Bracketology (2/11)

Even though the formula is rather easy to figure out with 16 teams making the tournament at each division, I thought I'd release, every Tuesday, the state tournament matchups for each division if the season ended today. This changes with each win, loss and tie but I will weekly post it for those inquiring minds. Enjoy!

DIVISION 1

16) St. Joseph @ 1) ND West Haven

9) Simsbury @ 8) ND Fairfield

12) West Haven @ 5) Ridgefield

13) Northwest Catholic @ 4) New Canaan

11) Xavier @ 6) Glastonbury

14) South Windsor @ 3) Fairfield Prep

10) Hamden @ 7) East Haven

15) Greenwich @ 2) Darien

Best Matchup- (10) Hamden @ (7) East Haven- We get a preview of this game tomorrow (2/12). Hamden has gone toe to toe with some excellent out of CT teams but laid eggs against the state's best. Easties have a great record but also faltered against the better teams in the limited sample size we have. This one should be evenly matched.

Upset Alert- (11) Xavier @ (6) Glastonbury- Sticking with Xavier as my upset special as long as they are a lower seed with a favorable matchup. Glastonbury certainly could and possibly should beat Xavier but this is not a favorable draw for them.

Yawner- (15) Greenwich @ (2) Darien- Darien handled Greenwich easily, winning 6-1 in their lone meeting. They should be able to dispatch of them easily here.

DIVISION 2

16) Wilton @ 1) East Catholic

9) Cheshire @ 8) BCR

12) Daniel Hand @ 5) Newington-Berlin

13) North Branford @ 4) Trinity Catholic

11) Milford Co-op @ 6) Branford

14) Fairfield Warde-Ludlowe @ 3) New Milford

10) Suffield-Granby-WL @ 7) Amity

15) BBD @ 2) North Haven

Best Matchup- (11) Milford @ (6) Branford- Milford has arguably the best D2 player in the state in Zach White. Branford is much better than a 6 seed. This one should go in Branford's favor but there will be plenty of star power on the ice.

Upset Alert- (10) Suffield-Granby-WL @ (7) Amity- Suffield quietly goes about their business out of the SCC limelight. Not many around this area know about them and because of this they could sneak up on an Amity team that has been hit or miss this year.

Yawner- (15) BBD @ (2) North Haven- BBD is paired against NH for the third straight week. This one would be ugly if the two met up and would be very "bye-like" for NH.

OUTSIDE LOOKING IN:

17) Fermi-Enfield

18) Watertown-Pomperaug

19) Guilford

20) Trumbull

21) Conard

22) Farmington Valley

DIVISION 3

16) St. Bernard-NFA-Bacon @ 1) Masuk

9) Tri-Town @ 8) NFI

12) Stamford @ 5) Staples-Weston-Shelton

13) Woodstock Academy @ 4) Housatonic-NW-Wamogo

11) Joel Barlow @ 6) Hall-Southington

14) Lyman Hall-HK @ 3) Sheehan

10) Shepaug-Litchfield-Nonnewaug @ 7) EO Smith-Tolland

15) Westhill @ 2) Newtown

Best Matchup- (14) Lyman Hall-HK @ (3) Sheehan- Not that I think there will be any chance of an upset here, you just can't go wrong with a first round rivalry matchup like the Wallingford version we have here.

Upset Alert- (11) Joel Barlow @ (6) Hall-Southington- Kind of a stretch here but Barlow has been playing good hockey of late, keeping games close and competing at a high level. Hall has laid some eggs this year and if they don't come ready for this one they could be ripe for the picking. Doubt it though.

Yawner- (1) Masuk vs. (16) St. Bernard-NFA-Bacon- St. B's holds on to the final spot this week with the bottom four on their heels. Don't think it will make a difference taking on Masuk.

OUTSIDE LOOKING IN:

17) Wethersfield

18) Rocky Hill-Middletown-RHAM

19) Eastern CT Eagles

20) Norwalk-McMahon