Now that we are seven days into 2013, it’s time to transition into seriously looking at the Pairwise rankings and see where we are in terms of the NCAA tournament picture.
I’ll start you easy, and not go into the detail that is Bracketology, but this week I will focus on some trends that I look at in the top twenty. Ready? Let’s do it.
First trend: In the top-20, there are 6 WCHA teams versus three from the CCHA.
Second trend: No team in the top three in the Pairwise (BC, Quinnipiac, and New Hampshire) has less than twelve wins. BC is 12-3-2, Quinnipiac is 16-3-2, and New Hampshire is 13-3-2.
Third trend: Tuesday’s matchup of the night in Minneapolis, features sixth-best Minnesota versus Notre Dame. The Gophers and Fighting Irish matchup could have a serious impact on how Pairwise shakes out into the weekend.
Fourth trend: Let’s get you to more #1 rankings. Quinnipiac has the nation’s best win percentage at .810, and New Hampshire has the nation’s best RPI ranking. Remember that ties are broken by the RPI for seeding.
Final trend: Looking at the 1/7 edition of the rankings, there are only two total ties featuring five teams. The tie for twelfth is controlled by Minnesota State, and by mere hundredths of a percentage point. The tie for sixteenth sees three teams, with Niagara controlling ties over Robert Morris and Colgate via an RPI rating of .5285.
We’ll get into Bracketology properly in the next couple weeks. Until then…
Geoff Discher is Examiner.com's National College Hockey Examiner as well as the Minnesota Golden Gophers Hockey Examiner. Leave a comment below, or feel free to reach him at Disch61@hotmail.com with comments, story ideas, or any general talk surrounding college hockey. You can find him on Facebook as well by clicking here and here, joining the conversation from the social media side as well. He's always chock full of fact and opinion.
Until next time, I’ll see you at the rink!
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