WCHA Playoffs

[fishingMN4eyes]

First of all, was at the game tonight at Mariucci and even though it wasn't full, we had it rockin. Lots of fun!

Play-in game makes me nervous because tUMD will be jacked after going to CC and taking them out. I will be at the X on Thursday and let's hope we get that rockin too for the Gophers. A win in the play-in game would be humongous. That should just about get the Gophers in to the tourney. If they win the play-in game and lose to Nodak, then the third place game may become extremely crucial, I think. All in all, great weekend of hockey for the Gophers! Let's hope they keep it rolling in St. Paul!

[cbrooks]

Congratulation to UMD.I have a question if anybody knows the answer. Is the pairwise selection done with a computer or is it a commitee?

[archerystud]

Computer. The Gophers are currently in a 3 way tie for 12th which is still on the bubble. Considering that the team right behind them in the Pairwise is UMD Thursday's game looks pretty big

[Bear55]

Nice weekend for the gophers. Looks like a potential NCAA play-in game with the Dogs Thrusday. We also have to hope for no upsets in the other conference championships.

[Jarrod32]

Here is the Pairwise prediction from USCHO last week, before the games this past weekend…

Therefore the 16 teams in the tournament, in rank order, are:

1 Boston University

2 Notre Dame

3 Michigan

4 Denver

5 Northeastern

6 Vermont

7 New Hampshire

8 North Dakota

9 Yale

10 Cornell

11 Miami

12 Princeton

13 Minnesota

14 Ohio State

15 Air Force

16 Bemidji State

Air Force and BSU are actually ranked lower than 16 in the Pairwise, but get automatic bids for winning their conference tourneys (I think we are assuming that Air Force wins their tourney). So 15 and 16 are locked; Minnesota only has one spot of cushion. And UMD and Wisconsin are just outside the top 16. A loss to UMD and a Wisconsin win against Denver this weekend could bump the Gophers. And should Wisconsin win the tourney – not entirely out of the question – they would get an automatic bid. Of course, so could the Gophers…

This is from last week, though…it hasn’t been updated yet. So the Gophers win over St. Cloud does strengthen their position. But same goes for Wisconsin and UMD.

And other conferences also have automatic tournament bids, as Bear55 just alluded to. I see where Hockey East has had two upsets in the first round of their tourney already, (Vermont and New Hampshire both lost) and the other two series are in third games today (Including Boston University vs Maine and Northeastern vs Mass)…an underdog there could steal a tournament spot, as well. Boston College, anyone?

The bottom line is that there is a lot riding on the games this weekend. Should be a fun tourney to watch…

[Jarrod32]

Actually, it probably doesn't matter if Air Force loses (they have a third game in their best of three series today). They would simply be bumped by the tournament winner, as I don't think they would get an at-large bid if they lost their tournament.

[archerystud]

Obviously still a lot of scenario's. However if the Gophs beat UMD and lose the next game then they will have two games against TUC's (Teams Under Consideration) which should strengthen their score.

[PierBridge]

The Pairwise gets a lot of criticism but I think it does a pretty good Job.

I believe Mankato hurt us this weekend in the Pairwise when they got swept and fell out of the TUC.

This whole year is just plain Nuts!

[fishingMN4eyes]

The Pairwise gets a lot of criticism but I think it does a pretty good Job.

I believe Mankato hurt us this weekend in the Pairwise when they got swept and fell out of the TUC.

This whole year is just plain Nuts!

What happened with AA? They had just jumped into a TUC position after sweeping UMD. Did they drop out after being swept by DU? AA becoming a TUC two weeks ago is what gave the Gophers the big jump in the Pairwise.

p.s. Is it Thursday yet?

[solbes]

Go Dogs! Staaaalockkkk.... Can't wait for Thursday's game. Should be a blast.

For UMD to have a decent shot at NCAA's they will probably need to win the next two. Shouldn't have been an issue if they didn't lay such an egg the last two weeks of the regular season.

[archerystud]

All I know is the FF in St. Paul, hotel room, adult beverages, euchre, Wii, NCAA BB on in the background and friends to party with. It doesn't get much better than this week.

Boo-Yeah!

[Bear55]

I've alwasy been more of a KRACH fan myself, the pairwise and TUC drop off can cause a lot of wild swings late in the season, however it is certainly better than the old smoke filled room where personal opinion was sometimes more important that the math.

[titelines]

Getting down to crunch-time and we've got some good match-ups this weekend.

So - Who's punching their ticket to St. Paul?

Here's my unbiased breakdown.

• No. Dak takes Tech out in two games. Congrats to the Sioux on their 14th Cup!

• Denver takes Alaska out, but I see this one maybe going to 3 games. The Seahags have been playing pretty well.

• I'd really like to see the Dogs pull it out, but I think CC takes 'em out in 3. The Dogs took 3 out of 4 there earlier this year.

• Bucky takes MSU out in two. Don't see Big Red having much trouble.

• Gophs and St. Cloud - It's a pick-'em. Which goaltender is going to show up for Goldy? I see three tough games, with the Gophs pulling it out.

I could live with the Sioux, Gophs, Bucky, Tigers and Pioneers in St. Paul.

How about you all?

Well, surprisingly, I wasn't that far off. I didn't see the Gophs sweep coming, and AA did play DU tough but it didn't go three. My wishes also came true with the UMD sweep. Didn't see it coming but was listening and cheering for them.

So excited for Thursday. I'm getting dropped off down there at 1:00 Thursday, and won't be leaving until Sunday. With mostly regional teams, the crowds should be great!

Anyone going to Great Waters Friday morning for the PA show?