~~2017-18 Big Ten Hockey Thread~~

[Brutus Buckeye]

Heading into February...

Standings

Rankings

Pts/GP

42/16 #1Notre Dame
31/16 #5Ohio State
25/18 #18Wisconsin
24/18 #20Michigan
24/18 #17Penn State
23/18 #12Minnesota
11/16 Michigan State

[Brutus Buckeye]

Week 19

Notre Dame went 1-0-1-1 vs Penn St on the road. 

Wisconsin split with Michigan on the road. 

Michigan St split with Ohio St on the road. 

[ELA]

MSUs offensive stats are skewed by their once ever three weeks offensive explosion.

[Brutus Buckeye]

Week 20

Notre Dame split with Ohio St at home

Michigan went 1-0-1-1 vs Michigan St, H-A 

Minnesota swept Wisconsin on the road 

[MichiFan87]

Supposedly, if Michigan sweeps Arizona State and wins the first-round series in the Big Ten tournament, they should make the NCAA tournament....

[Brutus Buckeye]

Week 21

Notre Dame got swept by Michigan, H-A

Penn State split with Michigan St on the road

Ohio State went 0-1-1-1 vs Minnesota on the road


--------------

Only one week to go in the regular season.
Minnesota @ Penn St, Wisconsin @ Ohio St, Michigan St @ Notre Dame, Arizona State @ Michigan 

1 Notre Dame 50 pts
2 Ohio State 39
3 Michigan 38 (Final)
4 Minnesota 33
5t Penn St 28
5t Wisconsin 28
7 Michigan St 18

[ELA]

Some positive signs.  I think down the stretch, MSU got a tie with UM, and split weekend series with OSU, UW and PSU

[HailHailMSP]

It's about that time of year to look at the playoff picture. The Pairwise ranking is the only thing that matters, as it directly mimics the quantitative formula used by the NCAA. At this point the B1G sits in these spots:

#2 Notre Dame - Safely in as a 1 or 2 seed
#6 Ohio State - Safely in. Could land anywhere from a 1 to a 3 seed
#8 Minnesota - Would require a total meltdown to fallout. Im too lazy to do the Pairwise predictor, but I would assume any win or tie in the Penn State series or B1G tourney should lock them in. Probably will land on the 2 or 3 line.

#11 Michigan - Huge sweep against Notre Dame. Safely in at this point. Any hiccups against lowly Arizona State could really drop them though, given how low they sit in the Pairwise. A sweep against ASU is a likely clincher.

#17 Penn State - out right now. Has significant work to do. Needs a weekend sweep against MN at home, and a deep run in the B1G tourney. The need to move up 3 to 4 spots to get above the line, and account for auto bids.

There are some big names on the outside looking in right now. BC, BU, Miami, and Colorado College. North Dakota and Western are also on the cusp. Should be an interesting 2-3 weeks.

[ELA]

Big Ten has recovered nicely (plus the addition of ND) after a couple of REALLY down years.

[HailHailMSP]

3 to 4 teams making the tourney would be a good shot in the arm for the conference.

It would be nice to see Penn State host, since they are a host site in Allentown.

I would rather not see the Gophers in Sioux Falls if UND is in the tourney. They will be hosting that region as a possible 3 or 4 seed. Bizarre that they are hosting at a site that is a 5+ hour drive from their campus in Grand Forks. The NCAA will definitely bunch the two though if they get a chance. It will sell out a regional site for the weekend.

[ELA]

I can't believe they still haven't just gone to the 1 seeds hosting.

[HailHailMSP]

I can't believe they still haven't just gone to the 1 seeds hosting.

agree. Seems foolish, and also unfair to a 1 seed that plays a great season and has to go into the lions den with a bunch of Sioux fans at a site they are hosting. It also would guarantee a nice gate for the NCAA to have 1's hosting.
At least the B1G has made some sense of it with high seeds now hosting throughout for the conference tourney. 2 , 3, and 4 will host 5,6, and 7 in best of three's. Notre Dame will get the first weekend off. Then it goes single elim at top seed sites the next weekend, followed by a championship.

[Brutus Buckeye]

Speaking of the Big Ten Tourney, there's a lot of seeding that needs to be sorted out.

Notre Dame has clinched the 1 seed, while MSU has clinched the 7.

Ohio State appears to have sewn up the 2, as the only team that can tie them at this point is Minnesota. OSU went 2-1-1-1 vs The Gophers, assuming that the H-H is the tiebreaker. 

Seeds 3-6 are still interesting.

Michigan basically has the three seed locked up, although The Gophers can knock them down to a 4 with a sweep of PSU. 

If instead the Gophers are swept by Penn State, then PSU would pass Minnesota in the standings.

Wisconsin can also pass the Gophers by sweeping OSU; assuming that the Gophers are swept by PSU.

That would create a tie between the Badgers and Lions. Those two each went 1-1-2-1 against each other, and I have no idea what the next tie breaker would be. 

[Brutus Buckeye]

Week 22; Game 1

Notre Dame beat Michigan State

Penn State beat Minnesota

Ohio State beat Wisconsin

Michigan beat Arizona State