GRAND FORKS — It's the final day before the NCAA men's hockey tournament selection.
By tonight, we'll know the 16 participants in the 2026 NCAA men's hockey tournament and their seeds. The Herald and others will post bracket predictions. We'll find out the actual bracket at 2 p.m. Sunday on ESPNU (Channel 320/634 HD in Grand Forks).
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Here are a few things to know heading into Saturday's conference championship games.
1. Minnesota State clinched its spot in the NCAA tournament by beating St. Thomas 4-1 on Friday night in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association Mason Cup title game. The loss eliminates St. Thomas from NCAA tournament contention. The Tommies will now exit the CCHA and enter the National Collegiate Hockey Conference next season.
2. Augustana still has a path to make it as an at-large. The Vikings need three favorites to win today: Dartmouth over Princeton in the ECAC, Michigan over Ohio State in the Big Ten and UConn over Merrimack in Hockey East.
3. If Augustana makes it, the Vikings will almost surely be UND's first-round opponent in Sioux Falls.
4. If Augustana does not make it, Minnesota State would become UND's most likely first-round opponent (but not guaranteed).
5. There's still a Chaos Scenario out there that would push Augustana out and Minnesota State to a No. 3 seed, meaning UND would have a different opponent. The Chaos Scenario is Merrimack winning Hockey East, Ohio State winning the Big Ten and Princeton winning the ECAC. If that happens, UND would get one of those three league playoff champs.
6. Twelve teams have clinched a spot in the NCAA tournament: Michigan, North Dakota, Michigan State, Western Michigan, Denver, Minnesota Duluth, Dartmouth, Providence, Penn State, Quinnipiac, Cornell and Minnesota State.
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7. Wisconsin is still sitting in a decent spot. But if Ohio State and Princeton win, the Badgers are out.
8. Boston College and UMass were both eliminated from NCAA contention with their losses in the Hockey East semifinals on Friday. It marks the first time that none of the four Beanpot schools — Boston College, Boston University, Northeastern and Harvard — will be in the NCAA tournament since 1981.
9. The No. 2 seeds will be Denver, Minnesota Duluth, Providence and Dartmouth, but the exact order of them could shuffle quite a bit with three of them playing Saturday.
10. If Denver beats Minnesota Duluth in the NCHC championship game, it increases Minnesota Duluth's odds of being in the Sioux Falls Regional. If the Bulldogs win the playoff title, there's still a chance the NCAA sends the Bulldogs to Sioux Falls, but odds increase that the Bulldogs will be in Worcester or Albany.
Brad Elliott Schlossman
Opinion by Brad Elliott Schlossman
Schlossman has covered college hockey for the Grand Forks Herald since 2005. He has been recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors as the top beat writer for the Herald's circulation division four times and the North Dakota sportswriter of the year twice. He resides in Grand Forks. Reach him at bschlossman@gfherald.com.
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