Welcome to March. It's a month famous for college hoops, but you can be sure that hockey will always deliver some madness of its own.
The regular season is winding down, and we're quickly approaching the NCAA tournament at the end of the month. But first, teams will battle in their conference tournaments for a shot at an autobid.
While some conferences boast several bona fide title contenders, others remain largely up for grabs. I've put together a list of teams I think have the best shot at their tournament title, as well as some dark horses for an NCAA tournament autobid. Let's jump in.
Atlantic Hockey
Atlantic Hockey is a unique case as the only conference without a team inside the top-16 in the NPI currently, meaning the AHA autobid will likely be the only team to make the NCAA tournament.
Contender — Bentley
With a 16-6-4 conference record, Bentley locked up the No. 1 seed heading into the tournament. The Falcons have outscored conference opponents 85-56 over 26 games and have looked like the team to beat in the AHA for a while now.
Sleeper — Sacred Heart
Like I said, Atlantic Hockey is a unique case because any of its 10 teams could be considered dark horses for the NCAA tournament. Sacred Heart comes in at No. 2 in the AHA standings, but I think the Pioneers have the best shot besides Bentley at making a run at the autobid.
Felix for the 22nd time this season!
— Sacred Heart University Men's Ice Hockey (@sacredheartmih)
The goaltending tandem of Ajeet Gundarah and Teagan Kendrick gives SHU flexibility in the crease, while F Felix Trudeau (23G, 18A) and D Mikey Adamson (4G, 26A) pace the league in points and assists, respectively.
Big Ten
Contender — Michigan State
The Big Ten and NCHC are the two deepest conferences in terms of NCAA tournament teams, and I believe that any of Michigan State, Michigan or Penn State can take home the Big Ten tournament title. With all three sitting in the top five of the NPI, they've each proven themselves as serious contenders.
🎩🎩🎩
— Michigan State on BTN (@MichiganStOnBTN)
Porter Martone had a hat trick in 's big win over Notre Dame to finish off the sweep.
That said, I'll have to give the nod to whoever secures the No. 1 seed and the first-round bye. Michigan currently holds it with 49 conference points but has already wrapped up conference play, while Michigan State sits two points back with two games left against Minnesota, and will likely jump the Wolverines for the top spot.
Sleeper — Minnesota
The Gophers are loaded with talent, but they have struggled to put it all together this season. But they have had things click a couple times late in the season, namely a 4-2 road win over No. 2 Michigan Thursday night and a home sweep over No. 8 Wisconsin in late January.
LUKE ➡️ LJ PP GOAL 🌟
— Minnesota Men’s Hockey (@GopherHockey)
📺: BTN
The Gophers' 7-14-1 conference record reflects their inconsistency, but their No. 3-ranked powerplay shows their firepower. Minnesota is still a scary No. 5/6 seed in the Big Ten tournament and will be a handful for anyone unfortunate enough to meet them.
CCHA
Contender — Minnesota State
After a chaotic ending to the CCHA regular season, Minnesota State defended its 2024-25 MacNaughton Cup title, winning the CCHA regular season for the second straight year. The Mavericks finished 14-7-5 in the conference and get a favorable quarterfinal matchup against Ferris State, which they beat three times this season.
Sleeper — Bemidji State
The top five teams in the CCHA finished the regular season separated by just two points in the standings. The sixth team? Bemidji State, sitting at 11-11-4 in conference play with a win over every other CCHA team except Michigan Tech, which it tied in November. The Beavers are a dangerous No. 6 seed, and they've already proven they can beat anyone in the conference.
Addin to the lead, it's Reilly Funk from Vincent Labelle!
— Bemidji State Men’s Hockey (@BSUBeaversMHKY)
Bemidji State also got perhaps its best possible path with a quarterfinal series at Augustana. The Beavers were 2-1-1 against the Vikings in the regular season.
ECAC
Contender — Quinnipiac
Top shelf where momma hides the cookies 🍪 x
— Quinnipiac Men's Ice Hockey (@QU_MIH)
Quinnipiac has held strong in the top 10 of the USCHO rankings since January, but the Bobcats have stumbled a little at the end of the season, dropping a pair of games to No. 13 Cornell and No. 14 Dartmouth, 6-1 and 7-4, respectively. Still, Quinnipiac has the second-highest scoring offense in the country, averaging 4.28 goals per game, led by freshman and NCAA scoring leader Ethan Wyttenbach (24G, 33A, 57P).
Sleeper — Union
Coming into the ECAC tournament as the No. 5 seed, Union is one of the more dangerous sleepers on this list, going 7-1-2 in its last 10 games. But what makes them so dangerous?
Special teams.
The Garnet Chargers sit at No. 17 in the country with a 22.5% powerplay percentage, and they have the best penalty kill at 90.6%. If they're going to beat the big dogs, they'll need to drag them into a dogfight and let the special teams do the rest.
Hockey East
Contender — Providence
Another snipe, this time from Mustard for his 15th goal of the season to extend the lead to 3-1! x
— PC Men's Hockey (@FriarsHockey)
In what has been a down year for Hockey East, Providence seized the lead in the standings early and never looked back, finishing at 17-5-1 in conference play. It is hard to see anyone beating the Friars in the Hockey East tournament.
Sleeper — Boston University
It's a weird season when Minnesota and Boston University are sleepers for the NCAA tournament, but just one year removed from a Frozen Four championship appearance, the Terriers have had a similarly disappointing season to the Gophers, sitting at 12-11-0 in Hockey East play.
MIH: BU GOAL - Gavin McCarthy gets the Terriers back in front.
— BU Game Day (@BUGameDay)
Watch on ESPN+: | |
Much like the Gophers, BU has one of the most talented lineups on paper and was ranked No. 2 in the preseason USCHO polls for a reason. They might be heating up at the right time after avenging a Beanpot loss with a sweep over No. 10 Boston College. It'll be a tough path, but who's to say the Terriers can't get hot for a couple of weeks and make a run at the Hockey East autobid?
NCHC
Contender — North Dakota
The NCHC is another conference where I could have picked any of the top three teams. After a slow second semester start, Denver has looked great down the stretch, and Western Michigan has been solid all season, but North Dakota gets a slight edge for me as a more consistent team this year.
Sleeper — St. Cloud State
St. Cloud State comes into the NCHC tournament as the No. 5 seed. In a conference with four teams inside the NCAA at-large field, the Huskies face a gargantuan challenge if they hope to steal the NCHC autobid.
Third consecutive game with a goal for ! | 🏒
— St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (@SCSUHuskies_MH)
Their first round matchup against Minnesota Duluth is tough, with the Bulldogs owning the regular season advantage, 3-1. But if top players like Tyson Gross and Austin Burnevik can find the scoresheet and their 11th-ranked powerplay keeps clicking, the Huskies could shock the NCHC.
