The picks and pairings have been announced. My thoughts:
Looks like they went strictly by seedings:
E1. Plattsburgh
E2. Amherst
E3. Hobart
E4. Elmira
E5. Neumann
E6. Nichols
E7. Babson
W1. UW-Superior
W2. UW-Stout
W3. St. Scholastica
W4. Gustavus Adolphus
It looks like St. Norbert was 4.3 seconds away from being about to defend its title. If Hobart beats Neumann, the Green Knights are in and the just plain Knights are out.
The East gets all three play-in games, which I said I didn’t think would happen, but, since the West has had its #2 seed in a play-in for the past few years, I guess the precedent was clear.
Other than maybe switching Hobart and Elmira, I would have made these same picks myself, although I thought could have been 6-5. But I guess the east has three play-in games in exchange for another team in the tournament.
