I covered some of the scenarios in Saturday's Ice Sheet, but we know more now.The field for the 2008 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship won't be official until Sunday afternoon's selection show. However, thanks to a transparent mathematical system being used to rank the teams in Division I and select the at-large teams, we know now who will make the tournament.
With this year's selections will come a lot of controversy, as a Wisconsin team (pictured to the right celebrating their 2006 NCAA title) that finished the season under .500 overall will make the field of 16 as an at-large team. It's not unprecedented for sub-.500 clubs to win a conference tournament to get an automatic bid (Alabama-Huntsville did it just last year). However, it's crazy to think that a team that couldn't even win half its games is good enough to earn an at-large bid to a national tournament.
It might be crazy, but it's happening. The folks at College Hockey News and U.S. College Hockey Online have both updated their "Pairwise" rankings. These rankings are a replica of the mathematical formula the selection committee will use to pick the field as they gather this weekend.
After the jump, we'll tell you who's in the field, and also reveal another crazy fact about this tournament that works heavily in Wisconsin's favor (as if their mere inclusion in the field wasn't a crazy-enough circumstance).
The field of 16 includes six automatic entries, which go to the tournament champions of each Division I conference. Those teams are Niagara (College Hockey America), Air Force (Atlantic Hockey), Princeton (ECAC), Boston College (Hockey East), Denver (WCHA), and Michigan (CCHA).
The other ten spots go to the highest-rated teams in the "Pairwise" who aren't already in the field. Five of the ten at-large bids will go WCHA teams, as North Dakota, Colorado College, St. Cloud State, Minnesota, and Wisconsin are all in the field. Miami, Michigan State (the 2007 champion) and Notre Dame are in out of the CCHA. Clarkson makes it from the ECAC, and New Hampshire earns an at-large out of Hockey East.
The seeds and pairings will be made official Sunday, and some teams will have to be moved a seed line or two to avoid conference matchups in the first round. But it appears pretty certain that Michigan will be the top overall seed, and Miami, New Hampshire, and North Dakota will be regional top seeds.
That's where it gets crazier for Wisconsin. Not only are they in the tournament, but they'll play their first-round game next weekend at the Kohl Center in Madison, site of the Midwest Regional. NCAA guidelines stipulate that a team that hosts a regional must play in that regional if they make the tournament. Colorado College will also play at home, as they host the West Regional. Designated hosts for the Northeast Regional in Worcester (Holy Cross) and the East Regional in Albany (RPI) didn't qualify for the tournament.
Regionals are held next Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, with the Frozen Four April 10 and 12 at Pepsi Center in Denver.
