CSNbbs

http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/...en/d1/2012

Old Alignment Bids

Hockey East (3) - UMass-Lowell, BC, UNH
ECAC (3) - Quinnipiac, Yale, Union
Atlantic Hockey (2) - Canisius, Niagara
CCHA (2) - Miami, Notre Dame
WCHA (6) - North Dakota, Minnesota, St Cloud St, Denver, Wisconsin, Minnesota St-Mankato

New Alignment

Hockey East (4) - UMass-Lowell, BC, UNH, Notre Dame
ECAC (3) - Quinnipiac, Yale, Union
Atlantic Hockey (2) - Canisius, Niagara
NCHC - (4) North Dakota, Denver, St Cloud St, Miami
Big Ten (2) - Minnesota, Wisconsin
WCHA (1) - Minnesota St-Mankato

Michigan misses NCAAs for first time in 20 years.
North Dakota, with 12 consecutive appearances, and Miami, with 7 appearances, are new leaders.

Big Ten will not have an autobid for two years. This year, Wisconsin needed the WCHA autobid to advance.
NCHC will have an autobid immediately, as six teams have been together in the WCHA for the required years.

Lots of balance between the conferences in the new alignment with the WCHA apparently a loser in all this.

The Frozen Four is in Pittsburgh this year and has perhaps the lowest profile group ever. No DI hockey championships between them.

UMass-Lowell
St Cloud St
Quinnipiac
Yale

Yale is the only schools with a Frozen Four in its history, and that was decades ago.

Having seen UMass - Lowell play in person at the Hockey East Championship Game, they look pretty legit.

(04-01-2013 03:31 PM)brista21 Wrote: [ -> ]Having seen UMass - Lowell play in person at the Hockey East Championship Game, they look pretty legit.

All in all, the best performers in the regular season did well in the NCAA playoffs. It's just that three relatively middling programs all broke out to an upper level in the same season.

UML won the regular season Hockey East title, St Cloud St tied with Minnesota for the regular season WCHA title, and Quinnipiac won the ECAC regular season title and was rated #1 for much of the season.

All three have committed significant resources to hockey, and it showed this season.

In third period, Yale is leading Quinnipiac, 2-0.


Interesting read on how Quinnipiac used athletics and facilities (new TD Bank Sports Center) to build it's profile:
http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/me...story.html