Post #32 — 3/8/21 — The Road To Erie – NCAA Tournament Bracket Set

In This Post…

  • Recruiting Rule of The Day
  • NCAA Field of 8 Announced

Recruiting Rule of The Day…

Question: At the conclusion of the temporary COVID-19 recruiting dead period, will recruiting
calendars remain the same?

Answer: Institutions must follow each sport’s recruiting calendar and recruiting periods. The
Council is committed to providing clarity regarding permissible recruiting activities beginning
June 1 (e.g., camps and clinics) as soon as possible, and not later than its April 14-15 meeting.
The extension of the temporary COVID-19 dead period reflects the ongoing uncertainty
surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and concerns regarding in-person interaction among
prospective student-athletes, institutional staff and student-athletes. The extension also provides
the membership and prospective student-athletes clarity about recruiting activities for, in many
cases, the remainder of the 2021 spring academic term. [Updated to reflect the current timeline
for Council action on the temporary COVID-19 recruiting dead period.]

NCAA Tournament Field of 8 Announced…

The NCAA Tournament field is set and 8 teams will compete for the Women’s Ice Hockey National Collegiate Championship. The NCAA made the announcement Sunday evening at 9pm est. via a streaming broadcast on NCAA.com – you can watch the video of the announcement HERE and bracket HERE.

Absent as part of the broadcast was any rationale as to why the selection committee went with certain teams over others. Two teams that are certainly disappointed to not make the field are Minnesota and Penn State. The Gophers end it’s 13-year run of consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. Penn State meanwhile, was nationally ranked for much of the season in both polls-as high as 7th, went 16-3-2 on the year.

More to come this week with conference tournament recaps, NCAA quarter-final matchups, and how this field of 8 came to be.

Until Next Time… Have a great weekend everyone!

Streaming Info

-Streams for games in the ECAC can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games in the ECAC.

-Streams in the WCHA can be found HERE for homes games at Bemidji, MSU-Mankato, MN-Duluth, and St. Cloud. Streams for home games at Minnesota, Ohio St., and Wisconsin can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games in the WCHA.

Streams in Hockey East this year can be found HERE and all streams FREE of charge for the 20-21 season.

-Streams for CHA games with the exception of Penn St. home games can be found HERE. Penn St. home game are streamed on the Big Ten Network + and can be found HERE.

3 comments

  • In your opinion, what factors into the decision to take BC vs Minnesota?

    • This year was unlike any other for the committee. The traditional math of the NPI used in the selection process was less credible. The eye test and subjectivity became much more important in turning out the field.

      I’m looking for separators or distinctions based on each teams’ body of work during the season.
      -BC only beat Northeastern once, as well as Providence… those are the only wins BC had vs. teams that got into the tournament
      -BC had 14 wins this season out of 19 games for a .777 winning %
      -BC lost twice to Providence and once to NU, teams that made the tournament
      -MN had 11 wins out of 20 games for a .605 winning %
      -MN lost 8 games to teams that made the tourney, 4 to Wisco, 4 to Ohio State
      -MN had 4 wins vs. team in the tourney, 2 vs. Duluth, 1 vs. OSU, and 1 vs. Wisco

      VS. MN… BC had 2 wins vs. teams in the tournament, 1 vs. #1 seed NU, less overall losses during the season and to teams in the tournament, as well as a higher overall winning %.

      • Thank you for taking the time to help me understand. I appreciate it and will share how this works with the girls.

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