Pairwise Monday: Penn State pulls into an essential tie for the last at-large bid (#533)

Photo: Penn State Athletics

The Penn State Nittany Lions took five out of six points against No. 2 Michigan State over the weekend, increasing their odds of an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament by 20 percent.

We project 10 teams are “locks” for the NCAA Tournament, with the final six bids coming from conference champions and an at-large bubble that only includes six teams: Michigan, UMass, UMass Lowell, Arizona State, Quinnipiac, and Penn State.

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Today’s issue (#533) also includes:

• Our weekly look at the inter-conference records of each conference.

• This week’s bracketology. Where would each of the qualifying teams go this week?

• Pairwise takeaways, including a look at what Penn State did to improve its RPI.

• NCAA Tournament locks and “virtual locks.”

• The NHL reportedly met with the CHL last week, discussing the landscape of North American junior hockey. A D-III program is going under, and the NCAA is facing another lawsuit challenging its eligibility rules.

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Catch up on all the action from this past weekend in college hockey on the College Hockey Scoreboard Show

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