackets will wind up…
Worcester
1 Boston College
4 Western Michigan
2 Boston University
3 North Dakota
Bridgeport
1 Miami
4 Cornell
2 Union
3 Maine
Green Bay
1 Michigan
4 Air Force
2 Ferris
3 Denver
St. Paul
1 Minnesota
4 Michigan State
2 Minnesota Duluth
3 Massachusetts Lowell
