With the halfway point of the college hockey regular season nearly here, the NPI saw some movement from last weekend’s results. Penn State is idle until January 3, but the rest of the games being played around the country are still of interest to the Nittany Lions. As of this morning, the following teams would […]
With the halfway point of the college hockey regular season nearly here, the NPI saw some movement from last weekend’s results. Penn State is idle until January 3, but the rest of the games being played around the country are still of interest to the Nittany Lions.
As of this morning, the following teams would be in the NCAA Tournament if the season ended today based on the NPI and conference standings. Please note that projected conference tournament winners are in italics and are projected by current in-conference point percentage:
- Dartmouth
- Michigan
- Wisconsin
- Minnesota-Duluth
- North Dakota
- Denver
- Michigan State
- Penn State
- Minnesota State
- Harvard
- Western Michigan
- Northeastern
- Augustana
- Cornell
- Boston College
- Holy Cross
First Four Out: Quinnipiac, Lindenwood, Providence, Princeton
The selection committee avoids in-conference matchups in the first round and tends to place the one seeds in their closest geographic region. As hosts of their respective regionals, Denver (Loveland Regional) and Holy Cross (Worcester Regional) will automatically be assigned to their regionals should they make the NCAA Tournament.
With these stipulations in mind, the projected tournament would look like this:
Worcester Regional
- Dartmouth vs. Holy Cross
- Penn State vs. Western Michigan
Albany Regional
- Michigan vs. Boston College
- Michigan State vs. Harvard
Sioux Falls Regional
- Wisconsin vs. Augustana
- North Dakota vs. Minnesota State
Loveland Regional
- Minnesota-Duluth vs. Cornell
- Denver vs. Northeastern
Dartmouth remains unbeaten and has a favorable remaining schedule to make its first NCAA Tournament since 1980. Harvard moved up from near the bubble to No. 10 with wins over Yale and Brown last weekend. Cornell is the final projected at-large bid this week, and Quinnipiac dropped out after being shut out by RPI on Saturday.
The Big Ten is mostly unchanged from last week. Minnesota, Ohio State, and Notre Dame are all at least 10 spots out of the current field.
St. Cloud State dropped out of the field, but otherwise, the NCHC is unchanged. Minnesota-Duluth, North Dakota, and Denver are all logjammed at 4-6 in the NPI. The three teams are separated by just three points in the NCHC regular season standings. It will be an interesting battle for the conference title and potentially the final No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Boston College has moved into first place in Hockey East with a sweep of UMass-Lowell, but the Eagles also moved up to No. 15 in the NPI to put themselves in better position to gain an at-large bid. Providence moved into the First Four Out, and UConn sits at No. 20 in the NPI.
Augustana moved into the field to give the CCHA two teams as of right now, but time will tell if it will hold. The CCHA has not had more than one team in the NCAA Tournament since 2023.
Around the Big Ten
Michigan and Michigan State split last weekend, with the road team winning each game. Wisconsin took all six points in its series with Notre Dame, outscoring the Fighting Irish 16-6. The Badgers now lead the conference in raw points and point percentage. Penn State and Minnesota are tied for fourth place. Playoff Status is giving Penn State an 81% chance to finish in fourth place or better in conference play, but there is still a lot of hockey to be played. The home series against Minnesota on January 9 and 10 will loom large.
Category: General Sports
