Seeing 2 NU banners on the Garden rafters is not something I'd ever thought I'd see. Ending BU and BC's seasons too? Damn these are the golden years for NU hockey.
I certainly never would have expected it.
If the committee sticks to the bracket, I think NU will be in either Manchester or Providence. I'm a little concerned, though, that they might want to swap Cornell to Allentown to try to prop up attendance there, and if that happens, NU basically has to go along with them (otherwise Cornell would end up with a first round matchup with Quinnipiac).
Based on a straight bracket, this is how I would see it:
Fargo, ND:
1. St. Cloud
8. Denver
9. Ohio State
16. AIC
Allentown, PA:
2. Minnesota-Duluth
7. Quinnipiac
10. Arizona State
15. Bowling Green
Manchester/Providence
3. Minnesota State
6. Northeastern
11. Cornell
14. Providence
Providence/Manchester
4. Massachusetts
5. Clarkson
12. Notre Dame
13. Harvard
PC is not the host of the Providence regional, so they don't have to be there. If I were drawing up the tournament, they wouldn't be, because I don't want to penalize Minnesota State by making them play a sort-of road game in their opener. I don't know what the committee will do. I don't think there's a particular reason to favor putting UMass in either eastern regional, I think they're both a similar distance (and both a drive) from Amherst (Google Maps says 1:58 to Manchester vs. 1:38 to Providence).