Being the top seed doesn't guarantee wins - that's why they play the games - but it does confer certain advantages, which can be magnified in a playoff setting such as the NCAA hockey tournament.

One such advantage for the higher-seeded team, which is designated the home team, is the last change.

For No. 2 seed Colorado College, which will have the additional advantage of being on its home ice and in its locker room at World Arena, and New Hampshire, the NCAA West Regional's top seed, the last change could provide a small edge in Friday's first-round games against their respective opponents, Michigan State and Notre Dame.

After play is whistled dead, the referee points to the faceoff location, indicating that the away team has about 5 seconds to make lineup changes.

When the referee raises his hand, the visiting team cannot make any more changes and the home team has about 8 seconds to make personnel swaps before the referee puts his hand down to signal the start of the faceoff.

As a result, the home team has the ability to see what lineup its opponent puts on the ice and match accordingly.

"That's kind of the game within the game," Colorado College coach Scott Owens said.

Most coaches said they use the last change to put their top defensive pairing out against their opponent's top-scoring line or a line that looks dangerous on that night. If a particular forward line is having trouble against an opposing group, the last change can help curb mismatches. And in the waning minutes of a period, the last change can aid the home team's defensive decisions.

During CC's last trip to the Frozen Four in 2005, Owens' top line featured two Hobey Baker finalists, Marty Sertich and Brett Sterling, and would face checking lines - assembled to halt their scoring - as the lower-seeded team. In the WCHA Final Five championship game, when Denver shut out CC 1-0, Owens said Sertich and Sterling "basically got mugged by a good checking line and having their good defensive pair out all the time."

"If we were at home, we could have shaken it up a little bit by waiting for them to get their third pair out there and - quick - making a change," Owens said.

Barring any last-minute adjustments, CC will face the West Regional's top-scoring line in Michigan State's Tim Kennedy, Justin Abdelkader and Chris Mueller. With 57 goals and 58 assists among the three, they likely will see a lot of CC's top defensemen, Jack Hillen and Nate Prosser.

Air Force coach Frank Serratore doesn't always use the last change when he has it, opting instead to change on the fly - meaning once play has resumed - in an attempt to keep play moving.

"If your guys are already out there at the dot, the opponent's getting less time to rest between whistles," he said.

Albeit a subtle one, getting the last change is a motivator for North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol, whose team will try to advance to its fourth consecutive Frozen Four as the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Regional in Madison, Wis.

"We work hard to gain home-ice advantage throughout the year and gain that last line change," Hakstol said. "Sometimes it might be more of an advantage against certain opponents than against others. It depends on what your strategy is going into that game. But it's always nice to have that last change, to have the ability to match things up if, in fact, you want to do that."