After going through all the potential questions the selection committee will need to answer, it is time for the first 2021 NCAA Women's Hockey Tournament bracket.
Explanations are below.
The Bracket:
1. Northeastern (Hockey East) vs. Penn State (CHA)
4. Minnesota vs. Colgate (ECAC)
2. Wisconsin (WCHA) vs. Boston College
3. Ohio State vs. Minnesota Duluth
How Did We Get Here?
Rankings and not needing to make matchups to save flights.
To take a step back, the bracket follows the committee's guidelines posted in the NCAA pre-championship manual while making some subjective assumptions.
One caveat: Since no team can earn an automatic bid before conference tournaments end, this bracketology assumes the highest remaining seed in each of the four conferences earns the automatic bid.
As part of the selection criteria, the committee only seeds the top four teams 1-4. In normal years, those four teams host quarterfinals against the unseeded four. So in theory, the No. 1 overall seed could face the fifth-best team in the tournament (although the committee usually tries to protect the No. 1 overall seed by giving it the lowest unseeded team, no matter if it is a fight or not). Inter-conference quarterfinal match-ups are also acceptable.
With the entire NCAA Tournament taking place in a single location, there is no need to move around teams to save flights. Nothing gets in the way of making a 1-8, 2-7, etc. straight bracket. So the above bracket features my subjective take at one. Teams are ranked against one another inside each conference before figuring the order and comparing teams outside conferences.
Now, there are some subjective choices, such as putting ECAC leader Colgate above fourth WCHA team Minnesota Duluth. There are arguments to be made. At the moment, I feel that it would be too much for the committee and errored on the side of caution.
This weekend features plenty of chances for teams to make final statements. Several teams are on the outside looking in and, in the case of the WCHA, there are opportunities to change the rankings inside the conference. The Ohio State-UMD match-up in NCAA Tournament version 1.0 will be first happening in a Saturday WCHA semifinal.
Much will change between now and version 2.0.
Nuts and Bolts:
Teams By Conference:
4- WCHA
2- Hockey East
1- ECAC, CHA
Bubble: Minnesota, Colgate, Minnesota Duluth
Last Team In: Boston College
First Two Teams Out: Providence, Clarkson
Related:
Five Selection Questions + NCAA Tournament Locks & Bubble Teams
--
No comments:
Post a Comment