College Hockey:
Big Ten postseason tournaments to rotate between St. Paul, Detroit

USCHO Staff Report • April 19, 2012

The Big Ten announced Thursday that the conference’s postseason tournaments will be held at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., in 2014 and 2016, and at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit in 2015 and 2017.

The inaugural tournament is slated for March 20-22, 2014.

Tournament play will feature all six teams — Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin — in a single-elimination format. Thursday’s quarterfinals will feature the No. 3 seed facing the No. 6 seed and the No. 4 seed facing the No. 5 seed. The top two seeds will open tournament play in the Friday semifinals, with the No. 1 seed against either the No. 4 or 5 seed and the No. 2 seed facing the No. 3 or 6 seed. The championship game will be held on Saturday.

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Yooperhockey
I can’t wait till the New WCHA plays the new tournament in International Falls Minnesota.
Thanks, Denver, CC, North Dokata and the Big 10.
What of the New WCHA teams is going to fold first?
- Scpa0305
  What about St. Cloud and Duluth…pretty much every decent team in the WCHA???
- Scpa0305
  Owe sarcasm….I get it. I read your terrible writing too quickly.
collegehockeyfan
yawn!
Thericefamily
Detroit is a big mistake. No one will show up. Didn’t they look at how many attended the CCHA Tournament games there in recent years? Lots and lots of empty seats – even with Michigan there. Looked terrible in tv with all the empty seats.
- Yooperhockey
  Grand ForKs would be better than Detroit.
  - Guest
    Another dumb North Dakota fan commenting on something that has nothing to do with them…
    Have fun in your new conference, with less money
    - Hobbesx27
      TV is misleading…. while the CCHA tourney hasn’t come close to selling out the Joe in the past couple years there are more fans than what appear on TV… Prices keeps students and people in the upper regions of the stadium. Its too bad! How often do you pay 50 to sit on the glass at the Joe? :D
      - Lakes18
        Prices were never a problem for us at the WCHA Final Five tournament. We all payed and still went, and the Xcel is a much nicer arena then the Joe!
        Lame excuse
    - guest
      Really that is what you have to say to the previous comment. Makes your self look pitiful dude.
Zach
If M or MSU is there the Joe will sell out.
- Lakes18
  Are you serious? They couldn’t sell out the Joe when Michigan and Michigan State played in the CCHA tournament.
  Big mistake by the Big Ten.
- Mr Hockey
  I hope they’re there all teams make the tourney!
  - JamesDee
    I hope they let the New WCHA teams in the Big 10 tourney because the Big loves UAA, Alaska, NMU, MTU, LSSU, Bemdji, Mankato and FSU.
    What a great tourney that would be if New is invited.
Chappydotvom
I think they should have held them in chicago. Neutral site and central location.
- Lakes18
  Yeah with lots of empty seats. Think before you speak please. Chicago doesn’t even have college hockey!
Woody Hayes
How can you have a BIG 10 with 6 teams?
- Bo
  Or 12?
Sivgopher
Im assuming in 2015&17 the new wcha could play at the x but where do they play on the 2014&16 anyone have any ideas also the kohl center might have been better then Detroit we will have to wait to see on that
- Badgerpux
  The Bradley Center in Milwaukee would also be an option.
- guest
  The New WCHA would be dumb to play at the X. There is no way in hell BSU or Mankato fans will come close to making it even remotely full.
  - UpNorthHockey
    The nWCHA is unlikely to have a neutral site tourney. These small school fanbases travel in the hundreds, not thousands. The only way to ensure decent revenue is to have the tourney at the top seed arenas. All the nWCHA ADs know this. I disagree with JamesDee that the loss of revenue will kill any nWCHA programs. Most small/medium college sport programs don’t generate revenue. The old WCHA revenue was nice to have, but its absence won’t fold any established programs. I would guess that MTU’s program relied less than 10% on shared league revenue.
Joe Paterno
The only thing that will make this tournament exciting is if Penn State wins it the first year.
- JamesDee
  I hope it. Is on the Big 10 Network tape-delayed in middle of the night.
Bobby Knight
I’m hoping the Indiana Hoosiers take it all!
Tom Osborne
Is there any other Big 10 sport that has only 6 members?
tiger98
I’m curious, are any other tourneys played with the quarters the day before the semis and then the championship a day later? I mean, 3-6 would have to play 3 straight nights to win it. When most teams would have enough steam to play a second night in a row, would a third be too much? I know it’s only 1 extra game, but against a fresher #1 or 2, shouldn’t there at least be 1 rest day in between the quarterfinals and the semis? # 1 & 2 are already getting a bye. I guess I’m just used to the quarters being a weekend before. Never heard of this format before. 3 days would make for an action-packed tournament, though.
- me
  That is basically the same format the WCHA uses now.
Spanky
Hopefully the NCHC follows suit and does thier tourny at the Xcel in 2015 and 2017 and do Pepesi Center in Denver for 2014 and 2016. The new WCHA will have to do thiers somewhere in Michigan since the new WCHA will have 4 Michigan teams and no way BSU or Mankato fans will be able to fill an arena in MN.
- JamesDee
  I heard NCHC is looking at a UP site in Michigan because Colorado fans travel well to Michigan.
  The Superior Dome in Marqutte has been rumored as a site for the NCHC Playoff site.
  - collegehockeyfan
    Yikes, anywhere in Wisconsin without Madison being in the tournament would yield HORRIBLE attendance results. The best bet is The X or the Pepsi Center.
JamesDee
I can’t wait till the New WCHA plays the New tournament in International Falls Minnesota.
Also we have to thank the Big 10, Denver, CC, and North Dokata for this.
Who do we blame when the New WCHA teams start folding because nobody wants to play the BUSH league teams? The money will run dry.
- WCHA Fan
  The only so called Bush League I am aware of, if there is one at all, is Atlantic Hockey. The New WCHA, which I am assuming you are referring to, has many teams with storied hockey programs and adoring, hockey crazy fans.
  Matter of fact, in only the Division I era of the programs, they collectively are responsible for the following:
  * 27 Regular Season Conference Championships
  * 24 Conference Tournament Championships
  * 48 NCAA Tournament Appearances
  * 21 Frozen Four Appearances (Including 2012 and 2009)
  * 8 National Championships
  While some teams have had much more success, these numbers suggest that the WCHA teams have been, and should continue to be successful against the others.
  Second, unlike North Dakota, (who recruits most players from out of state) most schools in the WCHA are in HOCKEY COUNTRY… Minnesota and Michigan kids often learn to skate before they learn to walk… Hockey is life in many Northern Minnesota and Northern Michigan cities and towns. New rivalries will produce themselves and the fans will remain. Only thing left will be the long faces of the NCHC and B1G fans when they are knocked out of the tournament by one of these SO CALLED Bush teams…
  Here’s to the WCHA today, in 2013, and many years to come.
  - Lakes18
    Using the WCHA name is a joke in itself! It’s not the WCHA, it means the new league bosses are lazy and grabbing at straws to keep name branding.
    Really you couldn’t come up with your own name? ITS NOT THE WCHA!
gophersnotgolfers
They should draw well at the x but I can’t see them drawing as well as the current WCHA. All 5 MN schools, ND and to a lesser extent WI have a large % of alum living in the twin cities.
To me it makes sense for the NCHL (or whatever they are calling that league) to try and use the x as well.
Curious
Does the Big Ten have to wait a few years to get an autobid?
- patrickolson
  No.
  - Curious
    Why not? NCAA rule book says teams have to play together as a league for two years in a specific sport before getting an autobid.
    - patrickolson
      They already announced that the winner of the post-season tournament gets an auto-bid. I’m sure it was part of the agreement for becoming the Big-10 conference. I’m sure the NCAA can make exceptions. I can’t see Wisconsin, Michigan, or Minnesota agreeing to the new conference otherwise. As much as I don’t like the new Big-10, it does better align with all the other sports (from the NCAA perspective).
      - Curious
        Not to beat a dead horse but the very next rule in the rule book says “there are no waivers of the two year waiting period”. Even though the Big Ten exists in other sports the hockey teams don’t have an organized schedule of playing each other every year – and they only have five teams at the moment. I would think Penn State would have to play for two years for the conference to meet the requirements. I think the Ivy schools would have a better shot at meeting the requirements for an immediate autobid were they to split from the ECAC. They already have six schools playing the sport and they already play a league schedule within the ECAC.
        Anyway, it’s not like the Big Ten needs the autobid. They will get a few teams in at-large. The autobid only helps teams on the outside of the Pairwise cutoff.
      - patrickolson
        I completely get where you are coming from, and don’t disagree with your question/analysis. I just know what has been said. Who knows how it happened or what was agreed to. They probably found a loophole some where that makes it happen. /shrug

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