Some interesting teams making noise in NCAA hockey
by wearendhockey (2019-01-01 18:40:59)

If the tournament started today, UMass would be the number 1 overall seed. They have made the tournament exactly one time in their history. Arizona State would be in, something generally thought of as an extreme longshot for any independent team.

Who isn't anywhere near a tournament bid reads like a who's who of college hockey royalty. Michigan and Michigan State, BU and BC, and Wisconsin all would be left behind. UMass Lowell, who through 2017 had made 5 of 6 NCAA tournament, including a Frozen Four appearance in 2013, are well on their way to missing the party for the second straight year. And North Dakota, at 16th in the pairwise, is about as bubbly as a bubble team can get. Factoring in the 6 auto bids means without winning a conference playoff title, they'd be on the outside looking in too.

Winning an NCAA tournament title is as much crap shoot as it is anything else. Each seed band has claimed at least 2 titles since the tournament expanded to 16 teams. We've made FFs as a 1, 3 and a 4 seed. Teams that needed miracles to make it as an at-large have won it all.

In the 16 tournaments since the NCAA expanded the field to 16 teams, 4 schools have won for the first time, Providence, Yale, Union and Minnesota Duluth and it's been 4 years since the last school claimed their first ever title. Time for another program to step up.