Final Bracketology: One last look figuring out which 16 teams will play for the 2021 national college hockey championship

Shane Pinto and North Dakota are a lock for the NCAA tournament, but do Bobby Brink and Denver make it as well? (photo: Mark Kuhlmann).

We’ve seen all six conference tournaments completed and here are both Jayson’s and Jim’s fields, as well as how they place them into regionals.

It’s amazing how controversial this year has been but how close Jayson and Jim are with their final fields. How they move teams around, though, is very much different.

Jayson: Here are the locks for the tournament thus far in my eyes – 14 teams.

AIC
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Michigan
Quinnipiac
St. Lawrence
Boston College
Massachusetts
North Dakota
St. Cloud State
Minnesota Duluth
Minnesota State
Bemidji State
Lake Superior State

Now let’s look at the true bubble teams. I count eight of them looking for two spots.

Army
Notre Dame
Boston University
Providence
Connecticut
Denver
Omaha
Bowling Green

Last week I thought that Army, Providence, Connecticut and Bowling Green would be at the bottom of the bubble. That doesn’t change.

That leaves four teams for two spots.

I want to apply some numbers to what I am looking at here. Let’s take a look at some of the records of these teams against locks or bubble teams that are above them in seedings or standings.

Notre Dame (0-3-1 vs Wisconsin, 2-2 vs Minnesota, 2-2 vs Michigan)

Omaha (2-4-0 vs North Dakota, 1-1 vs SCSU, 0-1-1 vs UMD)

Denver (2-5 vs NoDak, 0-2 vs SCSU, 0-2 vs UMD)

BU (1-1 vs BC, 2-0 vs UMass)

My ranking of the four bubble teams at this moment.

Boston University
Omaha
Notre Dame
Denver

The only change I have made is Denver. After looking at it, the overall record doesn’t support Denver being so high. Therefore, I have put them last on this bubble.

Taking the top two on the list, my 16 teams are:

AIC
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Michigan
Quinnipiac
St. Lawrence
Boston College
Massachusetts
Boston University
North Dakota
St. Cloud State
Minnesota Duluth
Omaha
Minnesota State
Bemidji State
Lake Superior State

Let’s rank the teams.

My top four teams are:

North Dakota
Boston College
Minnesota
Wisconsin

My second band includes:

Minnesota State
St Cloud State
Quinnipiac
Minnesota Duluth

My third band includes:

Michigan
Massachusetts
Omaha
Boston University

My fourth band includes:

Lake Superior
Bemidji State
AIC
St. Lawrence

Let’s bracket.

Fargo – North Dakota
Bridgeport – Boston College
Albany – Wisconsin
Loveland – Minnesota

Second Band:

Fargo – Minnesota State
Bridgeport – Quinnipiac
Albany – St. Cloud
Loveland – Minnesota Duluth

Third Band:

Fargo – Omaha
Bridgeport – Boston University
Albany – Massachusetts
Loveland – Michigan

Fourth Band

Fargo – Bemidji State
Bridgeport – AIC
Albany – St. Lawrence
Loveland – Lake Superior

My brackets:

Fargo
Bemidji State vs North Dakota
Omaha vs. Minnesota State

Albany
St. Lawrence vs. Wisconsin
Massachusetts vs. St. Cloud

Bridgeport
AIC vs. Boston College
Boston University vs. Quinnipiac

Loveland
Lake Superior vs. Minnesota
Michigan vs. Minnesota Duluth

And that would be my bracket.

Jim: I see a lot of similarity to your bracket. I am going to seed mine, though:

1. North Dakota
2. Minnesota
3. Boston College
4. Massachusetts (major difference from Jayson)
5. Wisconsin
6. Minnesota State
7. St. Cloud State
8. Minnesota Duluth
9. Quinnipiac
10. Michigan
11. Bemidji State
12. Boston University
13. AIC
14. Lake Superior
15. Connecticut
16. St. Lawrence

My only difference between your field and mine is Connecticut vs. Omaha. And for me, it is hair splitting. I think the committee will have a difficult time. Which conference deserves the extra team – Hockey East or NCHC.

So I need to make a comparison:

At 10-11-2, UConn doesn’t look impressive. But they also played UMass three times at 0-2-1, Boston College four times going 1-1-2, Boston University once getting a tie and Providence four times, going 2-2-0. Decent against the best of the best.

Omaha, at 14-10-1 was excellent as well. They were 2-4-0 vs. North Dakota, 0-1-1 vs. Minnesota Duluth, 2-3-0 vs. Denver and 1-1-0 vs. St. Cloud State. UConn played 12-of-23 games (52.1%) vs. the top teams in their conference and Omaha played 15-of-25 (60%). But UConn’ winning percentage was .417 while Omaha’s was .366.

So, my last spot goes to UConn, the only difference in our field.

Now, our rankings are a little off.

But here is my field. I am having a difficult time placing Connecticut outsaid their home state, but to make the top seed, North Dakota, play a lower seed is fine, and I avoid UConn facing Boston College in Bridgeport.

Here we go:

Fargo Regional:
Connecticut vs. North Dakota
Bemidji State vs. Minnesota Duluth

Loveland Regional:
Lake Superior vs. Minnesota
St. Cloud State vs. Michigan

Albany Regional:
AIC vs. Massachusetts
Boston University vs. Minnesota State

Bridgeport Regional:
St. Lawrence vs. Boston College
Quinnipiac vs. Wisconsin

That’s what we both have right now. We will see what is realistic at 7 p.m. EST Sunday when the selections are announced on ESPNU.