Pairwise Rankings: The NCHC Leads the Way

On Sunday, I wrote about the Big Ten’s Pairwise Ranking problems.  If the NCAA tourney started today, Michigan would be the only Big Ten team to sneak in. Lucky for the Big Ten, the NCAA tourney doesn’t start today.

Obviously, it will depend on who wins the Big Ten Hockey Conference tourney.  Come tournament time, the Big Ten will be doing some scoreboard watching.

One of the reasons there will be only one, maybe two Big Ten hockey teams is the Big Ten’s out of conference record. The Big Ten combined has gone a pathetic 37-42-7 (.471) in non-conference play.

It also doesn’t help that the traditional powers of the Big Ten are having a down year. All you have to do is look at the Big Ten standings to see that Michigan State, Minnesota and Wisconsin are struggling.

The Big Ten’s out of conference record is only better than the Atlantic Hockey Association. This is kind of a head-scratcher based on the advantages that the Big Ten schools have.

For comparison sake, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference has the best out of conference record with a 51-25-4 (.662) record.  Hockey East is second with 60-43-9 (.576). Third is WCHA 30-27-9 (.523). The ECAC is fourth 46-48-9 (.490). Lastly, the AHA has 12-51-4 (.209).

Big Ten

Let’s take a look at the Big Ten Hockey Conference’s Pairwise Rankings. They shake out like this: Michigan 14, Minnesota 19, Penn State 22, Michigan State 34, Ohio State 36 and Wisconsin 55.

NCHC

For comparison sake lets look at the other leagues. First, the NCHC Pairwise Rankings look like this: UND 2, Nebraska-Omaha 4, Minnesota-Duluth 5, Miami 8, Denver 9, Western Michigan 23, St. Cloud State 25, Colorado College 47.

Hockey East

Hockey East is having a decent year in the Pairwise Rankings. Boston University 3, Providence 11, Boston College 12, Mass-Lowell 13, Vermont 16, Merrimack 18, Northeastern 27, Connecticut 35, Notre Dame 37, Maine 43, New Hampshire 44, Massachusetts 46.

WCHA

The WCHA’s Pairwise Rankings are pretty impressive: Minnesota State 1, Bowling Green 6,  Michigan Tech 7, Bemidji State 28, Northern Michigan 29, Alaska-Fairbanks 32, Ferris State 39, Alabama-Huntsville 45,  Alaska-Anchorage 49, Lake Superior 51.

ECAC

The ECAC is having a down year after having two back-to-back national championships. Harvard 10, Quinnipiac 15, Yale 17, St. Lawrence 20, Colgate 21, Cornell 26, Union 30, Dartmouth 31, Clarkson 33, Rensselaer 42, Brown 54, Princeton 56.

AHA

True to form, the AHA’s Pairwise Rankings looks like this. Robert Morris 24, Bentley 38, Mercyhurst 40, Canisius 41, RIT 48,  Holy Cross 50,  Air Force 52, Sacred Heart 53, Army 57,  American International 58, Niagara 59.

Lasty, I know that there’s a lot of season left, but if the NCAA playoffs started today, the NCHC would have five NCAA bids. There’s a possibly that the NCHC could have six bids if SCSU or WMU won the Frozen Faceoff.