2026 NCAA Men's D-1 Hockey Field Set

The field for the 2026 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey championship is set. The matchups, times and TV outlets, per collegehockeynews.com:

Albany Regional (Friday, March 27)

1. Michigan vs. 4. Bentley, 5:30 p.m. ET, ESPN-U

2. Minnesota Duluth vs. 3. Penn State, 9 p.m. ET ESPN2

Loveland Regional (Friday, March 27)

1. Western Michigan vs. 4. Minnesota State, 2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN-U

2. Denver vs. 3. Cornell, 6 p.m. ET, ESPN+

Sioux Falls Regional (Thursday, March 26)

1. North Dakota vs. 4. Merrimack, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2

2. Providence vs. 3. Quinnipiac, 5 p.m. ET, ESPN+

Worcester Regional (Thursday, March 26)

1. Michigan State vs. 4. Connecticut, 1:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2

2. Dartmouth vs. 3. Wisconsin, 5 p.m. ET, ESPN-U

The top four overall seeds in order are Michigan, North Dakota, Michigan State, and defending national champion Western Michigan. Michigan, Bentley, Minnesota State, Denver, Dartmouth and Merrimack all advanced to this year's NCAAs by winning their respective conference championships, while the other 10 schools earned at-large berths.

The four regional winners will advance to the 2026 Frozen Four in Las Vegas on April 9 (5/8:30 p.m., ESPN 2), with the Albany champion playing the Loveland champion, and the Sioux Falls winner facing the Worcester winner. The national championship game will be contested two days later (5:30 p.m., ESPN).

Air Force Emerges on First Day of 2018 NCAA Tournament

The first day of the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship is in the books.

At the West Regional in Sioux Falls, S.D., 16th-seeded Air Force pulled off another national tournament shocker by besting top-seeded St. Cloud State, 4-1. It’s only the second time ever in Division I men’s hockey that the 16th seed defeated the No. 1 seed in the nationals. In the other West semifinal, Minnesota-Duluth edged Minnesota State, 3-2, in overtime, and will meet Air Force in the regional final on Saturday (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2).

At the East Regional in Bridgeport, Conn., Notre Dame outlasted upstart Michigan Tech, 4-3, in overtime, while Providence made a first-period power play goal stand up in a 1-0 victory over Clarkson. The Fighting Irish and the Friars will face off Saturday (6 p.m. ET, ESPNU) for the right to go to the Frozen Four.

The other two regionals get underway on Saturday. At the Northeast Regional in Worcester, Mass., Boston University will face Cornell (1 p.m. ET, ESPNews) before Michigan encounters Northeastern (4:30 p.m. ET, ESPNews). At the Midwest Regional in Allentown, Pa., Princeton will meet Ohio State (3:30 p.m. ESPNU) before defending national champion Denver takes on host school Penn State (7 p.m., ESPN3).

2015 NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Championship Finalized

The seedings are in, and the field has been set for the 2015 NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Championship. The regionals will be held this weekend, with the four regional winners advancing to the Frozen Four in Boston on April 9-11.

The top four seeds overall are Minnesota State, North Dakota, Boston University, and Miami.

March 27-28

Northeast Regional (Manchester, N.H.)

Yale vs. Boston University (2 p.m.)
Minnesota-Duluth vs. Minnesota (5:30 p.m.)

(Regional final - Saturday, 5:30 p.m.)

West Regional (Fargo, N.D.)

St. Cloud State vs. Michigan Tech (4:30 p.m.)
Quinnipiac vs. North Dakota (8 p.m.)

(Regional final – Saturday , 9 p.m.)

March 28-29

East Regional (Providence, R.I.)

Miami vs. Providence (6:30 p.m.)
Denver vs. Boston College (3 p.m.)

(Regional final - Sunday, 5 p.m.)

Midwest Regional (South Bend, IN)

Rochester Institute of Technology vs. Minnesota State (4 p.m.)
(Nebraska) Omaha vs. Harvard (7:30 p.m.)

(Regional final - Sunday, 7:30 p.m.)

Regional games will be televised  on ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNU and Watch ESPN.

Conference champions this spring who earned automatic berths to the NCAA Tournament include Boston University (Hockey East), Harvard (Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference), Miami (National Collegiate Hockey Conference) Minnesota (Big Ten), Minnesota State (Western Collegiate Hockey Association) and Rochester Institute of Technology (Atlantic Hockey).

The rest earned at-large bids through the Pairwise Rankings, which mimics the NCAA selection process.

USCHO Story Up on Union's Novak

My first piece for USCHO.com in a while is now up on the site, concerning Union College junior forward and New Jersey native Max Novak.

The Most Outstanding Player at the East Regional in Bridgeport, Conn. two weekends ago, he'll be one of the players to keep an eye on in tomorrow's NCAA Frozen Four early semifinal between the ECAC champion Dutchmen and Boston College at 5 p.m. (ESPN2) from Philadelphia.

The late semifinal game will feature former WCHA rivals Minnesota and North Dakota facing off at around 8:30 p.m. (ESPN2). The semifinal winners will then meet on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) at the Wells Fargo Center to decide the 2014 national championship.

One NCAA Tournament Berth to Go

The final berth in the 2013 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship will come down to tomorrow's final CCHA Championship.

If Michigan, winner of its last five games, defeats Notre Dame on Sunday in Detroit, the Wolverines will garner the CCHA's automatic bid and advance to their 23rd consecutive NCAA Tournament. If the Fighting Irish, who are already in line for an at-large bid, triumph, then Yale will also get in.

Western Michigan looks like it will be sidelined, regardless of whoever wins tomorrow's last-ever CCHA title. That's largely because previously not-under-consideration Canisius won the Atlantic Hockey playoff crown and that league's automatic berth, "stealing" a spot from a higher-ranked team, according to the Pairwise Rankings.

Also earning autobids by winning league postseason titles this weekend were UMass Lowell (Hockey East), Union (ECAC) and Wisconsin (WCHA). Earning at-large bids, according to the Pairwise, should be Quinnipiac, Minnesota, Miami, Boston College, North Dakota, New Hampshire, Denver, Niagara, Minnesota State and St. Cloud State.

The NCAA Selection Show will air on Sunday at 9 p.m. on ESPN2. The NCAA Regionals will be held on March 29-31 in Manchester, Providence, Toledo and Grand Rapids, Minn., while this year's Frozen Four will take place on April 11-13 in Pittsburgh.

ESPN Shuffling NCAA Tournament Telecasts

As if there isn't enough basketball on television already.

It's been written that ESPN will no longer be the TV home of the NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship starting this year. The title game in Tampa on April 7 will now be shown on ESPN2 instead. The semifinal games two days prior will be telecast on ESPNU, as will the regionals on March 23-25 and the selection show on March 18. The semifinals and selection show used to be staples of ESPN2, but no more.

Most U.S. households get both ESPN and ESPN2, but not nearly as many pick up ESPNU. Who knows exactly why ESPN is doing this; but the contract is also supposed to run for another decade or so, so it looks like there's little hope that NBC or its major cable affiliate, NBC Sports Network (formerly Versus), which seem to want to show hockey, will get the chance to show the biggest games of the college hockey season anytime soon.

At least they won't be cutting away early from the conclusion of the NCAA championship game for "Baseball Tonight" anymore. Because, you know, MLB games in early April are just so critical.