6B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - February 17, 2003 NCAA hockey field taking hold BOB HUNT ON HOCGY The RPI doesn't just apply to basketball. As there are just three weeks left in the regular season, who will be playing for the Frozen Four is starting to take shape. And it's a lot simpler than it seems. Picking who will be in the NCAA Hockey tournament is much easier than either basketball tourney, thanks in part to the Pairwise Rankings. The Pairwise combines a team's Ratings Percentage Index (calculated in the same way as the basketball RPI) with its winning percentage. The ranking, while not used by the NCAA, has predicted perfectly which teams will make the 12-team field the last few years. The situation has become more complicated with four- teams and two regionals added to the fray, but the process to pick the field is the same. This years' tourney will be split up into four regions - East, Northeast, West, and Midwest - with the winners going to the Frozen Four in Buffalo the weekend after the Final Four. This is different from last year in that there will actually be regional winners. Also unlike last year, no teams will receive byes, making each team win twice to move on. In deciding who will make the field, one normally takes the top-14 teams in the Pairwise and inserts the champions of college hockey's two minor conferences, College Hock- ey America and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Currently, Denver and Providence are tied for 13th in the Pairwise, making them the last two in. This would leave out Michigan State and Harvard, who are currently tied for 16th. For the Spartans to make the NCAA Tournament, they may have to win the CCHA Tournament and thus receive an automatic bid. After deciding who gets in, the teams must be split up into regions taking by placing host teams in their own regionals, avoiding first round matchups between teams from the same conference, and keeping teams as close to home as possible. As the nation's top four teams, Colorado College, Maine, Cornell and New Hampshire are would receive No. 1 seeds. Because three of these schools are out east, New The Road to Buffalo No. 1 Colorado College (23-4-5) No. 4 Alabama-Huntsville (15-9-3) Arena, Minneapolis No. 2 Minnesota (17-7-7) No. 3 Ferris State (22-8-1) No. 1 New Hampshire (19-7-4) No. 4 Denver (18-9-5) "Ort Ice Midwest Yrena, MidwestAnn Arbor No. 2 North Dakota (22-6-4) No. 3 Michigan (21-8-1) Last three in: Denver Providence St. Cloud State Last three out: Harvard Michigan State Minnesota State-Mankato *All records and rankings used in the selection process are as of Saturday night's games. jI No. 1 Cornell (20-4-1) No. 4 Providence (17-12-2) Providence Civic Center, E s Providence, R.I. No. 2 Boston College (19-8-3) No. 3 St. Cloud State (14-11-3) No. 1 Maine (22-5-5) No. 4 Mercyhurst (15-11-2) The Centrum ,Worcester, N rt e s Centre, North east Mass No. 2 Boston University (20-10-2) No. 3 Ohio State (21-7-3) *Automatic bids are given out to the winners of all six conferences (Central Collegiate Hockey Association, College Hocke America, East Coast Athletic Confer- ence, Hockey h~ast, Metro Atlantic Athletic Confer- ence and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association). For this bracket projection, current conference leaders are slated. aTeams must be placed in their home region. Those are as follows: West: Minnesota Midwest: Michigan East: Providence Northeast: Boston University 0 . E A .. 10 i Hampshire had to be moved out to the Midwest regional because it is the nation's fourth ranked team. Because of their road woes, the Wolverines, if the sea- son ended today, might not have made the field if there were still 12 teams, as they stand 12th in the Pairwise. But this projection places them third in the Midwest at Yost going up against North Dakota, who the Wolverines lost two in Buffalo in their second game of the season. The committee normally attempts to avoid regular sea- son matchups, but it would not move out hosts Boston University and Minnesota, and fifth-ranked Boston Col- lege is likely not be moved out west because the Eagles are the highest-ranked second seed. Michigan would then take on either New Hampshire or Denver. The Wolverines upset Denver, the nation's second- ranked team at the time, to advance to the Frozen Four last season. To learn more than you would ever want to know about the Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, including a complete explaination of the Pariwise, check out www.uscho.com. LeBron scores just 22 in season finale DAYTON, Ohio (AP) - When Kettering Alter forward Andrew Stichweh blocked Lebron James' shot yesterday, the Alter stu- dent section began to chant "overrated!" James silenced those fans a minute later when he stole a pass and unleashed a toma- hawk dunk that had the crowd gasping. James' final regular-season game was regular in one sense - he dominated. The nation's top high school player had 22 points and 11 rebounds to lead No. 1 Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary to a 73-40 vic- tory over Kettering Alter before a sellout crowd of more than 13,000 at the Universi- ty of Dayton Arena. Although James didn't reach his 33 points per game average, his acrobatics wowed the audience. James unleashed five dunks and displayed a full arsenal - alley- oops, one-handed and tomahawks. The 6-foot-8 senior forward is expected to be the No. 1 pick in this year's NBA draft. And he showed it. The Knights (11-8) played a two-three zone to try to slow down James and the Irish (17-1) with no luck. With the game tied at 2, St. Vincent-St. Mary went on a 10-0 run to set the tone for the game. In that span, James scored four points, fired a crosscourt pass for an assist and blocked a shot, flattening 5-foot-11 Alter guard Jack Hilgeman in getting the rebound. During the third quarter, James seemed content to feed his teammates. But he did score on an alley-oop and a tomahawk dunk on a breakaway. James' 22 points moved him to seventh place on the Ohio high school basketball career scoring list with 2,463 points. He passed former Middletown High School and Ohio State star Jerry Lucas, who had 2,460 points. James scored 46 points Friday against Zanesville and had a career-high 52 points in his previous game, against Westchester of Los Angeles. But he seemed content to get his teammates into the act Sunday. Junior guard Corey Jones scored 20 points, and after the game James presented Jones the MVP trophy that James was awarded. "I think somebody played better than me," James announced to the crowd. The Ohio High School Athletic Associa- tion had ruled the 18-year-old James ineli- gible for accepting two free retro sports jerseys worth a combined $845. But Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge James Williams temporarily reinstated James on Feb. 5 and has sched- uled a hearing for March 5 to decide whether to permanently block the associa- tion's ruling or uphold it. Under the judge's ruling, James will sit out his team's final regular-season game against Toledo Scott on Feb. 23, but he can play in the playoffs, at least until the at least until the March 5 hearing. AP PHOTO LeBron James' team, Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, has remained the No. i team in the USA Today national rankings despite its forfeit due to LeBron's brief ineligibility. U U II 0 lb /ry ~1 ID Please call 734.763.7302 for your Michigan Classics Information \ Packet i J , :.,, , :, ', ' .. .. .; w Hamilton and Billups lead way as Pistons take out Cleveland CLEVELAND (AP) - Darius Miles draped a towel over his head, dropped to the floor and tried to disappear. As the Cleveland Cavaliers stumbled toward their 43rd loss, Miles wanted to be anywhere but Gund Arena. "I got a lot of love for these guys, but it got to the point where I didn't even want to play anymore," Miles said. Richard Hamilton scored 23 points and Chauncey Billups added 15 last night, leading the Detroit Pistons to a 90-75 win over the miserable Cavaliers. Hamilton scored 11 points in the third quarter when the Pistons, the NBA's best defensive team, limited Cleveland to 14 points and took control. Ben Wallace added 13 points and 16 rebounds as Detroit won for the seventh time in eight games and moved within one game of Central Division-leading Indi- ana. Ricky Davis had 19 points for Cleveland, which has lost 13 of 15 and dropped to a league-worst 10-43. The Cavs are just 2-9 under interim coach Keith Smart. Miles, a major disappointment for Cleveland this sea- son, scored four points -- all on free throws - and had four rebounds in 30 minutes. He spent a portion of the fourth quarter lounging on the floor near the Cavs' bench hoping the game would end quickly. "We're just not playing as a team," Miles said. "I don't know what we're doing out there. We're like a bunch of street ballers out there." Before the game, Miles said scome of the Pistons were wondering what was wrong with the Cavs. "Guys are like, 'Y'all got so much talent, why aren't you winning,' Miles said. Billups was one of them. "Cleveland is too good to have that record," he said. "There is a lot of talent there. It's mind-boggling to see they only have 10 wins. They are young, talented and in many ways, have more ability than we do. "That team is so talented it's scary." Earlier this season, the Cavs twice took the Pistons to overtime before losing. However, this one was all but over at halftime, and Detroit made sure of it with a dominating third period. After the Cavs trimmed a 13-point halftime deficit to seven in the opening 2:40 of the third, Hamilton and Billups combined to score Detroit's next 13 as the Pistons rebuilt their lead to 14. Hamilton, averaging 27 points in his last three games, added two more baskets in the final 1:43 of the quarter as the Pistons opened a 73-52 lead entering the fourth. "Every game, I get better and better," Hamilton said. "I'm using my teammates more, taking my time and hav- ing fun with it. Guys are doing a great job of getting me open." It was more of the same for the Cavs, who were unor- ganized on offense and uninspired on defense. "I was disappointed with the effort," Smart said. "You can't make those mistakes against that team" Rookie Carlos Boozer tied a season-high with 15 rebounds, but Cavs All-Star center Zydrunas Ilgauskas had just six rebounds and 10 points on 5-for-15 shooting. "I don't have any brilliant quotes," Boozer said. "We just have to keep working." Billups made a pair of 3-pointers - the second just before the halftime horn - in the final 2:15 as the Pistons closed the first half with an 11-2 run to open a 51-38 lead at the break. All teams welcome: Men, Women and two levels of Co-Rec $575 - 10 games plus playoffs $1150 - doubleheader - 20 games plus playoffs NO PLAYER FEES! All games are played at Mitchell Fields located on Fuller Road. I 1 0 0 r M m- - - - - - n -- ON 41