NCAA TOURNEY

[fishing tech]

Gophers get Air force with No Dak playing Michigan. The champ should come from this bracket. Gophers got to #1 overall seed and put in a bracket like this. WOW

[Trainman]

You have to be kidding me. 2 of the 3 best teams in the nation in the same bracket. 3 of these 4 teams were in their conference finals. Looks like they are tired of the WCHA owning the frozen four.

[Dock Boy]

It's unfortunate that the pairings are like this, but you have to beat the best to be the best. All this means is that the Sue can hang up thier jerseys a little earlier than they had expected. They have to get by Michigan first and they have been playing good hockey lately. Gophs will have no problem with Air Force and they will not over look thier opponent this time. GO GOPHERS

[fishing tech]

I think they want to make sure Notra Dome makes it to the frozen 4.

[DEADhead]

what a joke these parings are. Even more proof that east coast teams are coddled and favored over western hockey teams. If they are so concerned with having inter-league matchups, why are minn and nodak playing in the same regional, and BC vs UNH playing in another regional??? because you make more money with a BC vs UNH regional final in manchester, that's why. those two teams played each other three times in the last month for crying out loud.

unless michigan plays large next weekend, the gophers are going to have one heck of a time repeating last nights performance... I agree that they are afraid of the WCHA winning the national title again. it seems that they do everything they can to keep the WCHA down. maybe they should just play some real hockey out east.

[IFallsRon]

Further proof that the folks doing the pairings have no idea about kthe teams that they are choosing. Bob Knight said the other day, the selection committee should be made up of coaches who know the capabilities of the teams. At least we can say that the hockey tournament wasn't fixed by TV.

[Jarrod32]

What a joke is right. How does North Dakota drop to a three seed with their performance this past weekend? Weren't they lined up as a two seed before the Final Five? Guess they had to do that to put the Sioux in the Denver regional and keep them from going out east...

[rocky]

the gophers and the sioux in the same bracket??? Someone obviously wants the WCHA heavyweights to knock each other out. Meanwhile SCSU got in my opinion a favorable bracket. SCSU beat the # 1 seed Clarkson twice earlier in the season but that was then and this is now. As a Husky fan it is hard to be full of confidence after the last couple of weeks performances. As much as I hate to say it, I still think the Sioux are going to win it all. At least Holy Cross didn't make it.

[Team Otter]

It's too bad but the WCHA will prevail!

[papabear]

Again the east coast conspiracy shows itself. The brackets look fair from the east coast I guess. Make sure we get those viewers from the boston area. We know Mn will watch because they are hocley fans.

[setterguy]

Gophers - #1 ranking in pairwise, should be playing the Alabama Huntsville team. We get Air Force because of $$ that can be generated from them playing in CO. North Dakota is 10th in the pairwise which does mean they are a 3 seed, but having them in the same region as the Gophs is a little suspect. If you want to win the title, you have to play the top teams...look at it this way, if we do make it out of the regional we should have played the best competition in the tournement. I think the ND fans should be more upset, they have to beat Michigan and Minnesota to get out of regionals after having a 18 game unbeaten streak and then losing to the #1 seed on "home" ice in the conference championship game in OT. The gophs should be fine if they play the same physical style we have come out with the last 2-3 weeks. Should be a fun weekend of hockey.

Go gophers.

[solbes]

I think it's unfortunate for both the Gophers and Sioux. They are both excellent teams with a good chance to win it all. Rankings or not, I don't buy that ND is a #3 seed and SCSU is a #2. They both should be one seed higher.

I think the NCAA folks are nervous about having another tourney like 2005. That year there were 5 WCHA teams in four brackets and an all WCHA frozen four (CC, UM, DU, and ND). I'm sure this upset a lot of the East Coast fans, but how can you argue that WCHA is where it's at?

Last year they really tried to make it tough on the western conference. 4 teams in only 2 brackets. This year 3 teams in 2 brackets. I'm still betting on a WCHA repeat, and I'm confused as to which one of the three it's going to be.

[Superduty]

In my opinion the gophers and ND are the 2 best teams in the country. The eastern teams don't belong on the same rink. I watched the echahl conference final between clarkson and quinn... I don't think either team had a player over 5'8" tall. Michigan tech and Alaska Anchorage could handle these teams. SCSU got the best draw in the tournament-Clarkson is the #1 seed in that region! No doubt the NCAA folks don't want all WCHA teams in the frozen four. Wait until they drop the puck and see how fast the western teams end up in the penalty box.

[icehole10]

Well said deadhead! That's all I have to say. Oh yeah one more thing GO SIOUX!!!!!!

[bassNspear]

I agree with it all. I think that the seedings are weird, that all the great teams are in the same bracket. It seems fishy, that they are all together. I think your all right, that there sick of the WCHA rippin it up in the frozen four. Hopefully the best team will win, gophers.

Like i told my buddy today, whoever comes out of that side of the bracket, has a huge shot to win it all.

[DEADhead]

huskies looked and played like a JV team. Maine didn't even look like a good team. st. cloud could barely connect on a pass all night or keep the puck on their stick. I feel embarassed for the WCHA by their performance and even more ashamed that the gophers got swept by these guys not that long ago.

I hope the gophers and the sioux give a better performance this weekend. It's hard to argue that the WCHA is the best conference in college hockey when you play like the huskies did tonight ouch.

clarkson looks like it was another weak east coast #1 seed by losing tonight, as well as notre dame barely beating UAH in OT... should get interesting!

[rocky]

I have to agree with you deadhead. My Huskies were flat out gross tonight, Maine looked very beatable. They peaked against the gophers and have not been close to the same since. It is amazing how a team can look so good one month and just suck the next. I guess the gophers see-sawed also this season but they are at least turning the corner again. With the Huskies out I am rooting for the Gophers to win it all. My gut tells me the Gophers are ready for a run.