The 2026 NCAA Tournament field is official! The 16 teams have been selected and all roads lead to…Las Vegas?
Yes, Tampa Bay as a host site was strange, and Sin City feels just wrong. But nonetheless, the Michigan Wolverines now know what stands between them and their first national championship since 1998. Let’s take a look at the field.
Albany Region
No. 1 Michigan vs. Bentley (March 27; 5:30 p.m. ET)
Minnesota-Duluth vs. Penn State (March 27; 9 p.m. ET)
For its best regular season since 2007-08, Michigan was awarded
the top overall seed and the second-hardest region in the tournament. Although the Falcons from Bentley aren’t exactly the Colorado Avalanche, the potential Regional Final game will be a battle regardless of who they face.
Minnesota-Duluth features the best top line in college hockey led by the Plante brothers, and no Michigan fan can feel excited to play Penn State again. Minnesota-Duluth at least lacks depth and goaltending beyond the familial focal point and, lest we forget, it’s a potential revenge game for the Wolverines dating back to the national championship game defeat in 2011. But Penn State…
If the old adage, “It’s hard to beat a good team twice,” holds, what does that make beating a good team five out of six times? Yes, the Wolverines have handled Penn State this season, but the Nittany Lions have the talent to win it all, and the familiarity with the Wolverines to feel confident in their attack. This isn’t quite the draw the Wolverines had in 2024 with North Dakota and Michigan State; however, could Michigan be in the Spartans’ position from that year?
In the 2024 NCAA Tournament, Michigan pulled the upset over its rival in the Regional Final after dropping four of five games to MSU during the regular season and conference tournament. Or is this more like the 2023 NCAA Tournament? The Wolverines went 3-1 against Penn State in the regular season and then knocked off the Nittany Lions in overtime of the Regional Final. Familiarity may be a dangerous thing, but head coach Brandon Naurato has also never made the NCAA Tournament without reaching the Frozen Four.
Sioux Falls Region
No. 2 North Dakota vs. Merrimack (March 26; 8:30 p.m. ET)
Providence vs. Quinnipiac (March 26; 5 p.m. ET)
North Dakota vs Merrimack is fascinating. The Fighting Sioux Hawks are one of the most talented and physical teams in the country, and defenseman Keaton Verhoeff could be the No. 2 overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. However, NoDak hasn’t played a hockey game since March 14 when they were upset, 5-1, at home by Minnesota-Duluth in the conference semis. The Warriors enter on a completely different trajectory.
Merrimack became the first-eight seed ever to win the Hockey East conference tournament this year and went through the top three seeds to do it. Mind you, this is a team that was 5-10 to start the season and .500 on Feb. 21. Can the hot streak continue, similar to Penn State last year or Michigan two years ago? Or will the talent of the “Hawks” strike midnight for Merrimack?
On the other side of the bracket, it’s a battle of disappointments. Regular-season Hockey East champions Providence, which was personally victimized by Merrimack in the conference tournament, take on Quinnipiac, the regular-season ECAC champions, which were unceremoniously swept out of the conference tournament by eighth-seeded Clarkson.
Both teams were two of the hottest teams in the country before falling flat to begin the postseason and even played way(yyyyyy) back in an exhibition game on Oct. 5 – the same weekend Michigan played Wisconsin in football – with the Friars prevailing, 2-1. Hobey Baker frontrunner and the nation’s leading scorer – Quinnipiac’s Ethan Wyttenbach (24G, 34A) – will be looking for revenge, but will have to beat Providence’s top goalie — Jack Parsons (.923) – who did not play in their first meeting.
Worcester Region
No. 3 Michigan State vs. UConn (March 26; 1:30 p.m. ET)
Dartmouth vs. Wisconsin (March 26; 5 p.m. ET)
Can Michigan State get over the hump? The Spartans have won the Big Ten regular-season crown three years in a row, but have zero Frozen Fours to show for it. Two years ago, it was the Wolverines playing spoiler, 5-2, in the Regional Final, and it was Cornell pulling a shocking first-round upset last year, 4-3.
UConn was an overtime away from reaching the Frozen Four last year and, despite some inconsistencies down the stretch (UConn was the final at-large team to make the NCAA Tournament), senior goalie Tyler Muszelik (.927) is the type of player who could spoil the Spartans’ season and put the Huskies into the final weekend.
Dartmouth has reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1980 after winning the ECAC (this win over upset-minded Princeton is also what kept UConn in the tournament) and will face a Wisconsin team that is impossible to predict. At their best, the Badgers and Mike Hastings could make the Frozen Four; at their worst, they will be embarrassed by the nation’s leading goal scorer, Hayden Stavroff (29G, 19A), and the most balanced team in college hockey.
Loveland Region
No. 4 Western Michigan vs. Minnesota State (March 27; 2:30 p.m. ET)
Denver vs. Cornell (March 27; 6 p.m. ET)
Welcome to Hell. The hardest region in the 2026 NCAA Tournament is in Loveland, Colorado. For those who only knew Loveland as being two spaces away from Colston, you are not alone.
This region features the defending national champions, Western Michigan, the best defensive team in college hockey, Cornell, the second-best defensive team and the hottest team not named Merrimack, Minnesota State, and perennial national title contender, Denver, led by the best coach in college hockey in David Carle.
If this two-game gauntlet wasn’t enough, the winner of this region has to play the winner of Michigan’s region in the Frozen Four. Flip a coin for the winner in Loveland. Any team here could win the region, and subsequently, any team could win the national championship.
