Starting October 12, the Minnesota State Mavericks will skate through an eight-day, four-game gauntlet of non-conference hell: hosting two games with Boston University, followed by a six-hour bus ride to North Dakota, hockey’s answer to Death Valley. Why in the world would coach Mike Hastings subject his Mavericks to such extreme tests so early in the season? 

“It’s important for us to try and compile the best schedule that we possibly can so at the end of the year we’ve put ourselves in position to be considered for the NCAA tournament,” Hastings said. 

He spoke about being “judged come pairwise time,” the primary mathematical formula that produces 10 at-large teams to the NCAA tournament field of 16. The out-of-conference battles in October and early November determine 25 percent more NCAA participants than the conference clashes in January and February. 

“So many people pooh-pooh the pairwise before January 1,” said Adam Wodon of College Hockey News, the most frequently consulted source of computer rankings prior to the NCAA tourney selections in March. “The teams that are in the top-20 pairwise as of December, something like 80 percent make the NCAAs. It doesn’t change a whole lot after that.”

So a friendly little home-and-home in October between Ferris and Western Michigan has seismic repercussions, because it’s the WCHA taking on super-conference NCHC, and a sweep by Ferris raises all WCHA ships due to opponents’ records and strength of schedule, two vital criteria in the all-important rankings computer. 

Ferris coach Bob Daniels has taken his Bulldogs to three NCAA tourneys since 2012, and he has scrutinized every conceivable entrance into the Big Dance. 

“When you get to the end of October, you’ve probably played 90 percent of your non-conference games,” the coach said. “That’s almost going to tell you how many teams from each conference will get into the tournament. You don’t know which teams they are, but you can say, ‘OK, we’re down to two.’ We can’t just tippy-toe into our games with Western; those early-season games are pivotal.”

Daniels has often stated that he is playing for the WCHA as much as his own squad in October. That scenario makes strange bedfellows out of typically fierce rivals. 

“There is no doubt that I have the WCHA pom-poms a-waving when teams in our league are competing against teams in other leagues,” said Hastings, who will be intently rooting for Chris Bergeron’s Bowling Green squad on October 26 and 27. The series that jumps off the page is the all-Ohio battle between the Falcons and Ohio State, an enthralling home-and-home matchup. Not only does Bowling Green get a chance to claim in-state bragging rights by slaying the No. 2-ranked team in the country, but a sweep could help turn the WCHA into a three-NCAA participant conference, instead of one or two. 

“From a mathematical standpoint, they’re huge,” said pairwise maven Wodon. “Casual fans don’t realize how important these games are. Those limited-sample-size games can skew things pretty good, one way or the other, for every team in the conference.”

Tim Rappleye is the author of "Jack Parker's Wiseguys" and the forthcoming book: "Hobey Baker, Upon Further Review," set for release in November. He can be reached @TeeRaps.