Frozen ForeCast

Enjoy all the great hockey tonight! I'll be back tomorrow with an updated bracket.

Penn State on the bubble at 14 makes Allentown a better regional, and with the way they've been playing down the stretch, I would imagine they stay put.

Fargo also looks like it will shape up well, especially if Minnesota State gets placed there. If North Dakota finds a way to get into the tournament as a 4 seed, Minnesota vs. UND in Fargo would be MASSIVE. Imagine if that could be a home regional at Marriucci 🤯

I really like how these regionals are shaping up. Manchester should have great attendance. Toledo is good, but wish there was a way to get Western over there.

Here's the 16 qualifying teams as of today. Will be fund to see how this list changes if/when there are any major upsets in the conference tournaments over the next few weeks.

#MFrozenFour #bracketology #37 Updated after the 3 @hockeyeast.bsky.social games last night.

So considering first round conference matchups are allowed, I figured, fuck it, and built this monster. Thoughts?

This would be a terrible bracket considering the "playoff-type atmosphere" priotity would be atrocious in all of these regionals.

So, since Hockey East has 7(!) teams in the tournament, first round conference matchups are allowed in order to keep the natural seeding order (1v16, 2v15, etc.) So with that in mind. Here's the bracket with the natural seeding order.

The seedings and pairings "If five or more teams from one conference are selected to the championship, then the integrity of the bracket will be protected"

Ok. The bracket I put together after the games on Friday 2/21 is a little wild. So before you start pointing out my mistakes, read on🧵

Get your shit together NCAA, and do what the fans AND PLAYERS want! This is how you grow the damn game!

Not having home site regionals is missing out on the greatest possible atmospheres sports can offer. Instead we get half-empty arenas and zero vibes for the most important games in the careers of these young athletes.

Potential second round home site regional matchups could be
Boston University at Boston College
Michigan at Michigan State
Denver at Minnesota

Dreaming of home site regionals....
@minnstmhockey.bsky.social at Minnesota
Quinnipiac at Maine

Denver +3 to #7 after shutting out North Dakota

Providence +1 to #6 after beating Boston University who dropped down to a 3 seed (#9)

IN - UMASS after beating #1 Boston College
OUT - Arizona Stateafter losing in OT to @umdmenshockey.bsky.social

#MFrozenFour #bracketology #33 heading into games on Saturday 2/15. Some shifting around after some upsets last night 👀🧵

Top 16 - USCHO's pairwise rankings + conference leaders by conference winning %

We're really in the homestretch of the season now. Here's my #MFrozenFour #bracketology #32 heading into tonight's games.

Top 16 -USCHO's pairwise rankings + conference leaders by conference game winning %

#MFrozenFour #bracetology #31 heading into Friday night's games

#2 Minnesota vs. #4 Michigan State ended in a 3-3 tie. Sparty takes the extra point in the shootout. Crazy stat from
@gopherpucklive.bsky.social, @evegoe.bsky.social, and @gophergamenotes (on X) - Minnesota hasn't scored a single shootout goal in 23 attempts, dating back to February 14, 2020.

#27 North Dakota shuts out #7 St. Cloud 2-0 North Dakota has historically been a great 2nd half team. I'm wondering if we're seeing the start of that here.

Some notes from big games last night:

#19 Colorado College came back to beat #8 Denver 5-4 after being down 3-0.

#14 New Hampshire and #15 Dartmouth skated to a 3-3 tie.

#32 Wisconsin downs #9 Michigan 4-0. The Wolverines have now been shut out in 3 straight games.

Here's the current top 16, using USCHO's #pairwise rankings and the top team from each conference based on winning % in conference games

#MFrozenFour #bracketology #29 heading into Saturday's games

Latest top 16 as well.