Dartmouth was also winless in five tries against the top three seeds of the tournament. Harvard posted a near-perfect 2-0-1 record against Brown and Minnesota.

The Big Green also lost twice to Northeastern and to Niagara and Princeton. The Crimson was undefeated against these teams.

Despite the long list of statistics Harvard had in its favor, the selection committee decided to weigh Dartmouth's three head-to-head victories above everything else.

"There hasn't been consistency in the selection committee," Stone said. "There were controversial decisions last year as well."

The committee clearly valued head-to-head competition on a case-by-case basis. The Big Green's three victories over the Crimson were enough to put them in the tournament, but Harvard's dominant 8-3 win over Minnesota was ignored.

"If the measuring stick to determine if you make this tournament is whether you can beat Harvard, then Minnesota has absolutely no right to be there," Shewchuk said.

Harvard was solid in every game it played this season. Only twice this year did the team lose by more than a goal. No other team in the country made it through this year without a three-goal loss.

"We proved ourselves on the ice," Stone said. "That alone should have been reason for us to get in."