It’s that time of year again.
Following championship Saturday, the NCAA revealed the bracket for the 2026 National Tournament, including 11 teams from all five conferences. The regional round will begin later this week, with four spots at the Frozen Four, held in University Park, Penn., on the line.
Once again, the WCHA sends four teams to the tournament, followed close behind by the ECAC who is sending three. For the first time since 2021, Hockey East is more than a single bid league, as two of their programs will take part in the tournament this year. And finally, one team each from the AHA and NEWHA complete the bracket.
As always, the top four seeds in the tournament will host the regional round first. Ohio State, thanks to a late WCHA championship win on Saturday, heads into the tournament as the No. 1 seed. At the Columbus regional will first be Yale, who were runners up in the ECAC tournament, and Minnesota Duluth, who received the last at-large bid in the field. The lower two seeds will first play on Thursday.
The WCHA runners-up, and the long-standing top team this season, Wisconsin Badgers will host the second regional in Madison. Quinnipiac, after winning the ECAC title, will head to Wisconsin as well, with a first-round matchup against Franklin Pierce scheduled. FPU will be making their first-ever NCAA tournament appearance this year, after winning the NEWHA title — and it’s auto-bid — on Saturday.
Before hosting the Frozen Four, Penn State as the third-seed will also be hosting a regional round after being a top program in the NCAA, and winning another AHA title. UConn, following their Hockey East title win, is set to play Princeton in the first round in Pennsylvania, and the winner will then advance to play the Nittany Lions.
Our final regional this season includes the fourth and fifth seeded teams, in this case the Minnesota Golden Gophers at No. 4, and the Northeastern Huskies at No. 5. NU will travel from Boston to Minnesota to play the Gophers at Ridder Arena on Saturday, in the lone one-off regional. The winner of that game will automatically advance to the Frozen Four the following week.
The winners of each other regional will also advance to the Frozen Four for a chance to play for the National Title. The semifinal round is scheduled to be played on Friday, March 20 at 4 and 7:30 p.m. EST, with the championship game scheduled for Sunday, March 22 at 4 p.m. EST.
Start times for all tournament games are available below, all in EST. All games will be available to stream on ESPN+ in the U.S.
Columbus, OH Regional
Thursday, March 12
Yale (ECAC) vs. Minnesota Duluth (WCHA) — 6 p.m.
Saturday, March 14
No. 1 Ohio State (WCHA) vs. winner of Yale/UMD — 6 p.m.
Madison, WI Regional
Thursday, March 12
Quinnipiac (ECAC) vs. Franklin Pierce (NEWHA) — 8 p.m.
Saturday, March 14
No. 2 Wisconsin (WCHA) vs. winner of QU/FPU — 2 p.m.
University Park, PA Regional
Thursday, March 12
UConn (HEA) vs. Princeton (ECAC) — 7 p.m
Saturday, March 14
No. 3 Penn State (AHA) vs. winner of UConn/Princeton — 2 p.m.
Minneapolis, MN Regional
Saturday, March 14th
No. 4 Minnesota (WCHA) vs. No. 5 Northeastern (HEA) — 3 p.m.
Frozen Four
Friday, March 20th
Semifinal One at 4 p.m.
Semifinal Two at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 22nd
Championship Game at 4 p.m. on ESPNU