Pohl Talk: What does Minnesota need to do to clinch a NCAA Tournament berth?

It's Monday Tuesday which means the weekly rankings have been released. (Full disclosure: I don't vote in either.) Both Minnesota teams are ranked fifth in the USCHO.com poll with the men moving up two spost and the women moving down one following sweeps over Penn State and Minnesota State, respectively.

The Gopher women moving down to fifth matches its Pairwse ranking, which is the ranking which mimics the criteria used by the NCAA to determine the at-large bids. It wasn't by much. Minnesota moved by a single point among the 15 voters.

In the case of the men, the Gophers are, perception-wise, one back of its current Pairwise ranking although Minnesota is fourth in the other major poll, the USA Today/USA Hockey poll. So are the Gopher women, for what it's worth.

This week I wanted to answer two of the most frequently asked questions. What is the Pairwise and what do the Minnesota men need to do to clinch a NCAA Tournament berth?