Browns lose to bad team; other things

As I stick my head above the snow and ice long enough to blog ... and get my face frozen off ...

* I don't have a whole lot to say about the Browns' loss to Buffalo. As the offense moved the ball steadily down the field in its first drive, it seemed like there was no stopping us in this one. But then they stopped hanging onto the ball, and couldn't move it down the field even if they did hang on to it. Did you realize the Browns never got past midfield the entire second half? Pathetic.

* Jake Delhomme has had success in the National Football League, but at this point in his career, he has no business running an NFL offense. If Colt McCoy can't come back next week against the Bengals, I want to see Seneca Wallace. I know he hasn't had a great career, but he can't be much worse than Delhomme.

* On the plus side, Peyton Hills topped 1,000 yards rushing for the season, and he's also the team's leading receiver in terms of number of receptions. On the minus side, Hillis fumbled three times, one of which was recovered by the Bills. Hillis is a beast, and I'm glad we have him, but we've got to be able to trust him to hold on to the cockadoody ball. The fumble he lost came at a critical time, right after the Browns had gotten a turnover and had a chance to score a touchdown, or at least a field goal. Not that there's ever a good time to lose a fumble.

* The Cavaliers ... yeah. They're bad. A couple of weeks ago, I had what seemed like legitimate hopes they could be a playoff contender. They've now lost eight straight, and at 7-17, have the fourth-worst record in the Eastern Conference. All this while the cotton-pickin' Miami Heat have won eight straight. It makes my soul hurt.

* But hey, how about that Akron Zips soccer team? They beat Louisville 1-0 yesterday to win the national championship -- the first national title ever for a team from the U of A, a year after losing in the title game.

* Another Ohio school is making noise in another non-marquee sport. The Miami Redhawks hockey team is ranked #6 in the nation. Like the Akron soccer team, Miami's icemen went deep into the post-season last year, after losing in the title game in 2008-09. And come January, I will have attended both those schools. Not that I have anything to do with their success, of course, but hey, that's what makes a fan a fan.

Trading Betancourt? Sure, why not?

A guy that used to be one of the linchpins of the Indians' bullpen got traded yesterday to Colorado for a 24-year-old pitcher who's currently in single-A. Thus have the fortunes of the Tribe bullpen fallen.

Rafael Betancourt had an amazing year in 2007, the year the Indians got within a win of the World Series. He went 5-1 with a 1.47 ERA as the main setup man for closer Joe Borowski, struck out almost nine hitters for every hitter he walked, and gave up just four home runs all year, in 79 1/3 innings. Then last year, he regressed badly along with the rest of the bullpen, posting a 5.07 ERA in 71 innings, striking out about 2 1/2 hitters for each one he walked, and giving up 11 home runs. He's been somewhere in the middle this year, with a 3.52 ERA. His K/BB numbers are even worse than last year, but he's only given up three taters. I think it can be said he's been one of the Indians' better relievers this year, which is kind of like choosing your favorite flavor of Boone's Farm wine.

Regardless, Betancourt was likely to be gone after this year anyway, and it's not like he'd have made the difference between playoffs or no playoffs this year. The Indians had a $5.4 million option on him for next year, but they weren't going to spend that on a reliever who's not even a great setup man anymore. The surprising thing, to me, is that this was Betancourt's seventh year in the majors, all with the Indians. Did you know he'd been around that long? Time flies when you're getting older, I guess.

In return, the Tribe got a 6'7" pitcher named Connor Graham, an Ohio native who played college ball at my alma mater, Miami University, before being drafted in the fifth round in 2007. Baseball America rated him as the Rockies' 12th-best prospect. He was 7-4 with a 3.14 ERA in 16 starts at Modesto of the California League. Pitchers tend to develop later than hitters, but I can't get too excited about a guy who hasn't gotten past A ball yet, at age 24. But hey, his numbers are good, and maybe he'll get to Cleveland in a couple of years and show us something.

Love and honor to Miami!

Yes, this is a Cleveland sports blog, but I'm all abuzz about my alma mater, Miami University, having its first chance ever to play for a national championship in any sport. The RedHawks (known as the Redskins during my college days) dispatched the Bemidji State Beavers yesterday, 4-1, in a game that probably wasn't as close as the final score. One more win, and we're champs. I can hardly contain my excitement. The Hawks will be underdogs against the Boston U. Terriers of Hockey East, but our boys have proven they can hang with the big dogs.

The biggest moment in last night's game came right after Bemidji cut Miami's lead to 2-1 on a power play goal in the second period. Will Weber took a shot that hit Bill Loupee’s stick in the crease, and the puck ricocheted off Bemidji goalie Matt Dalton and back into the net. Miami, 3-1. They'd score their last goal on an empty-netter in the third. And in their first-ever trip to the Frozen Four, the RedHawks (23-12-5) have reached the title game.

The Terriers (34-6-4) come in after a hard-fought come-from-behind 5-4 victory over Vermont in the other national semifinal, and have won their last six and 11 of their last 12. They rattled off a nine-game winning streak earlier this season, which was followed by a rather bizarre three-game tying streak, then a five-game winning streak. So at one point, they won 14 games between losses. Since January 1, they're 23-2-3. This is a tough opponent for anyone. Our guys will have their hands full, but once the puck drops at 7 p.m. Saturday, the score will be zero-zero.

I can hardly wait.

So anyway ...

Miami lost to Boston College on Sunday. Those of you who care already know that, I'm sure; and you may also know that the RedHawks lost because they fell asleep for two minutes in the second period. BC scored three goals in that two-minute span. Considering the final score was 4-3 in overtime, that gives you some idea what an uncharacteristic lapse that was for Miami. The Hawks really dominated the overtime too, but they couldn't get any shots through. This was the third year in a row that Miami has fallen to Boston College in the NCAA Tournament. That's like the Browns and Broncos in the late '80s, only worse.

And so ends the season for senior Ryan Jones, the nation's leading goal scorer; junior Jeff Zatkoff, the nation's second-leading goaltender in terms of save percentage and goals against average; freshman Carter Camper, junior Justin Mercier and junior Brian Kaufman, all among the nation's leading scorers; fine senior defenseman Mitch Ganzak; senior forward Nathan Davis, who was among the team's best players, but missed a lot of time due to injury (including the Boston College game); and the nation's leading overall team offense.

With Jones and Davis among the players we're losing, it's going to be hard to make up that much offense next year. I'm not saying it can't be done, but we're talking about the best finisher in the nation, in Jones. If Zatkoff returns with the kind of year he had in '07-08, however, the RedHawks have a chance to make another run at a national title.

But I wanted to see them do it this year. I still think they could have. But they didn't.

What a game what a game what a game!

Miami (Ohio) and Air Force played an instant classic today in the NCAA Division I Hockey Tournament. I honestly don't think I've ever seen a better college hockey game, and while there are undoubtedly people who have watched a lot more college hockey than I have, I've watched more than my share.

Miami scored just 19 seconds into the game, on a Tommy Wingels wrist shot into the upper corner (where momma keeps the cookies, I believe is the term). After that, Air Force goaltender Andrew Volkening put on one heck of a show. Miami had shot after shot denied, including one that ESPNU play-by-play announcer John Buccigross said may have been the save of the year in college hockey. Color commentator Barry Melrose agreed it had to be in the top five. Volkening shut out the RedHawks for 50-plus minutes of game action, while his teammates managed to score twice on rebound shots to give them a 2-1 lead. The way Volkening was playing, it looked like the Falcons were going to pull off the upset.

But with 7:50 left in regulation, Air Force got hit with a penalty for having too many men on the ice. It was Miami's fourth power-play opportunity of the game, and they failed to take advantage of the first three. But this time, freshman Carter Camper made the Falcons pay, putting it in off a rebound with 6:16 to go.

Miami controlled the overtime period, but Volkening was almost unbreachable. It should be noted that Miami goalie Jeff Zatkoff, the nation's leading goaltender in terms of save percentage, made some great saves in that time too. But something had to give, and that something turned out to be Volkening. As Justin Mercier took the puck down to the right side of the goal, Volkening gambled that he would take it behind the net. But he didn't. He veered in front of the net and put it in the far upper corner. And Miami moves on to the round of eight.

Taken from the USCHO.com story:

“The puck came loose in the neutral zone; I was able to pick it up,” Mercier said. “I knew I could take advantage of their ‘D’ if I got him turning, pivoting. It was almost a fake shot, got him to freeze up for a second, took the puck around him and made a play on net to get it past their goalie.”

Miami won despite getting no goals from Ryan Jones, the nation's leading goal scorer. Jones had some chances, including a breakaway opportunity, but Volkening stopped him. But as Melrose pointed out, Miami's got a lot of weapons.

At 4:30 p.m. Sunday, the RedHawks play the winner of the Boston College-Minnesota game, which Boston College currently leads 2-1 in the second. The winner of tomorrow's game moves on to the Frozen Four in Denver. I can hardly wait.

March Madness -- on the ice

The NCAA Division I Hockey Tournament opens today, and there is one Ohio school in the 16-team field. And it happens to be my alma mater, Miami (Ohio). The RedHawks (32-7-1) are the No. 1 seed in the Northeast Region, and open at 4 p.m. today against Air Force (21-11-6). You can see it on ESPNU.

Miami is the No. 2 overall seed, behind someone I hope we can all agree to hate, the Michigan Wolverines. Miami and Michigan spent most of the season ranked No. 1 and 2, and Michigan wound up on top by virtue of a 2-0-1 record against our Hawks, including the Central Collegiate Hockey Association tournament championship.

Some notes cribbed from the USCHO.com story:

The RedHawks are the No. 2 seed overall in the tournament after losing their bid for a CCHA championship title to the No. 1 seed Michigan Wolverines. Miami played a cautious semifinal game against Notre Dame last weekend before a looser display against the Wolverines, but each contest had something glaring in common; the RedHawks failed to score until the final minute of each game.

In the 2-1 overtime win over the Irish, defenseman Mitch Ganzak scored the equalizer at 19:56 in the third, while fellow blueliner Alec Martinez scored at 19:21 in the 2-1 loss to Michigan the following night — and both goals were scored with Jeff Zatkoff pulled from the net in favor of the extra attacker.

That is a little bit worrisome, and we'll have to play better if we want to advance through this field to the Frozen Four.

Air Force won the Atlantic Hockey tournament for the second straight year, and will surely give the RedHawks a tough game. I'm looking forward to it.

Hooray for the Lady RedHawks!

Tonight, Quicken Loans Arena is an NBA venue again, as the Cavaliers are about to tip off against Charlotte. But yesterday, it was the place where dreams came true for the Miami RedHawks women's basketball team, and then the Kent State Golden Flashes men.

First, the Miami women used an 11-0 run in the second half to polish off the Ohio Bobcats, 67-56, behind 19 points each from MAC Tournament MVP Amanda Jackson and teammate Jenna Schone. That 11-0 run started with the game tied at 41, and apart from that period of the game, the two southern Ohio teams played to a tie. The Miami men have made the NCAA tournament a number of times, getting as far as the Sweet Sixteen (1999, behind Wally Szczerbiak). But the Miami women will make their first appearance this year.

Kent State has become the MAC's premier men's program over the last few years, and further affirmed that with its commanding 74-55 win over Akron last night. Conference MVP Al Fisher did some acrobatic flips after the final buzzer, as the Flashes celebrated their fifth MAC Tournament title. It was fun to see, even though I was kind of rooting for Akron because that likely would have gotten two MAC schools into the tourney.

Lady RedHawks and Gentleman Flashes, may you go far. You're six wins away from a national championship.

Can't stop Kent State

There were four games played at The Q yesterday, and three of them came down to fantastic finishes. The Miami Lady RedHawks pulled out a last-minute 70-66 win against Toledo, with Toledo-area native Laura Markwood hitting a big shot with 32.1 seconds left to break a 66-66 tie. They'll play Ohio at 1 p.m. today, after the Lady Bobcats needed double-overtime to beat Bowling Green yesterday, 68-66; Quintana Ward was the last-shot hero in that one. I did not see either of those games, as they were played while I was at work, but the title game is on Fox Sports Net. It should be a hum-dinger. Miami comes in at 22-10, Ohio at 20-12, and these are historic rivals. Being a Miami grad myself, I'm obviously biased, but whoever wins, I hope they go deep into the NCAA Tournament.

Akron easily handled Western Michigan last night, 73-62. The game was not as close as the final score indicates. The Zips will play Kent State in tonight's final, at 7 p.m. on ESPN2, after Kent beat Miami 49-47 last night. Now THAT was one HECK of a college basketball game. Both teams played tough, tough defense throughout. It came down to the closing seconds. Kent's Al Fisher hit a running jumper with three seconds left. Miami's Tim Pollitz had a good look at a close shot at the buzzer, but he left it short.

Bless his heart, Pollitz collapsed in disappointment as he saw his shot go off the front of the rim, and the cameras caught him moping off the court afterward. On Sunday, in Miami's last home game of the year, Pollitz, a senior, bent down and kissed the RedHawk in the center of the floor as he was leaving the court for the last time. It was both very touching and a little gross. The 17-15 RedHawks are obviously not going to get into the NCAA Tournament, and have to be considered a longshot even for the NIT, which means Pollitz's brilliant Miami career is probably over. I can understand that he'd feel bad about ending his career on a missed shot that would have sent the game to overtime. But hold your head up, Tim. You've got a lot to be proud of -- not least of which is a fine Miami University education.

So anyway, it's an all-southern Ohio women's final this afternoon, and an all-northeast Ohio men's final tonight. I'm predicting the Miami women and Kent men will get the automatic NCAA bids, but I will not be surprised if either or both is upset.

Incidentally, of the 12 schools in the Mid-American Conference, exactly half are in Ohio. And yet, of the eight teams that reached the semifinals between the two genders, seven were from Ohio -- and the one team that was not from Ohio was the one team that did not manage to hang in. I might point out that Miami is the only school that had both its teams reach the semifinals, but I'll leave that to the reader to figure out.

MAC tourney heats up at Q

I'm a Miami (Ohio) graduate, and I heard some smack talk from some of my Ohio U. grad co-workers yesterday leading up to last night's quarterfinal between the two teams at Quicken Loans Arena. But the smack's going to go in the other direction after the RedHawks' 74-61 win. Michael Bramos was the key, putting in 23 points, and Miami closed the game with an 11-2 run to send the Bobcats back to Athens.

For those of you who don't know, Miami and Ohio consider each other their arch rivals. It's no Ohio State-Michigan, but it is the two oldest schools in Ohio, and we do hate each other, albeit in a fairly good-natured way. It seems like we meet up in the MAC tourney every year somehow, and the games haven't always gone as I'd like. So enjoy this one, Miami fans; it could go the other way next year.

Our opponents tonight at 9:30 on Fox Sports Ohio? Top-seeded Kent State, now 26-6 after easily dispatching Toledo yesterday, 77-57. (Miami's 17-14, if you were wondering.) Kent's got a darned good team, and could make some serious noise in the NCAA tournament. I'm hearing the Flashes might not get in if they don't win the MAC, which seems ridiculous to me, but that almost makes me want to root for them against my own school tonight. But not quite.

In the other bracket, second-seeded Western Michigan, behind 24 points from David Kool (yes, that's his name), took care of Eastern Michigan, 70-61; though it was a tougher game than expected.

The Broncos (20-11) will play the Akron Zips (22-9) in the 7:00 game tonight, after Akron's easy 81-60 win over Central Michigan yesterday. Kent is certainly the class of the MAC this year, but I could certainly envision either of these teams pulling off an upset in the final on Saturday, assuming Kent gets past Miami tonight.

RedHawks icers conclude regular season

Miami (Ohio)'s hockey team completed a five-game season sweep over Ohio State (of which school I'm a fan in every sport but hockey) last night in Oxford to finish its regular season at 29-6-1, second in the CCHA, behind Michigan. The RedHawks were ranked No. 1 at one point, but after a tie and a loss against Michigan (which school I root against in every sport, including hockey), followed by an inexplicable 0-2 weekend against Ferris State, they fell to No. 5, which is where they've been the last few weeks.

They finished strong, though, winning their last four, and will host a three-game series starting March 14 in the second round of the CCHA playoffs. And Miami's a lock for the NCAA tournament, where we'll likely get a No. 2 seed. So let's hope that little blip is behind us. I mean, come on. Ferris State?

Busting the brackets

My alma mater, Miami (Ohio), played a barn-burner against Valparaiso yesterday an one of ESPN's Bracket Buster matchups. The game really had very little significance; Miami came into the game 13-12, Valparaiso 15-11. Teams from the Mid-American Conference or the Horizon League with double-digit numbers in the loss column do not get into the NCAA Tournament unless they win their conference tournament, so this was basically just a fairly meaningless regular-season game. But it appears nobody told the players.

The RedHawks had their chances, but missed too many shots down the stretch in a 99-94 double-overtime loss. Miami's Michael Bramos was on fire in the first half, but couldn't hit a shot to save his life in the second; this is the nature of being an outside shooter. I myself once made eight straight three-pointers shooting alone at a YMCA gym, but I can tell you I've missed eight straight a lot more often than I've made eight straight. But enough about me. Bramos wound up with 23 points, Kenny Hayes scored 30, and Tim Pollitz put in 22 with 12 rebounds. It was a solid effort, but these RedHawks aren't destined for greatness. Nor are the Valparaiso Crusaders.

Fellow MAC school Kent State, however, pulled out a 65-57 win on Bracket Buster Saturday against No. 20 St. Mary's of California. The Golden Flashes held St. Mary's without a basket for more than six minutes down the stretch, and at 23-5, they've got a pretty impressive tournament résumé. What's perhaps even more impressive is that they won a game that ended around 1 a.m. eastern time.

And the Ohio Bobcats turned in an impressive 69-57 victory over '06 tournament darlings George Mason. Cleveland State (not a MAC school, but of local interest anyway), which made some noise early in the season before falling back, won a who-cares game 59-44 against Marist.

Ohio's other mid-major schools didn't fare so well. Akron came pretty close in a 57-52 loss to Virginia Commonwealth; Bowling Green got kind of embarrassed in an 81-65 loss to Detroit, which came into the game 6-20; and Toledo lost 77-69 to Delaware.

This Bracket Busters business has gotten kind of out of hand, if you ask me. It used to be the best mid-majors got to play in it, but now, there are about 50 Bracket Buster games. Most of these teams are never going to bust any brackets. What's the point of matching up Bowling Green and Detroit?

All right, I'm done ranting.

RedHawks hold tough

Sure, we Miami fans (and other Michigan-haters from the Buckeye State) might have preferred that the RedHawks get a win last night at Cady Arena. But the 5-5 tie leaves us in pretty good shape.

I did not watch Saturday's game, as much as I would have liked to, because I have to catch a plane early this morning to San Francisco, and I realize it's a lot more important that the pilot be awake than it is that I be, I've got a long drive to the airport. But the game reports I've read, here and here and here, and a Michigan-centric story here, tell me it was quite an exciting game. One story calls it "arguably the most exciting game of the year," which I suppose is what can usually be expected of a matchup between No. 1 and No. 2.

The 0-1-1 weekend against that school up north leaves Michigan in first place by one point in the CCHA, and the two teams will probably trade places atop the polls for about the fourth or fifth time this year, but fear not, RedHawks backers. Each team has six games left in the regular season. Miami (25-4-1) has two each against Ferris State (11-12-5), Western Michigan (7-20-3) and Ohio State (9-20-3; and this is the only sport in which I don't feel any particular allegiance to the Buckeyes). Michigan (23-3-4) will end against Ferris, before which they've got two against Lake Superior State (6-16-6) and -- and this is the key to the point I'm about to make -- two against Michigan State (18-7-5). The Spartans are a good bet to split that series, or maybe come away with at least one tie. If the Hawks win out, as they should, they've got a pretty good chance to overtake Michigan for the conference title and the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Stay tuned, Miami fans.

Bad first period

I watched last night's hockey game between No. 1 Miami and No. 2 Michigan at the Winking Lizard in Mentor because I couldn't get it on my cable at home. I ordered shrimp-crab quesadillas, and there were four of them. Now, I'm not one of those people who believes that my actions in a restaurant in Mentor can influence what happens on the ice in Oxford, some 280 miles away, but the fact is, when I started eating my quesadillas, the score was 0-0. The Wolverines scored their first goal while I ate my first quesadilla, their second goal while I ate my second, their third goal while I ate my third, and their fourth goal while I ate my fourth. So I suppose you could make the argument that I lost that game for Miami by eating some quesadillas. I apologize, Miami fans.

Our RedHawks really looked overmatched in that first period, and it hurts to say that. They weren't able to get any good shots off, and they did things like fumble the puck in front of their own goal and allow breakaways. They turned the puck over repeatedly in the neutral zone, and goaltender Jeff Zatkoff, who's been phenomenal all season, just didn't seem to have the stuff. Michigan scored all four goals within six minutes of game time. It was really hard to watch.

But once I finished my quesadillas, Miami started to settle in. Zatkoff made some fine saves in the second period, and the Hawks took some nice shots. But Michigan's goalie is pretty good too.

Finally, in the third, Miami managed to take advantage of some power-play opportunities. Ryan Jones broke through about five minutes into the period, and Jarod Palmer's goal with about seven minutes left cut it to 4-2; both were scored with a man advantage. It was starting to look like we had a chance. And we got some more power-play chances, including a brief 5-on-3, but give Michigan credit (boy, does THAT hurt to say). They held tough.

There is reason for optimism going into tonight's rematch. Michigan did not score over the last 45 minutes of game time. If our guys can keep that going, I like our chances to salvage the split.

One more thing: I'm fairly confident that this morning was the first time Miami hockey has ever appeared on SportsCenter. It would have been a lot better if they'd been talking about a win, but it felt good to see highlights from Oxford on ESPN. Anchor Robert Flores complimented Zatkoff on his goalie mask. And it is a beaut.

More on Miami ice hockey

Here's an interview with RedHawks Coach Enrico Blasi, from about a week ago. For whatever reason, my browser isn't showing the video, but I'm able to hear the interview. Blasi talks in some depth about the upcoming matchup with Michigan, and throws some accolades to Ryan Jones and Nate Davis.

Big hockey series

No. 1 Miami University (25-3-0) faces off Friday and Saturday against No. 2 Michigan (22-3-3) at the Goggin Ice Center in Oxford. This is a very exciting time to be a Redsk ..., er, RedHawk. (The team nickname is a blog entry for another time.)

I've been an Ohio State fan all my life, and I always will be (even though Bob Knight played there), but I never really considered it when I was looking at colleges. I wound up at Miami, a non-BCS Division I school (no, the BCS didn't exist in the late '80s and early '90s, but we all understood that the Mid-American Conference was not the Big 10), which meant that the best we could reasonably hope for on a year-to-year basis was winning MAC championships in the various sports. Our football team was second-tier at best, our basketball teams were second-tier at best, our baseball team, our swimming team, our field hockey team, and so on and so forth.

From a national standpoint, we've had a couple of good years in individual sports: Wally Szczerbiak's 1998-99 basketball team reached the Sweet 16 before losing a highly respectable 58-48 to Kentucky; and Ben Roethlisberger's 2003 football team went 12-1, its only loss in the season opener against Iowa, and ended the season No. 10 in the nation. The lesson? In order to be a superstar athlete at Miami University, you have to have a name that only people smart enough to get into Miami can spell.

But in ice hockey ― and only in ice hockey ― Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, is NOT a second-tier school. We are a member of the first-tier Central Collegiate Hockey Association. We are in the same league as Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State ― and even Notre Dame. Brian Savage, who would go on to play 12 years in the NHL, played at Miami while I was there.

The setup in college hockey is TOTALLY different from all the other sports. Several schools that are Division II or Division III in other sports are big-time powers in hockey. The last back-to-back national champion was the University of Denver. When's the last time you heard about the University of Denver's basketball or football team? Among other traditional Division I powers ― all of whom are currently in the top 20 ― are North Dakota, New Hampshire, Colorado College, Minnesota-Duluth and Clarkson.

Oh, yes. And Miami. In fact, if you check college hockey Web sites, you'll see that Miami University is not even referred to as "Miami (Ohio)." It's just "Miami." You know how, if you look at the national football pool and see the word "Miami" on the list? You don't have to ask which Miami. It's the one in Florida. Duh!

Well, Miami of Florida doesn't even have a hockey team, as far as I know. You never see "Miami (Ohio)" on a hockey poll. Of course it's the one in Ohio.

But even in ice hockey, Miami has never won a national championship. In fact, they were never really a national power until quite recently, after Savage's former teammate Enrico Blasi became the head coach in 1999. Blasi had cut his teeth as an assistant at Denver under his former Miami coach, George Gwozdecky. It took Blasi awhile to build up the program, but he's done a fantastic job. The RedHawks reached the Elite Eight last year before losing 4-0 to Boston College ― the same team that knocked them out 5-0 in the first round in 2006 (the tournament is only 16 teams to begin with in hockey, so the office pools are somewhat less exciting).

And this year, they've been ranked No. 1 for much of the season, trading back and forth with fellow CCHA power Michigan. I went to see them in Bowling Green (the BG Falcons, Miami and the Western Michigan Broncos are the only MAC schools in the CCHA) the Saturday of the first weekend of 2008, and the Hawks looked pretty darned good. They won 5-2 and almost made it 6-2 with an empty-netter. They skated faster and controlled the puck better than the Falcons. But one of Miami's three losses is to BG, and it was actually the previous night.

And now Miami and Michigan are the top two teams in the country, and they're playing this weekend. I've been led to believe Friday night's game, at least, is being shown on TV, but I don't seem to have it on my cable. I don't know who's carrying it, but apparently somebody is.