The NCAA tournament bracket was announced Sunday, it can be found here:
West Regional in Sioux Falls, SD:
No. 1 St. Cloud State vs No. 4 Air Force
No. 2 Minnesota State vs No. 3 University of Minnesota Duluth
Midwest Regional in Allentown, PA
No. 1 Ohio State vs No. 4 Princeton:
No. 2 Denver vs No. 3 Penn State
Northeast Regional in Worcester:
No. 1 Cornell vs No. 4 Boston University
No. 2 Michigan vs No. 3 Northeastern
East Regional in Bridgeport, CT
No. 1 Notre Dame vs No. 4 Michigan Tech
No. 2 Providence vs No. 3 Clarkson
Matt will be back later this week to breakdown the BU and Cornell matchup
GREAT MATCHUPS IN EVERY BRACKET BUT THEY SAYINH THIS IS THE MOST HIGH END TALENTED ONE.. GO BU!!
what a difference a weekend makes. last weekend i had my reservations that they could win the HE title. this weekend, more optimistic. this is a tough bracket. 4 good teams
The good news is every team we have faced is a good team since the playoffs started. The bad news is every team going forward is going to be good. I think BU matches up well against Cornell if we can sustain the cycle down low like we did in the second half of the game in November we will be fine. One thing that hurt us in that game was defensive break downs we have gotten so much better since then. This team has been improving since the second half has started which is a credit to the coaches and the players working on constantly crafting there trade. This team is playing with tremendous confidence something they did not have in November. Looking forward to watching this team play this weekend. I’m glad a lot of the negative blogs have stopped. It’s quite the accomplishment for this team to make the national tournament.🐾
Now that the Terriers have won a major Tourney and are in the NCAAs we can look back at the season as being a successful one. So far only the Beanpot has alluded us.
That being said the terriers will be up against competition that has already beaten them this season, mostly in the first half when we were not playing well. Now that the club has pulled together and is playing better( up to the standards of the preseason polls) I believe the boys are up for the challenge this time around. Northeastern would pose the most dangerous one, not only because they have an excellent team with 2 of the top scorers in the country but also because we have not really been competitive against them this season ( surprisingly because NU is a program against which BU has dominated in the all-time series). Of course we have to beat an excellent Cornell just to get there but the Terriers generally play well against them and Cornell may be a bit off form having just lost to Princeton.
A run to the final may be in the cards with eventual semifinalists like Notre dame, Clarkson, or Providence not beyond the Terriers capabilities of beating. We’ll see.
Vito,
I agree with the majority of your comments. However please do not look past Cornell. They are big fast and strong. It will be quite an accomplishment if B.U. can defeat them. They have not defeated a team of this caliber to date. It is certainly possible but please lets not get ahead of ourselves.
Hi Frozen,
I’m certainly not looking past the Big Red. They have an excellent record are big and strong but play a very defensively oriented system from what i’ve seen of them, and don’t score much. With the way the Terriers have been playing lately i think they can match that, especially up from with the grinding physical play from Tkachuk, Greenway, and Melanson (awesome in the HE Tourney). The terriers now really have 2 very good lines (Cockerill and Bowers playing very well also) and if the big O keeps his form I think BU can just nick it.
The real danger is NU because we still struggle in the D zone at times getting the puck out and prolonged periods there with the snipers NU has will kill the Terriers ( i think that’s why they have dominated us in the 3 games to date), and Bu must not take penalties if they end up playing them, that is for sure.
Vito, besides that amazingly talented first line that NU has, please don’t forget that they have the 2018 Hockey East Goaltender of the Year too … in Cayden Primeau.
Vito,
I was at MSG and Cornell dominated for the first 32 minutes. Unfortunately by the time B.U. woke up it was 3-0. Their goals were do to a good forechecking , bad turnovers and undisciplined penalties.
B.U. can certainly beat them if they execute and play smart. I am not even thinking about Sunday until B U wins.
Michigan is not a walk over game for Northeastern. They will have there hands full.
Frozen,
Speaking of Michigan, just looking at their results this year, they have lost to teams such as Ferris state, Michigan state, Wisconsin twice, and Bowling Green ( none of which made the NCAA torney) and yet they are ranked at 10th in the USCHO poll ahead of BU with an inferior record. How can this be?, or is it just a bad year for college hockey
Vito, good observation about the teams in the NCAA here. I do not see any outstanding teams but many good ones. Again, if Jake does not give up the easy one and we stay on the forecheck I saw last week we can beat anybody. Some young players are starting to come into their own I believe. It may have taken this long. No one is a freshman now.
Vito, Son of CC
Michigan played in a conference that played well out side the league. Notre Dame and Ohio State are top seeded teams in their bracket. Also Michigan beat Notre Dame twice during the regular season. On the other hand Hockey East struggled in non conference games .( including B.U.)
No disrespect to Jake but the Cornell goaltender has been nominated for the Richter award. He clearly is one of the best in the country.
However I still believe it will be a close game with an upset a distinct possibility.
Clearly Cornell’s goalie has had a superior performance over Jake and the rest of the D-1 goalies when you consider the season as a whole. Perhaps though, what might be more important is recent history/momentum … which is clearly on Jake’s side. Go Terriers!