With the winter athletics regular season coming to an end soon, a few of Suffolk University’s teams are still in the running for a first-round bye or gaining home court advantage in pivotal playoff games. Here’s what Suffolk needs to do to maximize their playoff seeding.
Starting on the men’s hockey front, they currently stand at second place in the Conference of New England, just five points behind first place University of New England, ranked No. 7 in the latest national poll.
With every win in regulation counting for three points, Suffolk will find themselves reliant on other universities if they want a shot at first place. Unfortunately for Suffolk, the last three games on UNE’s schedule are against losing teams, starting with a back-to-back against second-to-last place Wentworth Institute of Technology.
They’ll be heavy favorites going into all three games, giving them a chance to finish the season at 51 total points.
Assuming UNE closes out the season with three more wins, for Suffolk to clinch first place and host every playoff game at home with 52 points, they will need to win their final five games all in regulation, a stretch that includes back-to-back games against 12-5 Curry College, also nationally ranked at No. 15 overall.
It remains a possibility for Suffolk men’s hockey to clinch first place, though the odds certainly aren’t in their favor.
On the other hand, Suffolk hasn’t clinched a first-round bye just yet. Tied with Endicott College for second place, with Curry College just one point behind, every game Suffolk plays will be pivotal.
Luckily for Suffolk, they will be playing last place Western New England University back-to-back, but as previously mentioned their final two games will be against Curry College. Those two games against Curry could ultimately decide whether or not Suffolk will maintain their first-round bye.
Men’s basketball has also strung together a solid season, finding themselves third in the CNE with three regular season games to go.
Unfortunately for them, a first round bye is nearly out of the question with the 20-1 Endicott Gulls clinching a top-2 spot off a 14-game winning streak. However, hosting a playoff game out of second place remains in play for Suffolk.
Once again, their hopes rely on other teams in their conference. With a 9-4 conference record, the Rams are just behind second place Western New England University (10-2).
With just three games remaining, Suffolk will have to win out to have a chance at second place. Even if they win out, due to WNE holding the tiebreaker they’ll need WNE to drop at least three of their final four games, a slate which includes two bottom-3 teams in the CNE.
On the flip side, Suffolk still needs to tread carefully in their final three games. As it stands, Roger Williams University and UNE are just one game behind Suffolk in the standings, with Nichols College two games below Suffolk. With a game against UNE Feb. 14, losses in their final slate could send Suffolk free-falling in the playoff standings.
Finally, Suffolk women’s hockey finds themselves in an uphill battle if they want to host a playoff game, with a first-round bye no longer being a possibility.
Sitting in fifth place with 18 points and a 5-7-2 record, the Rams’ final slate is a playoff gauntlet which includes games against second place WNE, third place Johnson & Wales University, fourth place UNE and sixth place Curry.
While all top-six teams have already clinched playoff spots, there could be a lot of movement between third-seed and sixth-seed given the five-point gap between the teams.
Johnson & Wales find themselves just three regulation wins away from clinching third place and hosting a playoff game. If they lose one of their next three games and Suffolk were to win their next three games all in regulation, it could set up a season finale clash for third place Feb. 21 when these two teams meet.
