So the pairings are up:
Harvard at (1) Wisconsin
St. Lawrence at (4) New Hampshire
Boston College at (3) Dartmouth
Minnesota-Duluth at (2) Mercyhurst
As mentioned in previous editions, this was the best bracket in terms of avoiding intraconference matchups, but not the best in terms of bracket integrity.
This is the first time the NCAA had to face such a tradeoff in the eight-team D-I tournament, so it was interesting to see how it turned out. In round one of bracket integrity vs. avoiding intraconference matchups, the winner is avoiding intraconference matchups.
It makes me wonder, in 2006, if there had been no ECACHL tournament upset and BC was the last team in, would BC have been sent to No. 1 UNH as the bracket would suggest, or would the Wildcats have been given then-No. 7 Mercyhurst instead (clearly a much tougher assignment that season)?
The question still remains whether the committee felt justified in swapping BC and Harvard because BC had the head-to-head victory, or if the committee would have done it regardless. Until next year.
