As of this morning, the following teams would be in the NCAA Tournament if the season ended today based on the NPI and conference standings. Please note that projected conference tournament winners are in italics and are projected by current in-conference point percentage:
- Michigan
- North Dakota
- Wisconsin
- Minnesota-Duluth
- Western Michigan
- Michigan State
- Penn State
- Dartmouth
- Cornell
- Quinnipiac
- Denver
- Augustana
- Providence
- St. Thomas
- Boston College
- Bentley
First Four Out: Princeton, Minnesota State, UConn, St. Cloud State
The selection committee avoids in-conference matchups in the first round and tends to place the one seeds in their closest geographic region. As the host of the Loveland Regional, Denver will automatically be assigned to that region should they make the NCAA Tournament.
With these stipulations in mind, the projected tournament would look like this:
Sioux Falls Regional
- North Dakota vs. Boston College
- Penn State vs. Quinnipiac
Loveland Regional
- Wisconsin vs. St. Thomas
- Michigan State vs. Denver
Worcester Regional
- Michigan vs. Bentley
- Dartmouth vs. Augustana
Albany Regional
- Minnesota-Duluth vs. Providence
- Western Michigan vs. Cornell
The top eight teams remained the same as last week, though the order of teams 5-8 shuffled. Defending champion Western Michigan jumped up to No. 5 with a road sweep of Denver, outscoring the Pioneers 10-3. Penn State moved up to No. 7 with a .01 margin over No. 8 Dartmouth in the NPI. Michigan State slipped to No. 6 after splitting with Ohio State.
Cornell, Augustana, and Quinnipiac held their spots in the field with weekend sweeps. Providence jumped into the field with an impressive home sweep over Maine, though Boston College still holds the projected automatic bid for Hockey East. St. Thomas pulled a road upset of Minnesota State to take over the lead in the CCHA and knock the Mavericks a bit further from the bubble.
Michigan is still the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament after its sweep over Notre Dame last weekend. The wins came at a price, however, with starting goaltender Jack Ivankovic suffering a significant injury after a collision in Saturday’s win over the Irish. Michigan is hoping to have him back for the postseason, but the Wolverines will most likely have to navigate the rest of their regular season schedule without one of the top goaltenders in the NCAA.
Key Games This Weekend
No. 11 Denver at No. 2 North Dakota- Friday (8pm) and Saturday (8pm)
No. 3 Wisconsin at No. 6 Michigan State– Thursday (9pm on BTN) and Friday (8pm on Big Ten Plus)
No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth at No. 19 St. Cloud State– Friday (8pm) and Saturday (7pm)
No. 10 Quinnipiac at No. 9 Cornell- Saturday (7pm on ESPN+)
No. 15 Princeton at No. 9 Cornell- Friday (7pm on ESPN+)
No. 13 Providence vs. No. 18 Boston College- Friday at BC (7pm on ESPNU), Saturday at PC (7pm on ESPN+)
