NCAA bracket 2015: Predictions based on each school’s hockey team

Only 59 schools in the United States have NCAA Division 1 ice hockey, but that doesn’t mean only 59 schools have ice hockey teams.

In fact, the most popular club hockey programs at American colleges are in places you might expect the least. At the University of Alabama, they call them the Frozen Tide and they have just as rabid a fan base as the football team, maybe just a touch smaller. At Arizona State, their club hockey team is so good that they’ve decided to make the jump to NCAA Division 1 for the 2015-16 season, just as Penn State’s club program did a few years back.

In total, there are about 400 men’s club hockey programs at colleges in the United States, and club level play is sponsored by the American Collegiate Hockey Association, or ACHA. Teams play across three divisions -- 1, 2, and 3 -- within the ACHA, and there are national tournaments and individual conferences within each division.

Kentucky def. Hampton & Manhattan: Neither Manhattan or Hampton have hockey teams, so it’s safe to say they wouldn’t beat the Wildcats ... even though Kentucky went a rough 8-19-5-1 in ACHA Division 2 play this year.

Purdue def. Cincinnati: Could the Division 3-level Purdue Boilermakers, who went 11-8-2-0 to finish 15th in their region, beat the Division 2-level Cincinnati Bearcats, who went 16-19-0-0? Gonna say yes.

Buffalo def. West Virginia: WVU has historically had a pretty solid team in ACHA Division 1, but the Buffalo Bulls beat ‘em this year. UB was the No. 17 seed in the ACHA Division 1 Nationals this year, losing to Colorado in the first round. But at least they got there. West Virginia didn’t make the national tournament. Tough draw for the Mountaineers.

Maryland def. Valparaiso: UMD has two club teams: one at the ACHA Division 2 level and one at the ACHA Division 3 level. Neither are all that good. Valpo has intramural floor hockey. Onward, Terps.

Texas def. Butler: The Longhorns went 11-0-1 in ACHA Division 2 play this season. The Bulldogs had a team, once upon a time. They even won the 2000 ACHA Division 3 national championship, apparently! Here’s what it looks like now:

Northeastern def. Notre Dame: This might be the only game in the entire tournament that features two legitimate NCAA Division 1 ice hockey programs. And since they’re both in Hockey East, they played twice this season. The Huskies won both games, and are also nine spots ahead of the Irish in the Pairwise.

Indiana def. Wichita State: The Shockers have a team. Kind of. They’re a group of people “who are in some way affiliated with Wichita State,” and they play in a house league over at the Wichita Ice Center. Here are highlights of a tough 2008 overtime loss to the “Wing Nuts”:

We’re betting Indiana’s actual club team, which plays other universities, could beat the Wing Nuts.

Kansas def. New Mexico State: They have a Twitter account and a web site, and NMSU doesn’t have a team so you can figure it out.

Purdue def. Kentucky: Purdue’s a decent D3 team. Kentucky’s a bad D2 team. So it’s close. And while we appreciate that UK’s 2015 senior night game was played at midnight, and that they have an impressive 2,000 fans on Facebook, we can’t overlook that their uniforms are modeled after the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Buffalo def. Maryland: UB was one of the top 20 teams in the country at the ACHA Division 1 level. They’re gonna beat Maryland. We will use this opportunity, however, to beg some rich donor to let the Terps go Division 1. It’s time to keep expanding Big Ten hockey, and Maryland’s a perfect damn candidate.

Northeastern def. Texas: The Northeastern men take a rest in the second-round to give the women’s team a crack at Texas’ D2 club team. The Husky women win 13-1.

Indiana def. Kansas: Okay that’s pretty nice.

Buffalo def. Purdue: Purdue won their conference tournament -- they play in the four-team Indiana Collegiate Hockey Conference, which is at the ACHA Division 3 level -- and they have beautiful uniforms.

But again, Buffalo was one of the top 20 ACHA Division 1 teams this season. 18th ranked in the national tournament. They’re gonna beat any Division 3-level team they play, including Purdue.

Northeastern def. Indiana: These Hoosier sweaters are gorgeous.

But did they beat Boston College in the Beanpot?

Coastal Carolina def. Wisconsin: I don’t care if Wisconsin is NCAA Division 1 or if they’ve won six national titles at that level before. They have four wins this season and deserve to feel bad about it. And the Chanticleers, who play in the Blue Ridge Hockey Conference at the ACHA Division 3 level, scored more than 10 goals in a game nine times this year! Maybe it takes some magic, but CCU’s feeling it on game day and Wisconsin’s too worried about getting embarrassed that they actually get embarrassed. Coastal wins.

That whole web site is amazing, really. Worth a click.

Arkansas def. Wofford: The Razorbacks are a No. 2 seed in the ACHA Division 3 national tournament after a 25-7-2 season. Surely they would crush a Wofford team that’s never existed.

Harvard def. North Carolina: The Crimson men are OK, and they’re still alive in the ECAC Hockey tournament with a chance to go to the NCAA Division 1 national tournament. But the Harvard women are really the team that represents the university. They’re in the Frozen Four after shutting out a quality Quinnipiac team 5-0 this past weekend, and their team features three Olympians. To be clear, those are Olympians who go to Harvard. And they’re led by head coach Katey Stone, who’s been with the school for 18 years and is one of the best collegiate hockey coaches ever.

Ole Miss def. BYU, Ole Miss def Xavier: Brigham Young went 3-22-1-2 in ACHA Division 2 play this year. Ole Miss made the national tournament at the ACHA Division 3 level. Xavier’s not a bad D3 team, and they had a better regular season than Ole Miss this year, but they weren’t good enough for to make nationals.

Georgia State def. Baylor: Here’s the last tweet from the Panthers:

We’re guessing nobody messaged them, since that was three years ago. Baylor doesn’t have an ice hockey team anymore as far as we can tell, and they haven’t had a roller hockey since 1999-2000. So, somehow, despite all odds, Georgia State pulls this one out.

Ohio State def. VCU: Most club hockey programs play 20 or so games in their season. VCU played five. What happened there? Anyway, Ohio State’s an NCAA Division 1 program, and even if they’re 37th of 59 teams in the Pairwise, they still have more wins than VCU played games all year.

Arizona def. Texas Southern: Texas Southern doesn’t have a team, and never has had a team. Arizona had just two wins in 16 games all year. Do you think we TSU alumni Michael Strahan would lace up the skates and try to beat the Wildcats all by himself? Hmm.

Coastal Carolina def. Oklahoma State: We’re sorry to the All-Star inline hockey goalie from Oklahoma State, but again, CCU scored 10 or more goals in a game nine different times this year. Nine different times.

Harvard def. Arkansas: With all due respect to the four-time Southeastern Collegiate Hockey Conference champion Razorbacks, they don’t have any Olympians on their roster. The Harvard women would crush them and it wouldn’t even be close.

Ole Miss def. Georgia State: A cupcake game for the Rebels, who win by forfeit.

Ohio State def. Arizona: Bad NCAA team beats bad club team.

Harvard def. Coastal Carolina: The Cinderella run ends in the Sweet 16 for the Chanticleers. I mean, their uniforms look like the San Jose Sharks. You didn’t think they’d actually pull off the whole thing right?

Ohio State def. Ole Miss: At the end of the day, Ole Miss was a mediocre regular season team that played well at the end of the year and worked their way to the national tournament at the ACHA Division 3 level. Their Cinderella run ends here as well against an NCAA Division 1 program.

* * *

Villanova def. Lafayette: Lafayette’s pretty strong at the ACHA D2 level, but Villanova was a top team in their conference and a ranked team in the ACHA Division 1 national tournament. Close one, but Nova wins.

NC State def. LSU: The Tigers’ ACHA Division 3 entry went 0-9 on the season. They lost those nine games by a collective score of 174-20. That is not a typo. The weekend of November 21 and November 22, LSU lost a pair of games to Dallas Baptist University -- one was 32-2, the other 26-3.

Wyoming def. Northern Iowa: UNI has a team, but they’re not sanctioned by anybody and we can’t find any information on their games. So even though Wyoming lost a game 17-0 to Northern Arizona in ACHA Division 3 play this season, they’ll advance.

Louisville def. UC Irvine: Louisville sells tickets on LivingSocial. Here’s a review from LivingSocial Member: “This is fast-paced hockey. I was impressed with the level of play. I will be back again. It’s great to see live hockey!” Sounds good.

Providence def. Boise State/Dayton: With all due respect to Boise State and Dayton, Brian Burke and his hair played hockey Providence. Lou Lamoriello was the head coach of the Friars, and Hockey East’s championship trophy is named after him.

Oklahoma def. Albany: Upstate New York is home to some awesome hockey. More AHL teams than any other state, tons of college hockey at all levels, Lake Placid, etc. But the University of Albany’s team isn’t really anything to write home about, and the Oklahoma Sooners club hockey team is one of the best in the nation. They lost in the second round of the ACHA Division 1 national championships to Iowa State, but they were the No. 7 ranked team in the tournament.

Michigan State def. Georgia: Come on, obviously.

Virginia def. Belmont: Give credit to the Bruins for trying, though.

Villanova def. NC State: Tough break for NC State here, pulling in a game against a top division club. That previous sentence is applicable in hockey or basketball.

Louisville def. Wyoming: Look what the Cards did this season!

Providence def. Oklahoma: Bummer for the Sooners, but the Friars are 14th in the Pairwise at the at NCAA Division 1 level.

Michigan State def. Virginia: Let’s compare where these teams play.

Louisville def. Villanova: Louisville plays one division down from Villanova, but they won their conference championship and I bet they’d enter the game against the Wildcats feeling good. Villanova fell in the national championship at their ACHA Division 1 level, so they’re probably not feeling great coming in. It’s an upset, but not a long-shot upset.

Providence def. Michigan State: The Friars have a strong chance at the NCAA Division 1 national tournament this season (about 92 percent as of this writing), while the Spartans are ... 31st out of 59 teams in the nation.

Robert Morris def. North Florida and Duke: The Colonials pull off the upset! ... except in hockey, of course, it’s not an upset. Robert Morris is one of just two Pennsylvania teams in NCAA Division 1, and they might be the only school that sends a team to both the NCAA DIvision 1 men’s national tournaments in both men’s hockey and men’s basketball.

San Diego State def. St. John’s: Yes, the school in Southern California has a team and the one in New York City does not.

Georgetown def. Eastern Washington: The EWU Eagles have a team, but they play in the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League. Against Canadian teams. Disqualified. Traitors.

UCLA def. SMU: UCLA went 6-14-0 this season. SMU went 0-5-0-1. Do not watch this game.

Iowa State def. UAB: The Cyclones are pretty good. They won 14 of the 20 games they played this season, they won three Central States Collegiate Hockey League crown, and they advanced to the ACHA Division 1 nationals, ultimately losing to national champion Central Oklahoma. Impressive season, though!

Iowa def. Davidson: Do you think a school with less than 2,000 undergraduates ... in North Carolina ... has a club hockey team?

North Dakota State def. Gonzaga: It’s plausible that Gonzaga could beat a mediocre ACHA Division 2 team that finished the season 10-14-1, but the Bulldogs only played five games this year.

Robert Morris def. San Diego State: Seriously guys, the Colonials might be one of the last 16 NCAA D1 schools standing this season.

Utah def. Georgetown: Not only are the Utes hosting the ACHA Division 2 tournament this year, they’re actually in it. They had of the busier schedules in ACHA hockey this season, playing 42 games, and they won 27 of those games. Pretty impressive stuff. That’s a good hockey team.

Iowa State def. UCLA: They have their name on their bus. They are very professional.

Iowa def. North Dakota State: These two teams are both mediocre and right in the middle of ACHA Division 2 when it comes to the standings, but Iowa vs. Iowa State sounds fun so there you go.

Robert Morris def. Utah: Actually kind of a tough matchup to pick. Yes, Robert Morris is an NCAA-sanctioned program, and yes, Utah is all the way down at ACHA Division 2. But Utah is one of the best teams in the country at that level. While Robert Morris could make the NCAA tournament this year, it’s mostly because they play in a crappy conference. One team is made up of athletes on scholarship and the other is made up of kids just out there to have fun, but I bet this game would be pretty competitive. Still going to go with the safe bet, though.

Iowa State def. Iowa: Only one of these teams has watch parties for their games.

Northeastern def. Buffalo: The Bulls are a strong ACHA club, but they’re gonna fall to the Huskies any day of the week.

Harvard def. Ohio State: Remember, we’re talking about the Harvard women -- the best team at the school -- here. In terms of raw skill, I think they would embarrass the Buckeyes.

Providence def. Louisville: There’s some upset potential here, and we’re only saying that because Louisville won a trophy this spring and it’s clear they can play. But Providence beat Boston University and Boston College and UMass-Lowell this year, so we’re pretty sure they could probably handle Louisville’s club team.

Iowa State def. Robert Morris: Going out on a limb with this one, but we’re going predict the Cyclones to beat the Colonials. With all due respect to Robert Morris, Atlantic Hockey is a bad, bad conference. Iowa State -- again, a very strong ACHA Division 1 entry -- probably loses nine times out of 10, but we’ll take them here.

Harvard def. Northeastern: All things considered, Northeastern is a run-of-the-mill NCAA Division 1 hockey program. They would play the Harvard men about even, and again ... when it comes to skill, I don’t think they could touch the Harvard women. Just dancing circles around ‘em for three periods.

Providence def. Iowa State: The Cyclones run comes to an end in the Final (Frozen) Four.

Harvard def. Providence: Once again, when it comes to pure skill, I don’t think a single NCAA Division 1 men’s program in this tournament -- not Michigan State, not Northeastern, not Robert Morris, not Providence, certainly not Wisconsin -- can take the Harvard women. These games have never happened on the books -- a D1 men’s team vs. a D1 women’s team -- but assuming the right rules are in place to make the game fair, the Harvard women could out-skill just about any college team in the country.

That’s not to say Providence is a bad team, and they could very well make a run in this year’s NCAA hockey tournament behind the stellar goaltending of Jon Gillies. But if it’s Gillies versus the nearly four goals per game the Harvard women score on average, and the firepower provided by Mary Parker, Sydney Daniels, or Olympians Lyndsey Fry and Josephine Pucci?

I’m gonna put my money on the skill of Harvard’s team any day of the week.