NCAA tournament preview: No. 1 seed and defending champs highlight Manchester regional

If it weren't for the fact that the No. 16 seed were in this regional, Manchester would feel like a near-total tossup.

I think a lot of people are trying to talk themselves into the top-seeded Boston College Eagles not really being up for big games. They lost in the Beanpot, they lost in the Hockey East quarterfinals, they've had the occasional game where they were not as scary as you'd think they would be, their power play is weirdly ineffective. I get the skepticism.

Meanwhile, Bentley is a program on the rise in Atlantic Hockey, and let's not all look at once, but they beat Maine on the road earlier this season.

Let's be honest, though: The most likely outcome here is that Boston College wins this game, and probably does so handily. Bentley had an awesome season, but they haven't faced a p