NCAA Hockey Tournament could change. . .
Inside College Hockey tweeted this link yesterday about a possible change to the NCAA Hockey tournament. If a change is passed it can't happen until the 2011-2012 season. There are supposedly many proposals but according to the article the most popular is keeping the tournament at 16 teams but making the first round a best of 3 series at the better seeded teams home arena. Then have 2 super regional sites for the quarterfinals and then the normal Frozen four.
I really like this idea because any NCAA Hockey Tourney game in Yost that I have attended has been great.
http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/160574/group/homepage/
I support, I like the idea of home games for the higher seeds in the opening round. Doesn't make sense to stage them in Fort Wayne, et al.
This would make it a little easier for better team to move on, which I like a lot. No more craziness like Michigan getting ousted by the last team in the tournament (Air Force) anymore.
Plus, this would generate move revenue for the universities, which can't hurt!
I like it, contingent on the way super-regional sites are selected. If it's yet more St. Louis's and Albany's, it'll just be more of the same 50-person crowds in sub-par, distant markets because the NCAA is afraid that ::gasp:: a loud and boistrous crowd might show up and provide ::gasp:: a competitive advantage for one of the teams.
As regionals in Colorado Springs, Denver, Grand Forks, and Minneapolis attest, the NCAA is only afraid of the competitive advantage in Ann Arbor. Probably because we have the audacity to use that advantage to beat higher seeds.
But location is awesome, too. I like the idea of being at home when we're a #1 seed like normal. Hopefully they decide to at least make both the first round best-of-three, even if only the first one is at campus locations.
A single elimination hockey tournament where the top seed is often put in locations where they are at a competitive disadvantage is simply an awful idea.
The change I'd love to see...competent officiating !!!!!!!!!