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Now that we are 1/2 way through the conference schedule it's time to take stock in the standings.

Current

1. NoDak 31
2. Duluth 23
3. Denver 22
4. WMU 19
5. St. Cloud 15
6. Omaha 12
7. Miami 12
8. CC 10

NoDak plays everyone 1 more series, except Miami. No chance for anyone to grab 11 or 12 points head to head vs. NoDak. This is a major advantage for NoDak in the race for the 1 seed. And soon should lock them up for a top 4.

Duluth Also plays everyone once except Miami. This might put them at a slight disadvantage to Denver (and us) for the top spot.

Denver has a much easier path and is the real threat to NoDak. Denver has 4 games against Miami, 2 vs. CC, and 2 vs. Omaha to go. That's 8 of the final 12 against the bottom of the league.

WMU is done with CC, but has 4 vs. Miami and 2 vs. Omaha to go. Giving them 1/2 of their games against the bottom 1/2. Only 2 of those are at home however. Westerns journey is a bit harder than Denvers. WMU does get Duluth at at home, and that might end up being a decider ultimately on 3rd place.

SCSU gets everyone once but Omaha. They are 1 sweep away from being in the convo for a top 4 seed. Much like WMU one little run makes or breaks them...but it's needed.

Miami lucks out with no NoDak or Duluth to finish, but it's not all sunshine for them, they have 8 games lined up vs. Denver and WMU no easy task. Miami will likely have to sweep one of the four series to have a shot at top 4...but they could play themselves into a 5 or 6 seed which certainly helps them going into the league tournament.

Omaha...gets no Denver and CC 4 times. So that should give them a slight edge over Miami.

CC...has no Miami or WMU the rest of the way. With so many top dogs left on the schedule the road looks tough for CC to rise any higher than 6th.

Right now nobody has been locked out of any spot in the order. But soon that will solidify. A lot of hockey left, but the final standings if predicted today based on past performance, and schedule remaining look like they could look like this.

1. NoDak
2. Denver
3. Duluth
4. WMU
5. SCSU
6. Omaha
7. Miami
8. CC

Check back next week when this prediction....predictably will be blown up and look different.

If the tourney were today.

NoDak v. CC
Denver v. Miami
Duluth v. Omaha
WMU v. SCSU

A WMU sweep this week, a NoDak sweep of Duluth, and a Denver split with Miami puts WMU in 2nd :)

If we play like we did vs CC minus a few stupid breakdowns, this team can beat anyone in the country. We CONVINCINGLY dominated CC two nights in a row. Yeah they're not Nodak or Duluth, but they are still a very decent NCHC team.

CC is a solid program, but not that solid so far this year. They are 0-5-1 combined against Duluth, Denver and WMU