Atrás
Is it too soon to do a bracketology in college hockey? We thought it was after doing one last week, and it immediately became clear that our initial premise was incorrect.
Go check it out, because you’ll be surprised how much changed in just one week, and how much didn't even with Michigan falling out of No. 1 in the polls.
For now, we’re using the same format as the pre-Halloween bracketology, the teams that finished atop their preseason conference polls are our automatic qualifiers, the equivalent of those winning their conference tournaments, and then filled out the field using the top National Collegiate Percentage (NPI) Index.
We’re also still giving an automatic bid to the preseason Ivy League pick (or more specifically the Ivy team that was predicted highest in ECAC voting), as those teams have only played one weekend.
So these teams are in for this exercise: Sacred Heart (AHA); Michigan (Big Ten); Michigan Tech (CCHA); Quinnipiac (ECAC); Providence (Hockey East); Denver (NCHC); and Dartmouth (Ivy League).
Filling out the field are the other top nine NPI teams: Union, Wisconsin, Augustana, Army, Michigan State, Minnesota Duluth, Colorado College, Princeton and Western Michigan.
The top team out per the rankings: No. 10 North Dakota, which is a regional host this season, followed by No. 13 Boston University. The top team out per NPI is No. 2 Union.
For the seedings and pairings, we’re going against the NPI index that the NCAA will eventually use, but the most recent USCHO.com poll. For any team not ranked it’s then by NPI.
Thus, the seedings: Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan State, Denver, Western Michigan, Minnesota Duluth, Quinnipiac, Augustana, Providence, Colorado College, Dartmouth, Michigan Tech, Union, Army, Princeton and Sacred Heart.
The regional locations, from East to West, are Springfield, Mass., Hartford, Conn., Fargo, N.D., and Loveland, Colo. The 2027 Men's Frozen Four will be held at Capital One Arena, Washington D.C. Sacred Heart is the host at Hartford, so it must be placed there. Similarly, Denver is hosting at Loveland.
Madison is closest to Fargo, so that’s our starting point.
Fargo: 1 Wisconsin vs. 4 Princeton; 2 Augustana vs. 3 Providence
Loveland: 1 Dever vs. 4 Union; 2 Western Michigan vs. 3 Michigan Tech
Springfield: 1 Michigan vs. 4 Army; 2 Quinnipiac vs. 3 Colorado College
Hartford: 1 Michigan State vs. 4 Sacred Heart; 2 Minnesota Duluth vs. 3 Dartmouth
Of note: 1) Fargo and Loveland are listed together to set up a potential 1 vs. 4 matchup in the semifinals. 2) There were no first-round conference matchups that required a switch, but the final three teams in the field were moved to have Sacred Heart in Hartford as required. 3) Augustana in Fargo and the pairing over Western Michigan and Michigan just fell that way, nothing was changed. 4) All of the No. 1 seeds, and all but one of the No. 2 seeds are Western teams. Half of the 3-seeds and all of the 4s are from the East.
Now for the women, where the automatic bids are again per the preseason conference polls: Penn State (AHA), Quinnipiac (ECAC), Northeastern (Hockey East), Assumption (NEWPA), Ohio State (WCHA)
The rest of the field per NPI, and unlike last time we don’t need to cheat to get the two-time reigning champions in the field: Princeton, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Colgate, St. Cloud State and Yale. There are only two changes from our pro-Halloween bracketology, with all of the team involved from the ECAC: Princeton and Yale in, Cornell and Brown out.
With all that, here would be the seedings, again per rankings, with the Frozen Four set for Duluth, Minn., March 21-23. Top-ranked team not in the field, No. 6 Princeton.
8 vs. 9: Colgate vs. St. Cloud State
No. 1 Bye: Ohio State
4 vs. 5: Northeastern vs. Princeton
7 vs. 10: Penn State vs. Yale
No. 2 Bye: Minnesota
6 vs. 11: Quinnipiac vs. Assumption
No. 3 Bye: Wisconsin
The top team out per the rankings, No. 9 Clarkson. The top team per NPI is No. 10 Clarkson.
It ain't over 'til it's over.
— NHL (@NHL) November 4, 2026
Just ask the @NHLJets. ✈️ pic.twitter.com/AjiGzz7I9Y
WOMEN
ECAC
Union 1, Rensselaer 0
No Games Scheduled
November 4, 1905: Dartmouth right wing, and coach who notched 308 wins, Eddie Jeremiah was born in Worcester, Mass.
November 4, 1984: Dustin Brown, just the second American team captain to win a Stanley Cup, was born in Ithaca, N.Y. he played in 1,296 NHL games over 18 seasons, all with the Los Angeles Kings.
November 4, 1987: The New York Rangers at the Edmonton Oilers featured a special showdown as both Wayne Gretzky and Marcel Dionne had 998 career assist and were looking to join Gordie Howe as the only players to reach 1,000. Gretzky had a huge game with a hat trick and two assists to lead the Oilers to a 7-2 victory.
November 4, 1989: Former North Dakota goaltender Jon Casey notched his career third shutout as the Minnesota North Stars enjoyed their 400th franchise win, 3-0 over the Chicago Blackhawks.
November 4, 1991: John Vanbiesbrouck, a Team USA staple, notched the first shutout by New York Rangers against the Flames since 1973, back when the franchise was in Atlanta. It was his 11th career shutout as Calgary took a 4-0 loss.
November 4, 1998: Former RPI center Adam Oates notched career assist No. 800, but the Washington Capitals lost 5-2 to Tampa Bay.
November 4, 2001: Former Bowling Green right wing Dan Bylsma had his first game-winning goal in the NHL in Mighty Ducks of Anaheim’s 5-0 win over the Atlanta Thrashers. Jean-Sebastien Giguere recorded his fifth career shutout.
November 4, 2016: Former Boston College right wing Cam Atkinson and Nick Foligno out of the USA Hockey National Team Development both scored two goals as the Columbus Blue Jackets hit double digits for the first time with a 10-0 victory over Montreal. Former Michigan goaltender Al Montoya was in net for the Canadiens and still made 30 saves.
November 4, 2017: Former Michigan forward Andrew Cogliano became just the fourth player in NHL history to play in 800 consecutive games. Anaheim took a 2-1 shootout loss to the San Jose Sharks.
November 4, 2018: Defenseman Cam Fowler, out of the USA Hockey National Team Development Program, notched his first career hat trick when he scored in overtime as Anaheim defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2.
November 4, 2021: Former North Dakota center Brock Nelson scored a career-best four goals as the New York Islanders won at Montral, 4-2.
November 4, 2023: After Auston Matthews, of the USA Hockey National Team Development Program, opened the 2023-24 season with back-to-back hat tricks, he got another during a 6-4 loss to Buffalo. It was the sixth-fewest games (11) by a player in NHL history to record three hat tricks in a season.
November 4, 2023: Former Alabama Huntsville goaltender Cam Talbot made 24 saves to lead the Los Angeles Kings to a 5-0 victory at Philadelphia. He became the fifth player to record a shutout for at least six different NHL teams, joining Sean Burke (seven), Lorne Chabot (six), Dwayne Roloson (six), and Jaroslav Halak (six).
“Heroes? Vietnam Vets are heroes. The guys who tried to rescue our hostages in Iran are heroes. I'm just a hockey player.”
Mike Eruzione (Boston University)
BACK TO BACK HAT TRICKS FOR CUTTER GAUTHIER 🔥🎩 pic.twitter.com/zZ2emfbTwA
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) November 4, 2026
— The views expressed in Christopher Walsh’s opinion part of Puck Drop are his own and do not necessarily reflect ON SI, Sports Illustrated or digital partner Minute.
Follow us on Twitter/X, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Threads and Blue Sky for the latest news.
Atrás
Top
| Declaración de privacidad Términos del servicio Contacto |
Refresca
|
All the best breaking news stories from Apex Football Lite. Optimised for feature phones and low end Android devices, Apex Football Lite helps users with legacy devices and poor network connectivity access the latest football news and live scores. Particularly relevant for breaking football news in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.