March 21, 2004
INCH Power Rankings

Want further proof that this year's NCAA Tournament is up for grabs? The No. 1 spot in the INCH Power Rankings changed hands again this week. Another loss for any of the 16 remaining contenders and their season is over.

Here's how the Inside College Hockey editors and staff rank the rest of the nation's top teams (along with movement since last week and a note). You can let us know what you think, including your name and hometown, and we'll share your thoughts below (some feedback may be edited).

No.	Team		Of Note
1.	Maine	1	The Black Bears have won seven straight, the last five by one goal each.
30-7-3 (17-5-2 Hockey East). LAST WEEK: W vs. Boston University, 1-0; W vs. Massachusetts, 2-1 3ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Harvard.
2.	North Dakota	1	The last two times North Dakota played for the Broadmoor Cup (2000 and 2001), they advanced to the NCAA title game in the same season.
29-7-3 (20-5-3 WCHA). LAST WEEK: W vs. Alaska Anchorage, 4-2; L vs. Minnesota, 5-4. THIS WEEK: vs. Holy Cross.
3.	Minnesota	1	Until someone beats the Gophers, they're still the champs. And they way they've played lately, it doesn't look like they'll relinquish that title willingly.
26-13-3 (15-12-1 WCHA). LAST WEEK: W vs. Minnesota Duluth, 7-4; W vs. North Dakota, 5-4. THIS WEEK: vs. Notre Dame.
4.	Boston College	1	Eagles got to rest for a week, and didn't have to watch archrival BU win the Hockey East tourney. That quarterfinal loss might not have turned out so badly after all.
27-8-4 (17-4-3 Hockey East). LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: vs. Niagara.
5.	Minnesota Duluth	2	Should UMD and Minnesota meet in Grand Rapids for the right to advance to the Frozen Four, will there be a statute of limitations on how long the winner can gloat? Didn't think so.
26-12-4 (19-7-2 WCHA). LAST WEEK: L vs. Minnesota, 7-4; W vs. Alaska Anchorage, 4-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Michigan State.
6.	Michigan	–	What's that? You say it's not fair to play an NCAA Tournament game in a lower seed's backyard? I can't hear you...
26-13-2 (18-8-2 CCHA). LAST WEEK: W vs. Northern Michigan, 5-1; L vs. Ohio State, 4-2. THIS WEEK: vs. New Hampshire.
7.	Denver	1	What's better than the Pioneers' placement in the West Regional in Colorado Springs? Not having to see archrival Colorado College while they're there.
23-12-5 (13-10-5 WCHA). LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: vs. Miami.
8.	Ohio State	8	Area 51 isn't located in Roswell, Ga., hometown of Buckeye goalie Dave Caruso. But he did make some otherworldly saves in OSU's win over Michigan Saturday.
26-15-0 (16-12-0 CCHA). LAST WEEK: W vs. Notre Dame, 6-5 ot; W vs. Miami, 4-3 ot; W vs. Michigan, 4-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Wisconsin.
9.	Miami	2	When asked if he preferred attending a specific NCAA regional, senior Mike Kompon confessed he wasn't aware of the sites. We're sure he now knows where the West Regional is being held.
23-13-4 (17-8-3 CCHA). LAST WEEK: L vs. Ohio State, 4-3 ot; W vs. Northern Michigan, 4-0. THIS WEEK: vs. Denver.
10.	Wisconsin	1	Bucky...Buckeye. Buckeye...Bucky.
21-12-8 (14-7-7 WCHA). LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: vs. Ohio State.
11.	New Hampshire	1	UNH's third-period fold against UMass wasn't exactly the way the Wildcats would have liked to enter the NCAAs.
20-14-6 (10-8-6 Hockey East). LAST WEEK: L vs. Massachusetts, 5-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Michigan.
12.	Michigan State	–	Go back to the Denver note, but change West Regional to Midwest Regional and replace Colorado College with Michigan.
24-15-2 (17-9-2 CCHA). LAST WEEK: L vs. Northern Michigan, 2-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Minnesota Duluth.
13.	Massachusetts	4	The Minutemen's season ended too early. If you call three OTs too early.
19-12-6 (12-9-3 Hockey East). LAST WEEK: W vs. New Hampshire, 5-2; L vs. Maine, 2-1 3ot.
14.	Colgate	3	No NCAA bid for the Raiders but the season still viewed as a success.
22-12-5 (14-6-2 ECAC). LAST WEEK: L vs. Clarkson, 2-1; W vs. Dartmouth, 3-2.
15.	Notre Dame	–	We're tuning into "Live With Regis and Kelly" Monday morning to see if Reeg spreads the love for his alma mater's icers.
20-14-4 (14-11-3 CCHA). LAST WEEK: L vs. Ohio State, 6-5 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Minnesota.
16.	Harvard	NR	With the way they've been playing, and the talent on the roster, Harvard's the most dangerous No. 4 seed in the field.
16-9-9 (10-5-7 ECAC). LAST WEEK: W vs. Dartmouth, 2-1; W vs. Clarkson, 4-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Maine.
17.	Colorado College	4	Tiger fans want a refund on your West Regional tickets? You could check with Chris King, but we don't think you'll get far.
20-16-3 (11-15-2 WCHA). LAST WEEK: L vs. Alaska Anchorage, 4-1.
18.	Niagara	–	The Purple Eagles are playing in New Hampshire. Yeah, that ought to give UNH fans nightmares.
21-14-3 (14-6-0 CHA). LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: vs. Boston College.
19.	Holy Cross	1	Memo to ESPN.com "Sports Guy" Bill Simmons: we've got cold beer waiting if your alma mater advances to the Frozen Four. And if they don't, the offer still stands.
22-9-4 (17-4-3). LAST WEEK: W vs. Sacred Heart, 4-0. THIS WEEK: vs. North Dakota.
20.	Northern Michigan	1	Keep an eye on the 'Cats next season – coach Walt Kyle loses just three seniors.
21-16-4 (13-13-2 CCHA). LAST WEEK: W vs. Michigan State, 2-1; L vs. Michigan, 5-1; L vs. Miami, 4-0.

Dropped out: Dartmouth

Bubble-licious: Clarkson, Dartmouth, St. Cloud State, Bemidji State, Alaska Anchorage

Feedback

How about congrats to Holy Cross Crusaders; great just to be there, and this IS college hockey, who knows? Also, solid congrats to UAA, UMass. Great wins.

Charlie Cousins (Holy Cross, ex-'79), Glendale, CA

The Gophers have proven they are the best team in the nation by defeating both UMD and North Dakota on consecutive nights by a combined score of 12-8. Its only a matter of time before they play the teams out East and prove to the rest of the college hockey world that they are destine to win yet a third consecutive National Title.

Shawn Zellman, Minnesota

Congrats to Maine, Minnesota, Harvard, and Ohio State on their conference championships. Looks like we are in for a fantastic tourney!

My Frozen Four picks are as follows:

East: Maine: All I got to say is Jimmy Howard. If Maine can score goals, the other team won't win. Period. Ohio State and Wisconsin are good teams, but I think Wisconsin is a tad overrated, and Ohio State has been slightly inconsistent.

Northeast: Boston College: This is a risky pick because of the mental games they have been playing, but they have immense talent...now that they are healthy (particularly Ben Eaves), things should change. Look for Michigan to make the second regional real close though. They could win.

Midwest: Minnesota: Tough call, but you have to go with experience, coaching, and talent. UMD can take this spot just as easily, so I'm not gonna go all in on this one.

West: North Dakota: If I said anyone else, I think everyone in Grand Forks would shoot me. They are aggressive around the net, and honestly are going to be very tough to beat. If Minnesota takes the midwest, its going to be a great semi-final. That, I believe is the only place where N.D. could run in to trouble.

Good luck to everyone and GO BLACK BEARS!!!

Eric, Orono, Me.

I said it once and I will say it again, I hope my boys from UND don't run into the Gophers because its tourny time and they are HOT. They are very deserving of that NUMBER ONE seed because they beat 2 very good teams that are ranked in the top 5. Until someone beats the Gophers they are still the Champs and they won't go out without a GOOD FIGHT.
From the looks of it, it looks like it could be an all HEA and WCHA Frozen Four with Maine, BC, Minnesota or UMD, and ND. (These are just predictions so don't take me seriously.)

Also congrats on TWO SIOUX players being finalists for the HOBEY BAKER AWARD. Zach has the best PURE talent in D-1 hockey right now and no one can disagree with me on that and Bo is just a natural goal scorer too! This might be the year UND finally gets another Hobey Baker winner, it would also be a hat trick for the WCHA because the last 2 came from Minnesota and CC.

Ryan, Grand Forks, ND

This is outrageous! The most dominating conference in college hockey has to fight through each other just to advance to the Frozen Four. Look at the MW/W brackets. The second round has the possibility (and the probability) of fielding all WCHA teams. Does this make sense to anyone else? If you want a quality tournament you need to break up the best teams-and those teams are in the WCHA! That tournament last weekend was unbelieveable! We will have the Gophers battling the Bulldogs and then that winner battling the Fighting Sioux just to reach the final game. Ridiculous! It's obvious the committee only cares about filling seats and making money then the integrity and quality of the games.

Mike Waldner, Minneapolis

Well, well, well, It must be post season again because Grant Potulny is scoring BIG goals again for the Broadmoor Trophy winning Minnesota Gophers! I'm pretty sure my friends in Duluth and North Dakota were pretty disappointed when Minnesota woke up and said "Playoffs" oh oh, time to start playing hockey for real now! While it's nice to outplay and beat two teams that finished ahead of you in the "regular" season, what is at stake now is what it's ALL about! They call it "regular" season for a reason.... now it's sudden death and I must say the thought of having to (most likely) go through Notre Dame, UMD, North Dakota to get back to THE game is a big challenge...

It's just too bad that Minnesota and ND couldn't be on seperate sides of the bracket, it would be nice to have a shot to play you guys in the championship game! I was at the Xcel center for this weekends games and saw Minnesota, ND & UMD all play great hockey, but "IF" Minnesota keeps playing at the level displayed this past weekend I wouldn't want to face them! Questions to my friends out east: Is it going to be Maine, BC or New Hampshire fighting for your leagues reputation against a WCHA team in the championship? No disrespect to the Wolverines or Buckeyes... but I just don't see you guys there this year.... but we'll see, thats why they play the games!

Mike, Lakeville, MN

First, off I have to say what a gutty performance that UAA put up in the WCHA tournament, they played tough and never gave up, they just got a little gassed half way through the 3rd place game. And I think the WCHA tourney gave hockey fans everything they could have asked for; an upset in the Play-in game, a helluva game (until the very end) between UMD and Minnesota, and an excellent championship game between ND and Minnesota.

Congratulations to all of the teams that made the NCAA tournament. There should be some interesting matchups this year. I believe the Midwest and the Northeast are going to be the toughest regionals, and are basically coin flips as to who will win. ND should come out of the West and Maine should come out of the East. My only question to the selection committee is why did you put 4 of the 5 WCHA teams in two brackets? I believe the Midwest will be the most interesting bracket to watch. UMD vs. Michigan State and Minnesota vs. Notre Dame, and a ANOTHER possible match up between UMD and Minnesota (Now I am glad that UMD lost to Minnesota, because possibly having to beat your arch rivals 7 straight times is a stretch). I do have to say this though that the Gophers do look pretty damn good right now and are scary team for anybody to play.

Again, congrats to all who made it, and to those who didn't it you made the season interesting.

GO DOGS!!!!!!!!!!!!! (and the WCHA)

Mike - Duluth, MN

First off, my hat's off to the Gophers for their win Saturday night over my Sioux. While I obviously would have wished for the "5" to be on our side of the scoreboard I can say I left the watering hole still satisfied that the overall game was outstanding. There was a couple "give-always" by the defense I wasn't to excited about, but overall I think both teams are more than ready for the regionals. Overall, I'd have to say that the WCHA Final Five was a resounding success from the fans standpoint....no game was played "just to get it in the books and over with". It was nice to see UMD and UAA come out for a "meaningless" 3rd place game on Sat. afternoon and play like it meant the world to each team, and play it extremely cleanly.....I can't even remember if there were more than 4 total penalties called. The ND/Minn. game was technically almost meaningless but obviously the teams thought otherwise and the clear winners were the 19,000+ live fans and thousands more watching on TV. back home. Nicely done to all teams, and thank you for another outstanding weekend of college hockey played the way it was meant to be!

Secondly, I'd like to buy the bracket makers a drink. I know they were "just following the formula", but it should be one hell of a tourney from day one. I will be watching Michigan to see how they handle a little taste of their own regional poison with the travel. Anybody who doesn't believe home-cooking and home fans don't make a difference is either lying or crazy. I can't find a bracket without at least one really tough match up, and there are a couple that are going to take some teams two very good games in a row to make it to Boston. Speaking as a WCHA fan, I hope that Wisconsin pulls it back together and gives 'em hell in their bracket and I'm just sorry to see that UMD and Minn. have to play in the same bracket. Denver of course I have no problem being eliminated (knock on wood/composite/aluminum or whatever it is these days). I think the WCHA has a very legitimate chance of putting 2 teams in the Frozen Four, and possibly a third if Wisconsin plays their game and their outstanding goalie comes up big for a couple games. They are young, but if caution is thrown to the wind and the nerves hold they have some very good talent.

1st prediction based on brackets:

East winner: Maine or Wisconsin (Wisconsin if they can score and their goalie holds, Maine is not scoring in bunches right now)

Northeast winner: B.C. or UNH (I can't say one is playing better than the other right now, but winner of that game goes to Frozen Four)

Midwest winner: Minnesota (They are back to tourney form and barring a collapse by the goalie are too good for the rest of the bracket, as evidenced by their dismantling of UMD Friday night after going down 3-1 in the 1st period.)

West winner: North Dakota (Denver is the only team that I am worried about)

Mike, Grand Forks, ND

Am I the only ECAC (specifically, Colgate) fan completely mystifyed by the NCAA selection process? Despite losing in the tournament semifinals (remember BC lost 5 of its last 6 games, yet still received a #1 bid), Colgate was unbeaten (with only one tie) against the next four conference opponents, 5-2 against ranked teams during the season, and remains 13/13/15th in the major polls and power rankings. I understand that the CHA and AH tournament winners also get a bid, but why (other than the obvious marketing advantages of a Notre Dame, and the mysterious RPI) would a fifth place team from the CCHA get a bid over a team that had won its regular season? Are we to assume now that the ECAC is now considered to be on par with the CHA and AH, and that the CCHA, WCHA and HE are actually five and four times stronger overall than the ECAC? This is clearly not a logical process, and is in need some serious review and adjustment.

John Rexine, Arlington, MA

How on earth does UNH make the tournement while Umass does not? They clearly outplayed them in the semifinals and they had a better overall record and better interleague record. If the way they played the black bears in the Hockey East finals doesnt prove they belong nothing else will.

George Matsumoto, Nashua, NH, Umass '02

Greetings from Alaska

What a great 2 weeks for the UAA program. After we got swept at home by MI Tech and Wisconsin in the regular season, I thought we were done. Taking it to the Badgers in the playoffs was great. The Seawolves wanted it more which was further evidenced by the win over CC. Next years goal: home ice for the WCHA playoffs. College Hockey is alive and well in the 49th state! Go Seawolves.

Matt in Anchorage

No quarrels here for the selection committee. So what if Minnesota is matched with MN-Duluth in the same regional? Doesn't that double the chances for the state of hockey to get to the Frozen Four? I went to both schools so I will be on either team's side once that plane lands in Boston.

Now, Michigan has two teams also and they are in opposite brackets. Are they dreaming of an all Michigan championship game? They are both in very tough regionals but State has a home crowd on its side and UM has to play in the home state of UNH (Yessss !!!).

Hey, the Badgers are back. I'm the guy who said you could not beat Michigan but now you have a bigger challenge if you get past OH State, ...................the Black Bears. Hint: If you play your old style of "intercept" and brush up your power play you can beat those bears. Maine is not poppin the twine much.

NoDak warning.....Denver has goal tending. Don't count your chickens.

A word for BC........your home town is waiting.......bring it to the Fleet.

Jerry J. Shoreview, MN (State of Hockey, Miracles and home of the late
great Herb Brooks)

Holy Cross is a nightmare matchup for the coach of any favored team. You are supposed to win, and win big, but it will never be forgotten if you lose. HC is a small non-scholarship program with nothing to lose and a hot goalie. They will play over their heads because they don't know any better. Any team that goes through any league championship tournament and allows only one goal and scores 12 must be doing something right. The smart money is on ND (and should be), but remember Lake Placid.

Paul G, Merrimac MA

John from Arlington, yes thats exactly what you are to assume. The WCHA and HEA are four or five times better than the ECAC. Even CCHA is way better. GO Gophers.

Chris, Madison, WI

I was really dismayed once I saw the NCAA brackets. I was hoping that that the WCHA teams would have been split up more.

For arguments sake, let's *assume* that the 3 best teams in the country are from the WCHA, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Duluth.

The way the brackets are setup, only 1 can survive until the final game. This also applies to Maine, BC, and New Hampshire in Hockey East. It's also *possible* these are the 3 best teams. Once again, only one can survive until the final game.

In the second round, my Goph's will probably have to play UMD for the 6th time this year. What does this prove?? I would rather play BC as a second seed than UMD as a #1 seed. Not because I'm afraid of UMD (well, part of me
is), it's just that why not split up the conferences as much as possible?? I know it's because of location and which teams will draw well, but I'd still
rather see a more "national" tournament.

In this regard, the CCHA got off quite nicely. The 5 teams are in all 4 regionals, and the one duplicate both teams are the 3 & 4 seeds, so they likely won't meet in the second round. I think the CCHA may go 0-5 the first round......

I don't do well at predictions, but if I may:

Maine should advance, but if Harvard wins the first game I wouldn't be surprised. Go Badgers! (keep the WCHA going)

BC's bracket appears to be the weakest. BC, Michigan, and New Hampshire all ended their seasons on a down note, so who knows who will show up for
the big dance?

North Dakota, no problems seen here, especially since Conner James of Denver is out.

I think the Gophers are OK, but I'm still a little afraid of UMD (especially if UMD is healthy come Sat).

Mike, Maple Grove, MN

To George Matsumoto: The reason you guys didnt get in is because your strength of schedule is weak. B.C., Maine, and UNH all had to play at least one WCHA team (Maine 4-0 over Minnesota, 6-2 over Wisconsin; B.C. Tie 2-2 to Minnesota-Duluth, L 6-4, W 2-1 to North Dakota; UNH 4-2 loss to Minnesota). They also played just as many, if not more CCHA teams than UMass. When it comes down to it, even when you are in a strong conference like Hockey East, and do pretty well not playing the other powerhouses in D-I hurts your strength of schedule. It does not matter if you outplayed UNH because Number 1, they arent as good as they were last year, the year before, etc.(defensively mostly), and number two, you don't even play teams like Minnesota, Wisconsin, UMD, Michigan, or ND. When your strength of schedule improves, so will your chances of an at-large bid.

Better luck next year! You guys definately earned some respect from the league this year.

Eric, Orono, ME

First of all, to Mike from MN...I'm sure you would like to erase the 13 losses Minnesota had during the regular season. In fact, why don't we just start and end the season with only the national title game, because clearly that is all that matters. I guess I'd think that too if my team showed an utter lack of heart and coasted through the regular season. Anyway, I'll give them respect now because the gophs are at the top of their game and did take the Broadmoor.

I hope that we can all agree that the tourney selection process went well, especially with the Sioux being placed in Colorado (Denver...gorgeous, gorgeous). It's too bad Duluth and Minnesota will mostly likely have to play each other to get into the Frozen Four.

For the time being, I'm just going to count down the days until an 8th championship banner will welcome my return to God's country...Grand Forks, ND.

John and Cole, UND (On temporary location in Toledo, España)

First off, I am a huge Gopher fan, but I like the Bulldogs too. They are both good teams that have a chance. The Gophers have been there before, and they know how to get it done when it needs to get done. The Bulldogs on the other hand, they can win it all IF these things happer: 1) They need to be healthy, Lessard needs to be on his game and the rest of the team has to help out also. 2) They have to play better in the D zone. They cant win the title if they are giving up 7 a game. If they can play good d and get scoring from all 3 lines, they will be my pick to win it all. If not, you have to look at the boys from North Dakota, because you never know how different they will play if they do NOT give up lame and lucky goals to the Gophers.

Also, it the Eagles from BC make it to Boston, I dont know how well they will play, but I would think it would be well. They have been slipping lately, but you never know in the tourny. If I had to pick the Frozen 4 right now, I would pick North Dakota vs Minnesota, and Maine vs New Hampshire. I would love to see the Dogs get there, but they need to step it up. Same with BC, you cant get there without playing well in NH, which they have not done yet this season. Anyway, the National Championship is ND vs Maine, and Maine will pull it off on what will be almost home ice for them. Good luck to all teams, go Dogs and Gophs, and I would love to see Holy Cross beat UND.

Zack, Rochester, MN

Paul in Merrimac, HC only allows 1 goal and they score 12 in their league tournament, LOOK AT THE LEAGUE THEY ARE IN. Yes, granted they have nothing to lose and everything to gain but I just don't see an upset here. Also there is one big difference that happened in Lake Placid that won't happen in Colorado,TEAM USA HAD HERB BROOKS. Thats all I need to say on that. (and please don't ever try and compare anything to LP again, that is the best Moment in Sports history and NOTHING WILL EVER TOP THAT OR EVEN COME CLOSE TO IT.)

Jerry in Shoreview, Denver does not scare me that much. Through 4 meetings this year the SIOUX have outscored them 21-6. Adam Berkhol let in 12 and that Glenn guy let in 9, so I am pretty sure the SIOUX wouldn't mind facing either goalie.

I would really like to see Wisconsin and BC and the Gophers in the Frozen four because if the Sioux make it there they have something to prove to each team. Especially the Badgers because we have not beaten them yet. Also to all you Gopher fans out there I am glad you won the Broadmoor cup and all but don't think the other 15 teams in this tournament are going to let you win a 3rd staight title.
GOOD LUCK TO ALL TEAMS AND GO SIOUX!!!!
Ryan, Grand Forks, ND

Minnesota had a disappointing regular season?

Only three ranked teams in the nation have more wins then they do, and they accomplished this with significant time missed by their Hobey Baker Candidate (Ballard), their captain (Potulny), a freshmen who missed 4 months and then proceeded to score 5 goals in 5 games upon his return(Ryan Potulny), and their second best defense men (Harrington). Did I mention that they also had a freshmen goalie start for them since day one?

The only disappointment is the selection committee setting up a possible ND/UMN match up in the semifinals. I was at Xcel for the WCHA's and nothing would be sweater than watching the best college hockey rivalry play for the championship. Saturdays game was meaningless and we still saw a wonderful game. Just think if those same teams played for the championship!

I'm off to Grand Rapids to hopefully watch the team qualify for another shot at ND!

David, St. Paul

David in St. Paul, Well spoken my friend!! You've got to remember that a disappointing season in Minnesota is when you Don't do all of these things: Win the conference, Broadmoor trophy and Nat'l championship... as well as get a #1 tourney seeding! You see, we can only possibly do 3 of those 4 things and that just wouldn't be good enough for us spoiled Gopher fans. Actually it would be good enough, I had the tongue in cheek deal going on! With all that being said I am still nervous about this weekends games! May the BEST teams win!

Mike, Lakeville, MN

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