Michigan is the top seeded-team, an advantage that it earned in a big way. Michigan State is considered by many to be the favorite. North Dakota has a very favorable draw with the three other teams having to travel in to the upper Midwest from the East Coast. Even though they have the reigning champions in their bracket (again), host Denver should probably be considered the team to beat in the Loveland Regional.
The NCAA Tournament in hockey is here and with no disrespect to March Madness, the basketball tournament can’t come close to matching the craziness that’s found on the ice. Just look last year for a good example, nobody thought Penn State could make it to its first Frozen Four, and prior to Western Michigan capturing the national title it had exactly one victory in the NCAA Tournament over its entire history.
Might there be a team making its inaugural appearance in this year’s Frozen Four, which will be played for the first time in Las Vegas? You never know.
Here’s a look at each regional, including times and TV. All times Eastern.
Worcester Regional
At DCU Center
Semifinals
Thursday, March 26
No. 3 Michigan State vs. Connecticut, ESPN2, 1:30 p.m.
Dartmouth vs. Wisconsin, ESPNU, 5 p.m.
Finals
Saturday, March 28
Semifinal winners, TBA
• Michigan State’s power play is clicking at a nation’s best .353 percent success rate since January 1, going 18-for-51 over its last 17 games.
• Fresh off its first ECAC Hockey tournament championship, Dartmouth is in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1980.
• Wisconsin will play Dartmouth for the first time in school history, but the Badgers have played just one game since March 6, losing 7-1 to Ohio State in the Big Ten tournament.
• The Huskies are coming off an upset loss to Merrimack in the Hockey East championship, that nearly knocked them out of the NCAA Tournament. Connecticut has reached the conference final three times since 2022 but have yet to win their first league title
Sioux Falls Regional
At Denny Sanford Premier Center
Semifinals
Thursday, March 26
Providence vs. Quinnipiac, ESPN+, 5 p.m.
No. 2 North Dakota vs. Merrimack, ESPN2, 8:30 p.m.
Finals
Saturday, March 28
Semifinal winners, TBA
• Providence and Quinnipiac are just 115 miles apart in New England, but they both had to travel at least 1,500 miles for this game. Meanwhile, the Worcester Regional was roughly an hour’s drive from the campuses.
• The teams met in an exhibition game back on Oct. 5, a 2-1 Providence win. This will be the first official meeting between the teams since a the 2014 NCAA tournament. The Friars defeated the Bobcats 4-0 in the Northeast Regional at Bridgeport, Conn.
• This is the eighth time North Dakota has been the top seed in a regional. Of them, four times did it advance, and only once did it win the national title, 2015-16.
• This is Merrimack’s fourth appearance in the NCAA Tournament. It’s 0-2 in the single-elimination format. In 1988, it advanced out of the first round (two games, combined goals total) against Northeastern, but lost in the second round to Lake Superior State.
Albany Regional
At MVP Arena
Semifinals
Friday, March 27
No. 1 Michigan vs. Bentley, ESPNU, 5:30 p.m.
Minnesota Duluth vs. Penn State, ESPN2, 9 p.m.
Finals
Sunday, March 29
Semifinal winners, TBA
• The tournament bid is the 42nd in Wolverines history, tying Minnesota for most appearances. Michigan’s tournament record is 59-33.
• Since the NCAA went to a regional format in 1987-88, UMD has been a perfect 12-0 in first-round games
• This will be the first meeting in program history between the Bulldogs and Nittany Lions. Penn State has competed in the Allentown Regional in each of its past three tournament trips in 2018, 2023 and 2025. It has never played in a Regional at another location.
• Bentley elevated its program to Division I in 1999-2000, and it qualified for it first NCAA Tournament last season. It lost 3-1 to Boston College in the Manchester Regional.
GOOD MORNING, @umichhockey FANS 🏆 pic.twitter.com/UlvBDEWGOq
— Michigan On BTN (@MichiganOnBTN) March 22, 2026
Loveland Regional
At Blue Arena
Friday, March 27
No. 4 Western Michigan vs. Minnesota State, ESPNU, 2:30 p.m.
Denver vs. Cornell, ESPN+, 6 p.m.
Finals
Sunday, March 29
Semifinal winners, TBA
• Western Michigan and Minnesota State played in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last year as well. WMU won 2-1 in double overtime. At the time it was the Broncos’ second NCAA Tournament victory in program history.
• The Mavericks are 5-10 record all-time in the NCAA Tournament. It’s their 11th appearance.
• Cornell and Denver are meeting in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four years. Last year they didn’t as Cornell upset top-seeded Michigan State, 4-3, in Toledo, Ohio.
• Denver has played in every NCAA Tournament since 2008 (17 consecutive). The Pioneers have made it to the Frozen Four in three of the past four seasons and six times in the last nine tournaments played.
Frozen Four
At T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas
Thursday, April 9
Semifinals
Regional winners, ESPN2, 5/8:30 p.m.
National Championship
Saturday, April 11
Final, 7:30 p.m., ESPN2, 5:30 p.m
• Denver has the most national championships of any Division I men’s hockey program with 10
• Western Michigan is the defending national champion after defeating Boston University in the 2025 Frozen Four final to win its first title in program history
• Top-seeded Michigan has the most Frozen Four appearances, 28, but hasn’t won the natioanl title since 1998.
• North Dakota is the host team for the Frozen Four even though Grand Forks is roughly 1,600 miles away (23 hour drive).
National Team Leaders
Category, Team, Statistic (Leading Team in NCAA Tournament)
Scoring Offense: Michigan 4.57
Scoring Defense: Cornell 1.94
Faceoff Winning Percentage: Quinnipiac .570
Penalty-Killing Percentage: Union .904 (Dartmouth .895)
Power-Play Percentage: Michigan .311
Scoring Margin: Michigan 2.19
Team Penalty Minutes Per Game: Penn State 18.89
Short-Handed Goals: St. Thomas 11 (Michigan 10)
Winning Percentage: .797
Blocks: Robert Morris 678 (Merrimack 609)
National Individual Leaders
Category, Team, Statistic (Leashing Team in NCAA Tournament)
Assists Per Game: Gavin McKenna, Penn St., 1.06
Faceoffs Won: Tyson Gross, St. Cloud State, 489 (Charlie Stramel, Michigan State, 461)
Game-Winning Goals: Charlie Stramel, Michigan State, and Will Horcroff, Michigan, seven)
Goals Per Game: Hayden Stavroff, Dartmouth, .85
Points Per Game: Ethan Wyttenbach, Quinnipiac, 1.5
Power-Play Goals: Felix Trudeau, Sacred Heart 12 (Will Horcoff, Michigan, 11)
Short-Handed Goals: Dane Dowiak, Penn State, 4
Blocks: John Babcock, Robert Morris, 123 (Tom Messineo, Connecticut, 84)
Goalie Winning Pct.: Johnny Hicks, Denver, .962
Goals Against Average: Johnny Hicks, Denver, 1.142
Save Percentage: Johnny Hicks, Denver, .958
Puck Drop: Wednesday, March 25, 2026
• Minnesota named Brett Larson the new head coach of the Gophers and the sides agreed to a five-year contract. Larson has 16 years of collegiate coaching experience, eight as a head coach at St. Cloud State. He guided the Huskies to four NCAA tournament appearances, two conference championships and the program’s first-ever national championship game in 2021. For morem including reaction from UM fans, see Minnesota Gophers On SI.
• Augustana goaltender Josh Kotai signed a two-year entry-level contract with the New York Islanders. It’s the first NHL deal in Vikings history.
• Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney gave an update on the status of Boston College forward Dean Letourneau, the No. 25-overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. Check it out on Boston College On SI.
• RPI Engineers have received a commitment from Ethan McCallum.
• Fox News reported that a letter from former longtime Yale hockey coach Keith Allain to university president Maurine McInnis claimed that that athletic director Victoria Chun “is the absolute worst leader I have ever been around in my life. She is dishonest, self centered and inaccessible. Vicky’s singular talent is self promotion and has created a toxic environment within the department where she is insulated by a cadre of administrators whose main task seems to be silencing any dissent.”
Hockey Quote of the Day
“A dream to coach. Nieuwy’d just come into the room, put on his sweater and go out and play. No fuss. No dramatics. You could chew him out, kick his butt. He just went out and did the job.”
Terry Crisp on Joe Nieuwendyk
We’ll Leave You With This …
James Hagens on starting his pro career in Providence:
“I love it. Nothing’s given, everything’s earned. So it’s just knowing that you have earn a spot wherever you go. So that’s going out there, it’s working your hardest. It’s trying to show everything you worked for.” pic.twitter.com/Qdv3FKhiMh
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) March 24, 2026
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