Ten Reasons for the Bid

Confused over Harvard's invitation to the NCAA's annual eight-team championship tourney?

Grasping at straws to explain why a team many thought had written its own ticket to Ft. Lauderdale with an ECAC semifinal loss to Clarkson Friday instead will find itself in its own rink this weekend against Western Michigan?

Consider the calendar.

And call it the Luck of the Irish for Billy O'Cleary and his Crimson Clover.

After all, it is St. Patrick's Day.

That's the only possible explanation for the bizarre turn of events that ended yesterday with Harvard in the NCAAs. And in its own rink.

For when Cornell beat Clarkson in the finals of the ECAC tourney Saturday, giving the Big Red an automatic invitation to the NCAAs, most assumed the Golden Knights had wrapped up the second ECAC spot in the national tourney. Clarkson had finished second in the tourney and had beaten Harvard twice in three weeks.

Even more shocking that Harvard's appearance in the tourney was the committee's decision to give Harvard home ice.

Furthermore, although Western Michigan is 32-10 and the Central College Hockey Association champion, the Broncos may be the most beatable of the four western teams in the tourney.

O'Cleary, the Crimson mentor, is delighted that his Crimson is rolling in the clover thanks to the committee's decision.

Just how did the Crimson become the second ECAC team selected?

Just how did it get home ice? Playing at Bright means more than just fan support; it means the Crimson will be able to play in a building--and on a huge ice surface--where it is unbeaten in 16 straight and has won 11 in a row.

And just how was it lucky enough to draw Western Michigan, considered by many to be the weakest of the Western teams?

Ten reasons--guesses--why Harvard is sitting pretty today:

1. National Reputation. Although the Crimson was the most unheralded squad at the NCAA Final Four in '83, the icemen's reputation nationally is high. This can be seen in the pre-season attention that the squad garnered and, of course, in four national tourney appearances in five years. No other ECAC team--save RPI, eliminated in the ECAC quarters--has that kind of standing among the national college hockey community.

2. Record. The Crimson has 22 victories and the Knights just 18. The difference between 22 and 18 in this case is many more than four. A 20-win season is a big deal in the ECAC.

3. Polls. Although national hockey polls are more than a little suspect, the Crimson has been a darling of the voters, ranking in the top 10--and often the top five--for much of the season. Clarkson has never been highly ranked. In addition, some of the same people who contribute to these somewhat dubious polls also select the tournament teams and are inclined to make themselves look good.

4. Scott Fusco. Whether or not he is the best player in the country, he is one of the most celebrated and one of the two players (with Western Michigan's Dan Dorion) most likely to land the Hobey Baker Award. Harvard's all-time leading scorer adds great credibility and attractiveness to his squad. Clarkson has no comparable figure.

5. Dominant Team Thesis. Most conferences have a dominant team. In the ECAC it was Harvard and therefore the Crimson deserves a bid no matter how it fared in the tournament and should get home ice. By this same theory, even though Western Michigan beat Michigan State in the CCHA Tournament, the Broncos were seeded behind the Spartans and sent East to Harvard, because Michigan State was the dominant team throughout the season.

6. ECAC Weakness Theory. The ECAC is the weaker conference in the East and therefore, the committee could bend tradition to ensure that the ECAC got the best possible chance to send one representative to the Final Four. Giving Harvard home ice represents that best chance. Along these same lines, the committee fed the tournament champion, Cornell, to the lions--sent it to Denver--because it felt the Red was doomed in this clash of titans anyway.

7. Bill Cleary. The Harvard coach is in his 14th season and has won over 200 games. Clarkson Coach Cap Raeder is in his first year. Cleary, 51, is Harvard '56, a member of the NCAA Rules Committee and the editor of the rules book. Raeder is New Hampshire '82 and just 31. He has none of Cleary's standing in the national hockey community.

8. Perfect Information. The selection committee knows that when the Crimson lost its first game to Clarkson three weeks ago, it was playing without Fusco and standout goaltender Grant Blair. The committee was also well aware of the Crimson's fine home ice record and Cornell's fine road slate. Looking to maximize its pool, the committee sent Cornell to Denver and kept Harvard at home.

9. Harvard. Harvard's name can get its graduates a leg up in the job market and so too in the hockey world. The choice is Harvard, founded in 1636, first among American universities, located in Boston, or it's Clarkson, formerly Clarkson Tech, located in Potsdam, N.Y., four hours from the rest of the world. Harvard is always a good name to have in your tournament program, it adds a touch of class and reminds everyone that colleges are for learning, too.

10. Reality. Harvard's just simply better than Clarkson and better than Cornell and deserves home ice.

Or 11. Luck.

Of the Irish.