Four teams from New England have officially made the 2023 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament.
Quinnipiac, Boston University, Harvard and Merrimack will have a chance to advance to the Frozen Four in Tampa on April 6 and 8 and potentially win a national championship. The region is looking to get back on the top of the college hockey mountain for the first time since UMass won in 2021.
The 2023 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament bracket was announced Sunday night on ESPNU.
ECAC Hockey regular season champion Quinnipiac will be one of four one-seeds. The Bobcats will host Merrimack on Friday at 5:30 p.m. ET at the Bridgeport, Conn., regional.
Hockey East regular season and tournament champion Boston University and ECAC Hockey runner-up Harvard both will be two seeds. The Terriers, looking for their first NCAA championship since 2009, face Western Michigan of the NCHC in the Manchester, N.H., regional on Thursday at 2:00 p.m. The Crimson take on Ohio State in the Bridgeport, Conn., regional on Friday at 2:00 p.m.
Merrimack, which finished right behind Boston University in the Hockey East regular season and lost to the Terriers in the tournament final, will be a four-seed. The Warriors are making just their third trip to the NCAA Division 1 Tournament and first since 2011.
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Two of the regionals will be contested in New England with the SNHU Arena in Manchester, N.H., and the Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, Conn., serving as hosts. The other regionals will be held in Fargo, N.D. and Allentown, Pa.
Minnesota will be the No. 1 overall seed in the 2023 NCAA Division 1 Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament. In addition to the Gophers and Quinnipiac, the other No. 1 seeds will be Michigan and Denver.
Below are the seeds and the first-round matchups for the 2023 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament:
Manchester, N.H. regional
No. 1 Denver vs. No. 4 Cornell | Thursday, March 23, 5:30 p.m. EST
No. 2 Boston University vs. No. 3 Western Michigan | Thursday, March 23, 2 p.m. EST
Fargo, N.D. regional
No. 1 Minnesota vs. No. 4 Canisius | Thursday, March 23, 9 p.m. EST
No. 2 St. Cloud vs. No. 3 Minnesota State | Thursday, March 23, 5 p.m. EST
Bridgeport, Conn. regional
No. 1 Quinnipiac vs. No. 4 Merrimack | Friday, March 24, 5:30 p.m. EST
No. 2 Harvard vs. No. 3 Ohio State | Friday, March 24, 2 p.m. EST
Allentown, Pa. regional
No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 4 Colgate | Friday, March 24, 8:30 p.m. EST
No. 2 Penn State vs. No. 3 Michigan Tech | Friday, March 24, 5 p.m. EST
