Explaining the NCAA Process

The official announcement won't come until Tuesday, but already six of the eight spots in the upcoming NCAA national championship playoffs seem set.

The Final Four will take place in Detroit on the weekend March 26-28.

Four schools from the East (ECAC and Hockey East divisions) and four from the West (WCHA and CCHA) make the draw. The top two seeds from each group receive home ice and host the national quarterfinal two-game total-goals series against the bottom two from the opposite coast.

In the West, Michigan State, North Dakota, Minnesota and Bowling Green have locked up bids. Additionally, the Spartans have received word that they will enjoy home ice advantage for the national quarters.

The picture in the East is less set with both conferences holding their championships this weekend. According to Joe Bertagna, executive director of the ECAC, Harvard and Boston College would probably receive bids even if they were to lose both of their upcoming tournament games. A single victory by either squad should insure a spot.

According to the Director of Communication of Hockey East Dennis Hanks, the Tuesday announcement of bids and pairings will probably not make a difference to the competing teams because it should already be clear who will be in the tournament. In the past, the teams have known on Sunday in order to help in preparation for the tournament.

As in past years, the winner of each conference has an automatic spot in the NCAAs. Two at-large bids are also awarded each region. If Harvard wins the ECAC tournament, St. Lawrence--the tourney's number two seed--would be a likely choice for an at-large bid. The winner of the Maine-Lowell game would probably be Hockey East's second representative if B.C. wins that conference's tournament.

During the past summer, the NCAA briefly made the tournament a nine-team competition, but subsequently returned it to the standard eight because of the difficulty of running a nine-team tourney.

Hanks said that there has been serious consideration of expanding the NCAA playoffs to a 12-team tournament. Hanks said that this would "be good for the league because some years one conference deserves more slots than another. In addition, this new rule would allow independent teams, such as Alaska-Anchorage, Notre Dame and Air Force, to compete in the NCAA tournament.