Many people think the bowl system in college football is inaccurate in deciding the national champion. They're right. However, the one-and-done NCAA Tournament in college hockey does not make much sense either.
I realized this was a problem last season when Michigan State beat Boston College to win the national championship. BC outplayed State the entire game and was the better team all season, yet lost on a goal with 20 seconds left in the game.
The only time in a season that we see a best-of-three series is in the opening round of the conference tournaments. Who wants to watch Minnesota State for three games when we only get to see one game between teams such as Michigan and Colorado College to determine the national champion?
The problem lies in the fact that hockey is too fluky of a sport to determine the national champion in one game. The shape of the puck and the unpredictable ice surface make it easier for an underdog to get a lucky bounce and defeat a more deserving opponent.
There is a huge disparity between the NHL Playoffs and the NCAA Tournament. Each has 16 teams, but in the NHL there are four best-of-seven rounds en route to the Stanley Cup. A team needs to win 16 games in the NHL to win the Stanley Cup yet there are not even 16 total games in the NCAA Tournament and a team only has to win four games to win it all.
Throughout the college hockey season teams play two-game series. Once the NCAA Tournament arrives, they suddenly switch the format and play single-elimination, abandoning the five-month-long set up.
I understand that the college hockey season is drawn out enough (when Wisconsin won two years ago, its season lasted six months). Yet, why does the NCAA schedule a five month regular season only to make a team win just four games to become the national champion?
My proposal is to keep the regional rounds as is, but extend the semifinals and finals to best-of-three series spread out over two weekends in the same host city.
This won't take away from the excitement of single-elimination competition, seeing as the NHL playoffs end up being one of the most exciting events each year.
Extending the Frozen Four would allow the four teams to get a feel for one another, develop some storylines from game to game and - most importantly - more accurately determine the best team in college hockey. Let's start crowning the real champion each season, instead of the beneficiary of the bounces.
