Another weekend of top teams getting knocked off by desperate opponents has only tightened things up in the chase to secure spots in college hockey’s upcoming 16-team NCAA tournament, plus has only reinforced the belief that we’re all going to see some wild conference tournaments when the automatic bids are at stake.
We also have a new No. 1 team in the National Collegiate Percentage (NPI) Index, which for the first time is being used to determine the at-large field, and seedings. Michigan has reclaimed the top spot, although it may be temporary. While the Wolverines have already wrapped up their regular season at 26-7-1 (17-6-1 Big Ten), Michigan State has a series to play at Minnesota. Although they aren’t directly related, as the NPI is based on a number of factors like strength of schedule, etc., the Spartans (24-7-1, 15-6-1) need just one regulation-time win to surpass its rival in the conference standings. Might that be enough to move up in the NPI as well?
Regardless, for our bracketology purposes it may not mean that much as Michigan and Michigan State are just 65 miles away, so there’s very little difference in terms of regional placement (Western Michigan too). The biggest difference is it should mean an easier first-round opponent, but wer’re already getting ahead of ourselves.
Let’s walk through the process for our latest tournament projections.
Step 1: Automatic bids.
We won’t know them until the conference tournaments play out so we’ll go with the current standings. Unlike previous weeks, though, we know five of them, plus Michigan in the Big Ten. They are: Bentley (AHA), Minnesota State (CCHA — see below), Quinnipiac (ECAC), Providence (Hockey East), and North Dakota (NCHC). In NPI, they’re No. 32, 16, 7, 6 and 3.
How many of the six conferences saw their regular-season champion also win the league tournament? Three, which is about normal.
Sept 2: At-large spots
Any team in the top 10 in NPI is in no matter what. For now that would be Michigan State, Western Michigan, Penn State, Denver, Cornell and Minnesota Duluth. That brings us to 12, so the final four, assuming no surprise automatic bids, are Dartmouth, Wisconsin, Boston College and Augustana.
Not only should none of them feel comfortable, the difference between Augustana and UConn is absolutely tiny. Plus, the Huskies have two regular-season games to play, against UNH and at Providence.
Next subsequent four out after UConn: St. Thomas, Maine, Bowling Green and Massachusetts. Maine still has a game at Vermont, while UMass hosts Boston College and then visits UNH. Things are so tight that every result from here on in could influence the tournament field.
I still can’t believe this happened. https://t.co/xU2UKNEc7E pic.twitter.com/zFFIH8Det4
— HurleyMania (@HurleyMania) March 1, 2026
Step 3: Seedings
In order, per NPI:
1 Michigan
2 Michigan State
3 North Dakota
4 Western Michigan
5 Penn State
6 Providence
7 Quinnipiac
8 Denver
9 Cornell
10 Minnesota Duluth
11 Dartmouth
12 Wisconsin
13 Boston College
14 Augustana
15 Minnesota State
16 Bentley
Step 4: Tiers
The teams are placed in four groups of four, each being a rankings tier. Teams can’t be switched from tier-to-tier in order to preserve bracket integrity. The tier one teams are the top-seeded teams in each regional.
Tier 1: Michigan, Michigan State, North Dakota, Western Michigan
Tier 2: Penn State, Providence, Quinnipiac, Denver
Tier 3: Cornell, Minnesota Duluth, Dartmouth, Wisconsin
Tier 4: Boston College, Augustana, Minnesota State, Bentley
Tier one is entirely comprised of teams in the West, while three of the four in tier two are from the East. Two teams in the East and West in both tier three and four could provide some adjustment flexibility.
Step 5: Brackets
The teams are placed in four brackets based on their seedings, 1-8-9-16 for the first one, and so on:
1-8-9-16 Michigan, Denver, Cornell, Bentley
2-7-10-15 Michigan State, Quinnipiac, Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State
3-6-11-14 North Dakota, Providence, Dartmouth, Augustana
4-5-12-13 Western Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin, Boston College
The first and the last teams listed on each line would play in the first round, as would the two teams in the middle. However, we don’t want any conference matchups in the first round. So far there’s only one, Penn State vs. Wisconsin. We we switch the Badgers, the lower tream, with the nearest-seeded team in the same tier, which in this case is Dartmouth.
1-8-9-16 Michigan, Denver, Cornell, Bentley
2-7-10-15 Michigan State, Quinnipiac, Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State
3-6-12-14 North Dakota, Providence, Wisconsin, Augustana
4-5-11-13 Western Michigan, Penn State, Dartmouth, Boston College
Stept 6: Sites
This is where things get a little tricky. The regionals and host schools are Albany N,Y (Union), Worcester, Mass. (Holy Cross), Sioux Falls, S,D. (Omaha), and Loveland, Colo. (Denver). Host schools have to do just that, host, so Denver’s bracket has to be placed in Loveland.
Michigan and Michigan State aren’t really close to any of the regionals so they can pretty much be placed anywhere, although technically Albany is the closest. Attendance is a secondary factor for the selection committee to consider, so putting North Dakota and Augustana in Sioux Falls, Cornell in Albany and any of the New England schools in Worcester would be a plus.
Heres’ the bad news, we can’t do a simple swap with Denver on the second tier or Cornell on the third tier because it would result in two first-round conference matchups, with Denver vs. UMD and Quinnipiac vs Cornell. If we switch Cornell and Wisconsin it would nullify the gain as it would either take UND out of Sioux Falls or Cornell out of Albany, and sort of scramble that tier So we’re stick, right?
Go back to our initial swap of Dartmouth and Wisconsin. Dartmouth is the 11th seed in this scenario and switching with Cornell isn’t ideal, but a better option. That gives us the following, with sites added in:
Loveland: 1 Michigan, 8 Denver, 11 Dartmouth, 16 Bentley
Worcester: 2 Michigan State, 7 Quinnipiac, 10 Minnesota Duluth, 15 Minnesota State
Sioux Falls: 3 North Dakota, 6 Providence, 12 Wisconsin, 14 Augustana
Albany: 4 Western Michigan, 5 Penn State, 9 Cornell, 13 Boston College
Finally, is there a small change that could be made to boost attendance? There is, moving Boston College to Worcester instead of Minnesota State. That way there’s two local draws for both the Worcester and Sioux Falls regions, plus Penn State is only a five-your drive to Albany. All in all, we’ll take it, plus list the brackets in order to signify potential matchups in the Frozen Four, set to be played April 9-11 in Las Vegas.
March 2 NCAA Tournament Projections
Loveland: 1 Michigan vs. 16 Bentley; 8 Denver, vs. 11 Dartmouth
Albany: 4 Western Michigan vs. 15 Minnesota State; 5 Penn State vs. 9 Cornell
Worcester: 2 Michigan State vs. 13 Boston College; 7 Quinnipiac vs. 10 Minnesota Duluth
Sioux Falls: 3 North Dakota vs. 14 Augustana; 6 Providence vs. 12 Wisconsin
Puck Drop: Monday, March 2, 2026
• Josefin Bouveng and Bella Fanale both scored two goals as No. 4 Minnesota eliminated St. Cloud State from the WCHA Playoffs with a 6-1 victory to win their best-of-three series. The Gophers (26-10-1) advanced to next week’s Final Faceoff hosted by St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. Minnesota had a 42-18 edge in shots on goal. Gracie Graham scored her first goal of the season.
Passes on point 🔥
📺: B1G+ pic.twitter.com/PhPPIcbvzK
— Minnesota Women’s Hockey (@GopherWHockey) March 1, 2026
• The brackets for the inaugural United Collegiate Hockey Cup have been finalized. With seeding based on NPI Alaska Fairbanks (No. 36) heads the field of five independent teams and will have a first-round bye, while No. 4 Stonehill will face No. 5 Alaska Anchorage and No. 2 Lindenwood, the tournament host, plays No 3. Long Island in the opening round on Thursday. Each team will play at least two games . The winner does not receive an automatic bye into the NCAA Tournament.
• Former Northern Michigan left wing Jim Hiller was fired as head coach of the Los Angeles Kings, with D.J. Smith named the interim coach. Hiller’s teams went 93-58-24 over three seasons with the Kings.
• The Seattle Torrent (PWHL) set a U.S. arena attendance record for women’s hockey with a sellout of 17,335 fans were on site at Climate Pledge Arena on Friday night, the first post-Olympics game for both teams. The Toronto Sceptres won 5-2.
• Former Notre Dame left wing Anders Lee scored with 32 seconds remaining in regulation as the New York Islanders defeated Florida Panthers 5-4 for their fifth-straight win.
• Former Boston College forward Cutter Gauthier scored twice, and the Anaheim Ducks rallied for a 3-2 shootout win against the Calgary Flames. The Ducks have won 12 of their last 14 games and, including eight straight at Honda Center. It’s their longest home-winning streak in 10 years.
Men’s College Hockey Sunday Scores
No Games Scheduled
Games between ranked opponents are bolded. All times are local to where the game is being played.
Women’s College Hockey Conference Tournaments
WOMEN
AHA Tournament
Semifinals (Best of 3)
February 27
No. 12 Mercyhurst 2, Lindenwood 1
No. 3 Penn State 7, Syracuse 0
February 28
No. 12 Mercyhurst 3, Lindenwood 2, 2OT
No. 3 Penn State 2, Syracuse 1
Championship
Saturday’s Game
No. 12 Mercyhurst at No. 3 Penn State, 2 p.m. ET
ECAC Tournament
Quarterfinals (Best of 3)
February 27
No. 11 Cornell 3, No. 13 Colgate 2 (OT)
No. 10 Princeton 1, Harvard 0
No. 8 Yale, Union 2
No. 6 Quinnipiac 6, Brown 3
February 28
No. 11 Cornell 3, No. 13 Colgate 1
Harvard 3, No. 10 Princeton 1
No. 8 Yale 6, Union 1
Brown 3, No. 6 Quinnipiac 2, OT
Sunday’ scores
No. 6 Quinnipiac 5, Brown 4
No. 10 Princeton 5, Harvard 1
Semifinals
At Lake Placid, N.Y.
Thursday’s Games
No. 8 Yale vs. No. 11 Cornell, 4 p.m. ET
No. 6 Quinnipiac vs. No. 10 Prineton, 7 p.m. ET
Championship
At Lake Placid, N.Y.
March 7
5 p.m. ET
Hockey East Tournament
Quarterfinals
February 28
Vermont 1, Boston College 1
Holy Cross 5, New Hampshire 4
No. 7 Connecticut 6, Maine 1
No. 5 Northeastern 2, Boson University 2, 2OT
Semifinals
Tuesday’s Games
Holy Cross at No. 7 Connecticut, 6 p.m. ET
Vermont at No. 5 Northeastern, 6 p.m. ET
Championship
March 7
NEWHA Tournament
Quarterfinals (Best of 3)
February 27
Assumption 2, Post 1 (OT)
Stonehill 3, Long Island 0
Franklin Pierce 8, Saint Michael’s 0
Saint Anselm 3, Sacred Heart 2
February 28
Saint Anselm 3, Sacred Heart 1
Stonehill 4, Long Island 3, OT
Post 2, Assumption 1
Franklin Pierce 5, Saint Michael’s 1
Sunday’s Game
Assumption 4, Post 2
Semifinals
Wednesday’s Games
Saint Anselm at Assumption, 3 p.m. ET
Stonehill at Franklin Pierce, 7 p.m. ET
Championship
March 7
WCHA Tournament
Quarterfinals (Best of 3)
Friday’s Scores
No. 9 Minnesota-Duluth 2, No. 15 Minnesota State 0
St. Cloud State 1, No. 4 Minnesota 0
No. 2 Ohio State 5, St. Thomas 1
No. 1 Wisconsin 7, Bemidji State 0
Saturday’s Games
No. 9 Minnesota-Duluth 3, No. 15 Minnesota State 2, 2OT
No. 4 Minnesota 4, St. Cloud State 1
No. 2 Ohio State 4, St. Thomas 1
No. 1 Wisconsin 3, Bemidji State 2, OT
Sunday’s Game
No. 4 Minnesota 6, St. Cloud State 1
Semifinals
At St. Paul, Minn.
Thursday’s Games
No. 1 Wisconsin vs. No. 4 Minnesota State, BTN, 4 p.m. CT
No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 3 Minnesota, BTN, 7:30 p.m. p.m. CT
Championship
At St. Paul, Minn.
March 7
BTN, 2 p.m. CT
You can’t make this stuff up. @CollegePucksC2C @Painted_Bronco pic.twitter.com/vBLojfkbtX
— Jason A. Watts 💡🇺🇦🐴🏒🏆 (@jawwatts) March 1, 2026
Hockey Quote of the Day
“There’s only going to be one Brian Leetch. He was not just great, he was unique in the way he was great. You know what? I really miss watching him play.”
Mike Richter
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We’ll Leave You With This …
The most impressive thing about USA’s Gold Medal win has been revealed. I would have never recovered.
(via our NHL on ABC coverage) pic.twitter.com/05zqnnN5oy
— ᴀʀᴅᴀ Öᴄᴀʟ (@Arda) March 1, 2026
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