I love the playoffs

… Which is obviously why I’m writing a random, rambling Saturday night post.

First of all, as it appears right now, I really dropped the ball on my picks. Of course, the last few weeks had been pretty good so go figure. While the law of averages didn’t catch up with the Beavers this weekend, it obviously did with me.

So. As of right now (8:35 p.m. Mountain), we have half of our Final Five field set:
– North Dakota
– Bemidji State
– Alaska-Anchorage

The Fighting Sioux making it is really no big surprise. Michigan Tech put up a much better fight tonight, but UND is steamrolling right now.

Bemidji State becomes our first league newbie to make the Final Five as they swept UNO, owning them this season (5-0-1 including playoffs).

Alaska-Anchorage continues their surprising season, making the Final Five for the first time in seven years (effectively taking my challenge and proving me wrong for my Minnesota pick. Not that they read that. Well, maybe … I did hear from a coach this past week that he wasn’t going to read the picks this weekend so the result would be a surprise, since I’d nailed his team’s results for a few weeks straight. No, I’m not naming him.).

Someone made a comment up in the DU press box (where I’m currently sitting) that, so far, the Final Five is shaping up to be awful. One could say that, given that one of the main attendance draws will be sitting at home on the other side of the Mississippi. However, I think it’ll be exciting seeing some new blood with the new tourney format.

Back to watching DU/MSU (MSU’s currently up 1-0, though DU’s done about everything BUT score) while keeping my eyes peeled on the WCHA scoreboard (UMD/SCSU’s in OT!) and getting text updates from a friend at the CC/UW game.

This time of year is awesome, and I plan on enjoying every second.