College Hockey's PWR are Out!

[TheValleyRaider]

There are 6 or 7 weeks left in the College Hockey regular season (depending on your conference), and 9 weeks away from the NCAA Tournament field being selected.

The PWR is devised by USCHO.com as a model to predict who will make the NCAA Tournament. It mimics the ranking system used by the NCAA, and is as good as the real thing. Further explanation for how it works, along with the initial rankings, can be found here: http://www.uscho.com/rankings/pwr.php

The rankings can potentially change after every game, so they will look very different even after this weekend.

I-AA teams in the rankings include:
12. Harvard (tied with Northern Michigan)
15. Cornell and New Hampshire (tied with Boston U.)
21. Maine (tied with Alaska-Fairbanks, St. Cloud St., and Clarkson)
27. Holy Cross
28. Colgate

At the moment, Harvard would be the only I-AA school to make the tournament, but there is plenty of season left for Cornell, UNH, Maine and Colgate to climb up into the spots. There is also a "quality win" bonus to be added to a team's RPI, which could potentially vault UNH into the Tournament, depending on the size of the bonus.

[colgate13]

Our recent tanking hasn't helped our cause at all. Very disappointing. Let's hope we can turn it on for the ECACHL season and get to the dance!

[Ivytalk]

Who's beaten Cornell? Although I hate the Big Red, I thought they were going to romp through the ECAC.

[colgate13]

Who's beaten Cornell? Although I hate the Big Red, I thought they were going to romp through the ECAC.

We will sweep them in a couple of weeks. :eek:

[Ivytalk]

We will sweep them in a couple of weeks. :eek:

I see that Princeton shut out Cornell at Princeton a few days ago. :hurray:

[colgate13]

I see that Princeton shut out Cornell at Princeton a few days ago. :hurray:

And bet us too...:bawling:

Wide open home stretch in the ECACHL... As always!

[TheValleyRaider]

PWR for after Tuesday's games:

Wisconsin maintains their #1 even after losing twice to Denver
Cornell tied for 5th with Michigan and Ferris State
Harvard is 13th
New Hampshire is 15th
Maine is tied for 22nd with Bowling Green
Colgate is 26th
Holy Cross is 27th
Dartmouth is 28th

At the moment, Cornell is solidly in the tournament, while Harvard is in, but on the bubble. UNH is on the outside looking in, while the others have a lot, perhaps too much, work to do at this point to get in as at-larges. With RPI bonuses, Harvard moves up, while Cornell slips a bit. UNH remains on the outside looking in. In many bracket predictions, Colgate is listed at the auto-bid winner for the ECAC as they are currently in FIRST PLACE! :hurray: :hurray: :hurray: after sweeping Clarkson and St. Lawrence this past weekend.

[Hansel]

Sorry if you knew this, but the North Dakota fan site updates the PWR daily and starts at the beginning of the year

http://siouxsports.com/hockey.php

[TheValleyRaider]

Sorry if you knew this, but the North Dakota fan site updates the PWR daily and starts at the beginning of the year

http://siouxsports.com/hockey.php

I did know about that one, and I also know about the one at RPIHockey.net that updates more quickly ;) . I use USCHO's because they're the "official" site, and they also allow for trying various RPI bonuses.

[TheValleyRaider]

So it's been awhile since I updated this thread. I would say two good weeks of hockey have been played but, well, every week is a good week of hockey :D (even if those weeks involve losses to Cornell :mad: :( ).

PWR after the first round of the historic Beanpot Tournament in Boston, using a "3-2-1" RPI Bonus:
Minnesota has moved into a tie with Wisconsin for 1st Place
Cornell is tied for 4th with Boston U and Colorado College
Harvard is 11th
New Hampshire is 19th
Maine is 21st
Holy Cross is 26th
Colgate is 27th
Dartmouth is 28th

Cornell is red hot and streaking towards another NCAA Tournament birth, while clearly re-establishing themselves as the team to beat in the ECAC. Harvard is the only other I-AA that would be in the playoffs at the moment, but of course there's plenty of time to change that. UNH and Maine could make a run with wins in tough schedules down the stretch, but would probably also need a strong showing in the Hockey East Tournament to sneak in. Colgate and Dartmouth almost definately need to win the ECAC to get in, and Holy Cross is the favorite to take Atlantic Hockey's autobid.

There are 3 more weeks of regular season action until postseason starts with the CCHA and ECAC tournaments getting underway. Everyone else joins the postseason party the next week.

[TheValleyRaider]

Another Beanpot gone by, another BU victory. Congrats to the Terriers on another title (now bring back that football team! ;) )

On to the PWR for today. Only conference games remain until the Tournament kicks off in late March. As of today, with a 3-2-1 bonus, the PWR is as follows for I-AA sponsoring schools:
Harvard is 5th
Cornell is 11th
Maine is 15th
New Hampshire is tied for 19th with St. Cloud State
Dartmouth and Holy Cross are tied for 23rd with Vermont
Princeton :eek: is tied for 27th with Clarkson, Minnesota St. and Northern Michigan
Colgate is 31st
Sacred Heart is 33rd

How quickly things change at the top of the ECAC. A tough weekend for Cornell in the North Country shuttled them all the way down to 11th, while Harvard jumps to 5th. One of them is a sure shot for the Tournament, the other would now probably need a run in Albany to maintain their position in the field. Maine is on the outside looking in in this setup, but the season is far from over for the Black Bears, and a strong showing the rest of the way for them could put them back in the field of 16. Same goes for UNH, probably. Everyone else is looking at a conference title to get them in, although that's certainly not out of the question for any of them.

Other teams of note:
-Wisconsin is back on top after picking up a win over Ohio St. on the truely frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. The Badgers are hoping to finish the season with the WCHA title and the Tournament's #1 Seed. Other hopefuls for that #1 include conference mate Minnesota and the CCHA's Miami.
-2-time defending National Champion Denver is currently tied for 17th, but will get an RPI boost to end the regular season as they face Minnesota (2nd in the PWR), North Dakota (12th) and Colorado College (6th), as well as the tough WCHA Tournament. It'd be a surprise to not see the Pioneers back to defend their title.
-After wrapping up their Beanpot, BU has won 8 in a row, and continuing this play at the end of the season could get them a #1, if not the #1, seed.

[Ivytalk]

I'm surprised by Cornell's plunge in the standings. Harvard has a tough road trip coming up to Colgate and Cornell this weekend. The Crimson will be lucky to get a split, IMHO.

[colgate13]

Harvard's had our number and Dartmouth is always so tough. We NEED a sweep, but anything is possible.

[Ivytalk]

Harvard's had our number and Dartmouth is always so tough. We NEED a sweep, but anything is possible.




CORNELL SUCKS!!!

[UNH_Alum_In_CT]

Well, the monkey wrench is being thrown into the works!! Maine is beating BC 3-1 with 14:13 left in the third up at Alfond. UNH beat BU at Agganis 7-4! BU led 3-0 at six minutes into the game!!

[Ivytalk]

Harvard beat Cornell at Cornell, 4-3, to clinch its first Ivy title since 2000. It was the first win for the Crimson in Ithaca since '99! There were 21 penalties in the game, including a few majors. That win more than made up for a sluggish 4-1 loss at Colgate the night before.

[TheValleyRaider]

And down the stretch they come...
The volitile PWR continue to fluctuate as the regular season is coming to a close. With a "3,2,1 Bonus" added, here's how I-AA sponsoring schools stand:
Cornell is tied for 8th with Michigan
Maine is 10th
Harvard is tied for 12th with Ohio State
New Hampshire is tied for 17th with Alaska-Fairbanks and Providence
Holy Cross is 21st
Colgate and Dartmouth are tied for 26th

As of right now, Cornell, Maine and Harvard would be in the Tournament. UNH is certainly not out of it, as a run in the Hockey East Tournament could be enough of an RPI boost to get them in. Maine would need a similar run to wrap up their spot, while both Cornell and Harvard will probably have to advance at least to Albany, if not the ECAC Championship game, to get an at-large. Minnesota has replaced Wisconsin as the #1 overall seed, and defending champion Denver is tied for 14th, looking like the first team out this season.

Congratulations to the Miami Redhawks, who clinched the CCHA Regular Season crown a week ago, the first Regular Season title captured this year. This weekend is the final regular season weekend for the ECAC and CCHA, as their playoffs begin next Friday. The other 4 conferences still have 2 weekends to go.

[Go...gate]

Valley, will Colgate make the NCAA field if it makes the ECAC Semifinals?

[TheValleyRaider]

WOOOOHOOOOO!!!

Colgate's 2-0 victory over RPI gives them a share of 2006 Cleary Cup as ECAC Regular Season Champions!:hurray: :hurray: :hurray:

Officially, the Raiders are tied with Dartmouth for the title, with the tiebreaker going to the Big Green. So congratulations to Dartmouth as well. More info on the upcoming ECAC and CCHA playoffs later in the week.

As for our postseason chances, I think we're a bit too far in the hole to get out and clinch a birth with anything less than the Conference Title and autobid that goes with it. The seeming inability of ECAC teams to win much on the road recently has hurt our overall RPI, and our poor record against TUCs probably can't be improved enough given our potential tournament foes. But, Colgate's now only 4 wins away from the Tournament, let's see what they got!

[TheValleyRaider]

It's Playoff Time!

I'm skipping another look at the PWR in order to get a glimpse at the upcoming Conference Tournaments. It's the road to the Frozen Four. The CCHA and ECAC get things underway this weekend, while the other 4 conferences begin their postseason next weekend. Both 12 team conferences run their tournaments the same way, with the top 4 seeds receiving a bye into the quarterfinals. The remaining 8 teams battle it out in best 2-of-3 series held at the sites of the higher seeds.

CCHA
#5-Nebraska-Omaha vs. #12-Bowling Green
#6-Lake Superior vs. #11-Western Michigan
#7-Ferris State vs. #10-Ohio State
#8-Notre Dame vs. #9-Alaska-Fairbanks
Miami, Michigan, Michigan State and Northern Michigan recieved byes

ECAC
#5-St. Lawrence vs. #12-Brown
#6-Union vs. #11-Yale
#7-RPI vs. #10-Quinnipiac
#8-Clarkson vs. #9-Princeton
Dartmouth, Colgate, Cornell and Harvard recieved byes



*I-AA sponsoring schools bolded

[TheValleyRaider]

Quite an eventful weekend and it's not over yet.

Congratulations to the remaining conference regular season champs who were crowned last night: Boston U (HE), Minnesota (WCHA), Holy Cross (AHA), and Niagara (CHA). I'll post brackets for those tournaments with the others as soon as they finish up this weekend.

Western Michigan, Ferris State, Nebraska-Omaha and Alaska-Fairbanks all swept their playoff series in the CCHA, they'll move on to next weekend's quarterfinals. In the ECAC, Quinnipiac, Clarkson and Yale also advance with sweeps. Yale does so after beating Union last night in the 5th OT:eek: :eek: :rotateh: The game officially lasted 141:35, and broke the record for the longest Men's Hockey game in NCAA history. What a game that must have been. The only thing holding up the results is the St. Lawrence-Brown series, which will play a deciding 3rd game tonight, the only game on the schedule.

[TheValleyRaider]

The regular season is complete, and the world of college hockey has fully shifted into playoff mode. St. Lawrence eliminated Brown in OT last night to finish off the ECAC's first round series and set up this weekend's Quarterfinals. Unless otherwise stated, series are best 2-of-3 at higher seed's rink.

Atlantic Hockey
#1-Holy Cross vs. #8-American International
#2-Mercyhurst vs. #7-Canisius
#3-Sacred Heart vs. #6-Connecticut
#4-Bentley vs. #5-Army

CCHA
#1-Miami vs. #11-Western Michigan
#2-Michigan State vs. #9-Alaska-Fairbanks
#3-Michigan vs. #7-Ferris State
#4-Northern Michigan vs. #5-Nebraska-Omaha

CHA
The whole tournament is this weekend in Detriot
Friday's Quarters
#3-Alabama-Huntsville vs. #6-Wayne State
#4-Robert Morris vs. #5-Air Force
Saturday's Semis
#1-Niagara vs. RMU/AF
#2-Bemidji State vs. UAH/WSU
Championship game is on Sunday

ECAC
#1-Dartmouth vs. #11-Yale
#2-Colgate vs. #10-Quinnipiac
#3-Cornell vs. #8-Clarkson
#4-Harvard vs. #5-St. Lawrence

Hockey East
#1-Boston University vs. #8-Massachusetts
#2-Maine vs. #7-UMass-Lowell
#3-Boston College vs. #6-Vermont
#4-New Hampshire vs. #5-Providence
Northeastern and Merrimack, by finishing 9th and 10th in the conference, do not qualify for the tournament.

WCHA
#1-Minnesota vs. #10-Alaska-Anchorage
#2-Denver vs. #9-Minnesota-Duluth
#3-Wisconsin vs. #8-Michigan Tech
#4-North Dakota vs. #7-Minnesota State-Mankato
#5-Colorado College vs. #6-St. Cloud State

[UNHWildCats]

There are 6 or 7 weeks left in the College Hockey regular season (depending on your conference), and 9 weeks away from the NCAA Tournament field being selected.

The PWR is devised by USCHO.com as a model to predict who will make the NCAA Tournament. It mimics the ranking system used by the NCAA, and is as good as the real thing. Further explanation for how it works, along with the initial rankings, can be found here: http://www.uscho.com/rankings/pwr.php

The rankings can potentially change after every game, so they will look very different even after this weekend.

I-AA teams in the rankings include:
12. Harvard (tied with Northern Michigan)
15. Cornell and New Hampshire (tied with Boston U.)
21. Maine (tied with Alaska-Fairbanks, St. Cloud St., and Clarkson)
27. Holy Cross
28. Colgate

At the moment, Harvard would be the only I-AA school to make the tournament, but there is plenty of season left for Cornell, UNH, Maine and Colgate to climb up into the spots. There is also a "quality win" bonus to be added to a team's RPI, which could potentially vault UNH into the Tournament, depending on the size of the bonus.

UNH is playing its best hockey of the year, I think they will win the Hockey East tourney and get an auto bid

[TheValleyRaider]

A few results are in from the games played Thursday/Friday night. In the CHA, Alabama-Huntsville and Robert Morris advanced to tonight's Semifinals. And two series are already over in Hockey East, with BC and UNH earning their trips to the FleetCenter next weekend.

CHA
The whole tournament is this weekend in Detriot
Saturday's Semis
#1-Niagara vs. #4-Robert Morris
#2-Bemidji State vs. #3-Alabama-Huntsville
Championship game is on Sunday

[Go...gate]

How the Hell did we lose at home to QUINNIPIAC?? And by shut-out, no less!!

[TheValleyRaider]

With the weekend drawing to a close, we've got a good portion of the brackets set for next weekend's Conference Championships. Atlantic Hockey and Hockey East are all through, one series remains to be finished in the CCHA, 2 in the ECAC, and 3 in the WCHA. Full brackets for next weekend posted after tonight's results.

And the first official bid to the Field of 16 will be wrapped up tonight in the CHA Championship Game, being held at the State Fairgrounds at Detroit, MI. The Purple Eagles of Niagara battle the defending CHA Champs the Bemidji State Beavers. Winner takes the CHA autobid, and most likely the 16th seed in the Tournament.

CHA
The whole tournament is this weekend in Detroit
Championship Game
#1-Niagara vs. #2-Bemidji State

[TheValleyRaider]

The first NCAA Tournament bid goes to the Bemidji State Beavers! BSU garners a 4-2 victory over Niagara in the CHA Championship game to win their second consecutive conference title.

Congratulations to Bemidji State.

[Go...gate]

Colgate defeated Quinnipac 5-3 and 4-0 to win the ECACHL Quarterfinal series, two games to one. Next up: Cornell in the ECACHL Semifinals at Lake Placid, NY this Friday night. Go Red Raiders!!

[TheValleyRaider]

The Quarterfinals are over, and the Tournaments will reach their dramatic conclusions this weekend. All games from here on out are single-elimination, with Tournament bids riding heavily on the outcomes. The real surprises are the dual eliminations of the Colorado schools, especially Denver which puts their NCAA hopes in real jeopardy. All semifinal games are on Friday.

Atlantic Hockey
At Holy Cross, Worcester, MA
#1-Holy Cross vs. #6-Connecticut
#2-Mercyhurst vs. #4-Bentley
Championship on Saturday

CCHA
At Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, MI
#1-Miami vs. #4-Northern Michigan
#2-Michigan State vs. #3-Michigan
Championship/Consolation on Saturday

ECAC
At Pepsi Arena, Albany, NY
#1-Dartmouth vs. #4-Harvard
#2-Colgate vs. #3-Cornell
Championship/Consolation on Saturday

Hockey East
At TD Banknorth Garden, Boston, MA
#1-Boston University vs. #4-New Hampshire
#2-Maine vs. #3-Boston College
Championship on Saturday

WCHA
At Xcel Center, St. Paul, MN
Thursday Night Play-In Game
#6-St. Cloud State vs. #9-Minnesota-Duluth
Friday's Semifinals
#1-Minnesota vs. SCSU/UMD
#3-Wisconsin vs. #4-North Dakota
Championship/Consolation on Saturday

[colgate13]

Next up: Cornell in the ECACHL Semifinals at Lake Placid, NY this Friday night. Go Red Raiders!!

The ECACHL tournament semis/finals was moved to Albany something like 3 years ago. No more Olympic rink.

[TheValleyRaider]

Survive and Advance. Championship Saturday comes to College Hockey. A few blowouts (BU over UNH 9-2, Harvard over Dartmouth 10-1) and a few nailbiters (Cornell over Colgate 2-0 :bawling: , St. Cloud over Minnesota 8-7). 5 autobids are on the line tonight, but probably only St. Cloud and Holy Cross/Bentley need them to get in.

Atlantic Hockey
At Holy Cross, Worcester, MA
#1-Holy Cross vs. #4-Bentley

CCHA
At Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, MI
Championship- #1-Miami vs. #2-Michigan State
Consolation- #3-Michigan vs. #4-Northern Michigan

ECAC
At Pepsi Arena, Albany, NY
Championship- #3-Cornell vs. #4-Harvard
Consolation- #1-Dartmouth vs.#2-Colgate:(

Hockey East
At TD Banknorth Garden, Boston, MA
Championship- #1-Boston University vs. #3-Boston College

WCHA
At Xcel Center, St. Paul, MN
Championship- #4-North Dakota vs. #6-St. Cloud State
Consolation- #1-Minnesota vs. #3-Wisconsin

NCAA Tournament field annouced Sunday

[UNHWildCats]

So Mr Hockey, any ranking of whos in and whos out auto bid wise?

[TheValleyRaider]

So Mr Hockey, any ranking of whos in and whos out auto bid wise?

Here's what I've come up with with regards to the Championship Games:
-Miami is definately in, and will get a #1 seed with the CCHA Title.
-Michigan State is also in, and will probably be a #2 seed, but could also grab a #1 with a victory.
-Cornell and Harvard both needed a win last night to seal their births, so the outcome there is for pride only, as both look to end up #2 seeds. However, a Harvard victory combined with a few other upsets could give them a #1.
-BU is definately in, and a #1 seed with the HE Title.
-BC is also almost assuredly in, but will jockey around between a 2 and 4 seed, most likely a 3, possibly 2 with the autobid
-St. Cloud absolutely needs the autobid to get in, while North Dakota is in and will get a #2 seed
-The most fun scenario exists in Atlantic Hockey, where a Bentley victory combined with wins by the favorites could get Holy Cross in the tournament as well, making one of College Hockey's "mid-major" conferences a 2-bid league

As far as other teams in the mix:
-Minnesota and Wisconsin are the top 2 teams in the PWR, and will be ranked #1 and #2 overall going into the tournament.
-Michigan is in, while Northern needs a win and some help to break in
-Colgate and Dartmouth are both out regardless of today's outcome:(
-UNH and Maine both need as many of the favorites to win as possible to keep them in the Tournament. If there were to be a Consolation Game in HE, the winner would clinch a birth on their own

The 16 teams will probably be:
Bemidji State (CHA Autobid), Minnesota, Wisconsin, Miami, BU, BC, Cornell, Harvard, North Dakota, Michigan State, Michigan, Nebraska-Omaha, at least one of UNH/Maine if not both, Colorado College, and Holy Cross (most likely as the AH Autobid).

You can discover all the possible permutations by playing with this: http://www.uscho.com/rankings/pwp.php
USCHO.com also has an article detailing the possible outcomes (some of which I've used in my analysis) going into the weekend's games: http://www.uscho.com/news/id,12356/ThePairWiseAnalyzedMarch152006.html

[TheValleyRaider]

These are your champions:
AH- Holy Cross
CCHA- Michigan State
ECAC- Harvard
HE- Boston University
WCHA- North Dakota
Congratulations to all Tournament Winners, but now the bigger prize awaits.

The tournament will be revealed today at 11 am EST (4 pm my time). Wisconsin, Minnesota, BU and Michigan State look to be the #1 seeds. The 16 teams I listed in the last post look to be the ones who are Tournament-bound, so it looks like there'll be 5 I-AA sponsoring schools in.