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1. NoDak (No Change)
5. Duluth (Down 1)
6. Denver (Down 1)
15. WMU (No Change)
22. St. Cloud (Up 5 )
25. Omaha (UP 1)
41. CC (No Change)
43. Miami (Down 1)


A net change of +3 for the league. The big mover being St. Cloud who kept it's postseason dreams alive.

**Important reminder!!! The postseason tournaments will play a large role in the outcome for many teams in regard to at-large placement, number of at-large teams, and seeding. Given we don't know matchups clearly it's still a little muddy in some details.**

OK...with that said here we go.

1. NoDak, they are locked into the tourney and it appears can fall nor further than a 2 seed.
5. Duluth, it's a little fuzzy on them being a tourney lock at this time, but in practicality they are given the likely first round matchup against CC/Miami they should get in.
6. Denver, similar boat to Duluth but a tougher first round matchup makes it slightly less of a lock. But in reality the top 3 are likely all good for the tourney.

I'll get to WMU later.

22. St. Cloud has helped it'self, and is still in a position to play themselves in without winning the NCHC tourney. The difficulty of the remaining schedule is their biggest challenge but biggest ally. Their path likely allows them to lose 1 more game before the Frozen Faceoff. If they drop it in the regular season they need a 2-0 1st round win. Since that will be against WMU or Denver likely that's a tough challenge.

25. Omaha is in a world of hurt they likely have a mathematical chance, but I struggle to call them a bubble team now.

CC/Miami need to win the tourney.

15. WMU....last week we needed a split to keep control of our destiny, and we got it. A sweep would've been nice and gave us breathing room, but it didn't happen. The situation for WMU got "slightly" better too given a few teams in our pack struggled. There are still almost 30 teams that can play their way in so it's not quite cut and dry yet. WMU does control a lot of it's future. Still the best way to get in requires a split this weekend. A sweep of Miami and 2-3 wins in the tourney. I'm thinking 2-2 in the tourney would be enough right now though a 2-3 would be bad news.

Current 1-10 teams are in strong position to get in barring a major fluke. Teams 11-22 are true Bubble teams, along with #29 New Hampshire. Teams 23 on down (minus NH) are virtually dead now outside of winning an auto-bid.

So let's look at the true Bubble teams. 13 teams in that batch are vying for as many as 5 spots. But that number could shrink to 3 or 4.

We can break the bubble teams into 3 categories 1. Control Destiny, 2. True Bubble 3. Need help

1. Control Destiny team are Mass-Lowell, Bemidji, Northeastern, WMU, St. Cloud (assuming 5 get in)
2. True Bubble ASU, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Maine, New Hampshire
3. Need Help Michigan, Q, Providence

So now you know the group to root against, if the Group 3 teams struggle at any point they are done, the group 2 likely will fall into either category this week (ASU only goes up with a lot of help otherwise they fall to group 3 next week) The Group 1 is the major dog fight all of those teams have either the positioning or schedule on their side to lock themselves in regardless what others do...................AGAIN if there are 5 at large spots.

It's not impossible for a top 10 team to fall into the bubble group with a bad weekend and all the group 1 teams on fire this weekend.

For WMU this weekend, get the split (or better). A sweep puts us at the top of group 1, and half way to getting locked in. If we sweep I think we need 3 more wins to get locked in. A split this weekend will keep us in Group 1 and likely bump us up a couple spots. A loss and a tie will put us basically at the bottom of Group 1. If we get swept we will become a Group 2 team.

Last week a lot of schedules were tough, this week many of those teams in the Bubble family have friendlier/more opportunistic games.

Group 1 matchups
Bemidji @ Minn St. (tough matchup but much like our matchup high reward possible)
Mass Lowell H/H New Hampshire (this could eliminate NH, or put them and Lowell solidly in Group 2)
Denver @ St. Cloud ( if SCSU struggles they will fall out of group 1, they need both)
WMU @ NoDak (similar to the Bemidji scenario)
Northeastern @ Vermont (seems likely they stay locked into Group 1)

Great stuff Doo.

If this team plays well, we have a shot at a split, if we dont, we are in deep trouble. It is easy for good teams to get embarrassed at the ralph if they dont play well.

Really hope we can get the split!!! I think if we split we can climb up to 13 or so.

Latest Bracketology: https://www.ncaa.com/news/icehockey-men/..._Q5CJtmZvY

Has is in Loveland, CO regional vs Minnesota State along with Clarkson and Denver

(02-26-2020 01:53 PM)Broncodan Wrote:  Latest Bracketology: https://www.ncaa.com/news/icehockey-men/..._Q5CJtmZvY

Has is in Loveland, CO regional vs Minnesota State along with Clarkson and Denver

It would be great to make 12 or higher to be a #3 seed but that would almost certainly require one win at NoDak.

(02-26-2020 03:59 PM)Section4 Wrote:  

(02-26-2020 01:53 PM)Broncodan Wrote:  Latest Bracketology: https://www.ncaa.com/news/icehockey-men/..._Q5CJtmZvY

Has is in Loveland, CO regional vs Minnesota State along with Clarkson and Denver

It would be great to make 12 or higher to be a #3 seed but that would almost certainly require one win at NoDak.

Our best bet, IMO, is to match up with Cornell in round 1. They are the only #1 seed I would want.

Tempted to get the NCHC pass thing for our games this weekend.

(02-26-2020 06:11 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  Tempted to get the NCHC pass thing for our games this weekend.

I bought the mid-season pass back in December for $70.00, havent regretted it since. You get all the games. Its nice to watch Bronco games but I was able to watch the SCSU / ND games this weekend as well.

I hope they step up our production, because its not up to par with the others.

(02-26-2020 06:21 PM)Broncodan Wrote:  

(02-26-2020 06:11 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  Tempted to get the NCHC pass thing for our games this weekend.

I bought the mid-season pass back in December for $70.00, havent regretted it since. You get all the games. Its nice to watch Bronco games but I was able to watch the SCSU / ND games this weekend as well.

I hope they step up our production, because its not up to par with the others.

Go Broncos Go !! Go Broncos Go !!

(02-26-2020 06:21 PM)Broncodan Wrote:  

(02-26-2020 06:11 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  Tempted to get the NCHC pass thing for our games this weekend.

I bought the mid-season pass back in December for $70.00, havent regretted it since. You get all the games. Its nice to watch Bronco games but I was able to watch the SCSU / ND games this weekend as well.

I hope they step up our production, because its not up to par with the others.

Go Broncos Go !! Go Broncos Go !!

Sup what are your thoughts about our chances this weekend??

Praying for a Split

(02-26-2020 05:28 PM)Broncodan Wrote:  

(02-26-2020 03:59 PM)Section4 Wrote:  

(02-26-2020 01:53 PM)Broncodan Wrote:  Latest Bracketology: https://www.ncaa.com/news/icehockey-men/..._Q5CJtmZvY

Has is in Loveland, CO regional vs Minnesota State along with Clarkson and Denver

It would be great to make 12 or higher to be a #3 seed but that would almost certainly require one win at NoDak.

Our best bet, IMO, is to match up with Cornell in round 1. They are the only #1 seed I would want.

Agreed!

(02-26-2020 08:12 PM)Broncodan Wrote:  Sup what are your thoughts about our chances this weekend??

Praying for a Split

I can see a split coming . The Broncos are playing with some confidence right now and a belief that they can beat anybody .
A split and a tie is my hope but a split is more likely .

(02-27-2020 08:57 AM)Sup Wrote:  

(02-26-2020 08:12 PM)Broncodan Wrote:  Sup what are your thoughts about our chances this weekend??

Praying for a Split

I can see a split coming . The Broncos are playing with some confidence right now and a belief that they can beat anybody .
A split and a tie is my hope but a split is more likely .

A tie and a win gets us to #11 in pairwise.

(02-26-2020 06:11 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  Tempted to get the NCHC pass thing for our games this weekend.

I've had it since the season began. Production is clearly lacking, but it is nice to watch the games every weekend.

Vermont up 3-1 on Northeastern early.

Well got swept. At this point need to win the NCHC Tourney to get in, so season's pretty much over.

Maybe this season we can get a consolation win by winning the NCHC Tourney First Round? That's been hard to do, even at Lawson, lately.

Sweep MU, puts us at 17.

NCHC Round 1 puts us at 14, but risk getting jumped.

(03-01-2020 12:02 AM)Bronco14 Wrote:  Sweep MU, puts us at 17.

NCHC Round 1 puts us at 14, but risk getting jumped.

At this point, here is how I look at it:

Sweep Miami, sweep likely SCSU and beat Nodak in the semis in the frozen faceoff, we are in no matter what.

Getting swept makes the path very murky, but this team is still playing at a high level. Not dead yet.