CCHA Press ReleaseThe CCHA has placed five teams in the NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Championship for the second time in league history and will be represented at three of the four regional sites.
CCHA tournament runner-up Michigan and regular-season champion Ferris State are headed to the Midwest Regional at Green Bay, Wis. Miami and Michigan State will travel to Bridgeport, Conn., for the East Regional and CCHA champion Western Michigan will play in the West Regional at St. Paul, Minn.
The four regional winners advance to the Frozen Four in Tampa, Fla., on April 5-7.
Western Michigan (21-13-6), coming off their second CCHA championship title and first since 1986, will make their second consecutive appearance at the NCAA tournament and fifth in program history. The Broncos are the No. 4 seed at the West Regional and will take on North Dakota (25-12-3) of the WCHA at 1:30 p.m. EST on Saturday, March 24.
The Michigan Wolverines (24-12-4) are making their 22nd consecutive NCAA tournament appearance, earning the second overall seed in the tournament. The maize and blue will take on Cornell (18-8-7) in the Midwest Regional. The puck drops at 9:00 p.m. EST on Friday, March 23. Michigan will be looking to capture its tenth national crown.
Also competing in the Midwest Regional, Ferris State (23-11-5) takes the No. 2 seed and will skate against Denver (25-13-4) of the WCHA. This marks just the second time that the Bulldogs have been selected for the NCAA tournament and first since the 2002-03 season. Ferris State and Denver will take the ice on Friday, March 23 at 5:30 p.m. EST.
The Miami RedHawks (24-14-2), making their tenth NCAA tournament appearance overall, are the No. 2 seed at the East Regional where they will meet Massachusetts-Lowell (23-12-1) of Hockey East in the 6:30 p.m. Eastern time game on Friday, March 23. The RedHawks, appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in the past nine years, are looking to make the Frozen Four for the fourth time in five years.
The Spartans of Michigan State (19-15-4), are the No. 4 seed at the East Regional and will face off against Union (24-7-7) of the ECAC in the 3:00 p.m. Eastern time contest. The Spartans last NCAA tournament appearance was in 2008 when they advanced to the regional final against Notre Dame.
This marks the second time that there have been five CCHA entries in the national tournament, tying the conference record set in 2004 when five teams (Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame and Ohio State) also advanced.
The championship playoff format involves four predetermined regional sites with four teams assigned to each site. The four regional winners advance to the Frozen Four. The entire championship uses a single-elimination format.
Automatic qualification privileges are granted to the postseason champions of five conferences. The remainder of the field is selected at large.
Boston College of Hockey East is the No. 1 overall seed. The other No. 1 seeds, in order, include Michigan, Union and North Dakota.
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