I hope you like reading about tiebreakers, because this could go on for a while.

The way things stand with eight league games to be played this weekend, there are four possible tiebreaker scenarios involving Wisconsin, the fourth spot in the WCHA playoffs and at least two other teams. Wisconsin doesn't play, of course, but it will be paying close attention to what goes on when Minnesota State hosts Michigan Tech, St. Cloud State plays at North Dakota and Minnesota hosts Minnesota-Duluth.

I talked today with Doug Spencer, the WCHA's assistant commissioner for public relations, who cleared up the protocol for settling ties involving more than two teams. The first tiebreaker is head-to-head competition, but instead of comparing, in the case of a three-team tie, the total records of how Team A did against Team B and Team C, how Team B did against Team A and Team C and how Team C did against Team A and Team B, the league compares how the teams did in the overall season series with the other teams.

For example, instead of getting credit for a 5-4-3 record against Minnesota State, St. Cloud State and Minnesota, Wisconsin gets a minus for losing the series against the Mavericks, a plus for winning the series against the Huskies and nothing for tying the series against the Gophers.

If I understand things correctly, here are the four potential three- or four-team tiebreaker scenarios involving Wisconsin at 27 points:

SCENARIO 1: Four-way tie between Wisconsin, Minnesota State (1 point vs. Michigan Tech), St. Cloud State (1 point vs. North Dakota) and Minnesota (4 points vs. Minnesota-Duluth)

Wisconsin: MSU -, SCSU +, Minn. E = Even
Minnesota State: UW +, SCSU +, Minn. - = +1
St. Cloud State: UW -, MSU -, Minn. + = -1
Minnesota: UW E, MSU +, SCSU - = Even

That gives Minnesota State the fourth spot. We now continue on with a new comparison for the remaining three teams to determine fifth place.

Wisconsin: SCSU +, Minn. E = +1
St. Cloud State: UW -, Minn. + = Even
Minnesota: UW E, SCSU - = -1

Wisconsin gets the fifth spot. We then look at the St. Cloud State-Minnesota comparison to determine sixth place. St. Cloud State won that season series, so the Huskies get sixth and the Gophers get seventh.

SCENARIO 2: Three-way tie between Wisconsin, Minnesota State (1 point vs. Michigan Tech) and St. Cloud State (1 point vs. North Dakota)

Wisconsin: MSU -, SCSU + = Even
Minnesota State: UW +, SCSU + = +2
St. Cloud State: UW -, MSU - = -2

Minnesota State gets fourth. Comparing Wisconsin and St. Cloud State, the Badgers get fifth and the Huskies get sixth.

SCENARIO 3: Three-way tie between Wisconsin, Minnesota State (1 point vs. Michigan Tech) and Minnesota (4 points vs. Minnesota-Duluth)

Wisconsin: MSU -, Minn. E = -1
Minnesota State: UW +, Minn. - = Even
Minnesota: UW E, MSU + = +1

Minnesota takes fourth. Comparing Wisconsin and Minnesota State, the Mavericks take fifth and the Badgers get sixth.

SCENARIO 4: Three-way tie between Wisconsin, St. Cloud State (1 point vs. North Dakota) and Minnesota (4 points vs. Minnesota-Duluth)

Wisconsin: SCSU +, Minn. E = +1
St. Cloud State: SCSU -, Minn. + = Even
Minnesota: UW E, SCSU - = -1

Wisconsin gets fourth. Comparing St. Cloud State with Minnesota, the Huskies take fifth and the Gophers get sixth.

Keep in mind that the three-way tie scenarios (with the exception of the one between UW, Minnesota State and St. Cloud State) also can be to decide fifth, sixth and seventh places.

Also keep in mind that Wisconsin owns one-on-one tiebreakers with St. Cloud State (a 3-1 head-to-head series record) and Minnesota (more conference wins), but not with Minnesota State (a 1-2-1 head-to-head series record).

Got all that?

Would things be different if the league decided three-plus-team tiebreakers using total record against the other teams? Somewhat.

In Scenario 1, Minnesota would jump ahead of Wisconsin for fifth. In Scenario 3, Wisconsin would jump ahead of Minnesota State for fifth. Scenarios 2 and 4 wouldn't change.

Now hold on and wait for everything to shake out.