Faceoff Factor

Frozen Madness: NCAA Tournament Preview Part One

Andrew Chiappazzi | Amateur Hockey (Juniors/NCAA)

Mar 24, 08:29 PM | Hype this story!

After 35-40 regular season games, a handful of extra playoff games, some jostling and shuffling, and a few outright surprises, we have our 16 team NCAA Tournament field.

Here’s how this works. We’ll look at the bracket in general today, with picks and analysis through the Frozen Four tomorrow. Today will also include a quick recap of the various conference tournaments, a look at the autobid teams, and a quick mention of the at-large bids. Tomorrow will include a bit of a Frozen Four prediction/preview to go with the bracket breakdown.

Let’s get it started with a quick jaunt to each conference tournament.

ATLANTIC HOCKEY
This one was settled last weekend with Air Force returning to the NCAA Tournament. It’s a one bid conference and the #3 seed Falcons knocked off #5 Mercyhurst for the title. #1 Army and #2 RIT will stay home, wondering where it all went wrong.

CCHA
After months of talking about Miami, it’s Michigan that comes down the stretch as the stronger horse. The Wolverines are the best team in college hockey right now, and they topped Miami 2-1 in the championship game.

CHA
Bemidji State was the #1 seed, Robert Morris was the #3 sleeper pick, but it was the favorite and #2 host seed Niagara that came away with the auto-bid out of a conference that may not be around next year. The future looks bleak with Wayne State ending its program, so the Purple Eagles will try and shock the world.

ECAC
Clarkson was the favorite and they made it in to the tournament by the skin of their teeth, but it’s #2 Princeton that’s the auto-bid. Clarkson lost early, so the Tigers had a clear path to the title, topping fellow Ivy Leaguers Harvard.

HOCKEY EAST #2 Boston was the favorite because of their struggles all year long, but they couldn’t get past Vermont. New Hampshire was the power team coming in, but the #1 seed fell to the eventual champions, #4 Boston College. No doubt the Eagles will be on the lookout for angry conference mates in the Tournament.

WCHA
And months after they were proclaimed dead on this website, the Golden Gophers of Minnesota stole a Tournament bid by making it to the championship game. They couldn’t cap a miracle run as the #7 seed, losing to #3 Denver, but losses by the likes of North Dakota and Colorado College certainly helped the Gophers into the Big Dance.

AT-LARGE BIDS
The following teams all earned at-large bids based off of the official “Pairwise” rankings, an RPI like system that ranked the teams and filled in the best teams that didn’t earn automatic bids: Clarkson, St. Cloud State, Minnesota, Miami, North Dakota, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Colorado College, Michigan State, and Notre Dame.

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Now, a look at the bracket. First round games are Thursday and Friday, depending on the region, with Regional Finals Saturday and Sunday.

EAST BRACKET – All games held in Albany, New York
1. Michigan versus 4. Niagara
Wolverines get the first seed while Niagara tries to balance the danger of playing the best team in hockey by playing close to home.
2. St. Cloud State versus 3. Clarkson
Boston a bit miffed that Clarkson sneaks in ahead of them, while St. Cloud State thanking their lucky stars that they play in the uber-tough WCHA.

NORTHEAST BRACKET – All games held in Worcester, Massachusetts
1. Miami versus 4. Air Force
Falcons played top draw Minnesota tough last year, but Miami is a bit more explosive. Redhawks glad to take a #1 seed despite late slide.
2. Boston College versus 3. Minnesota
Iggles surprised to see Gophers, who had a late run to sneak past Minnesota State and into the bracket. BC hoping to get revenge for Championship loss last year to Michigan State.

MIDWEST BRACKET – All games held in Madison, Wisconsin
1. North Dakota versus 4. Princeton
Sioux might be one of the hottest teams out there while Tigers continue trend of keeping two teams in the Tournament from the ECAC.
2. Denver versus 3. Wisconsin
Denver and Badgers make it three WCHA teams in one bracket, but both are just happy to be back after missing last year’s tournament.

WEST BRACKET – All games held in Colorado Springs, Colorado
1. New Hampshire versus 4. Notre Dame
Irish back their way into the tournament, another team that Minnesota State and Boston aren’t happy about seeing there. They might take some solace in the Wildcats desperately wanting to avenge a first round loss to Miami last year.
2. Colorado College versus Michigan State
Spartans begin their title defense with essentially a road game. Colorado College goes from non-tournament participant last year to a 2 seed this year.