Super-Early Bracketology for 2026 NCAA Hockey Tournament: Puck Drop

It's early, Super early and we want to emphasize that point in a major way because a lot is going change by January, never mind March. But with the beginning of December and a lot of teams outside of the ECAC having already played 15 games, teams are aready jockeying themselves into position for the postseason.

In other words, take it for what it's worth.

We'll start with the teams that would be in the 16-team field if their current resumes were the only thing the selection committee could consider.

The six conferences that receive automatic bids are: Hockey East, ECAC Hockey, Big Ten, NCHC, CCHA and Atlantic Hockey (AHA). The six winners of their respective conference tournaments will automatically enter the 2023 Division I men's hockey tournament.

We're still at least four months away from the start of conference tournaments (which is more time than the entire length of the college football regular season), so for now we're going to project the teams atop those conferences based on the current standings although in many cases the difference between teams is negligible: Dartmouth, Connecticut, Denver, Michigan, Minnesota State and Holy Cross.

Reminder, the NCAA switched from the Pairwise system that had been in place for more than 30 years for NPI (NCAA Percentage Index) for use in selecting and seeding the NCAA Tournament. The NPI has those teams at No. 1, 25, 5, 2, 6, and 23. Yes, this will be like a splash of cold water to some college hockey fans, the undefeated Big Green (8-0, 4-0 ECAC) would be the tournament top seed.

So then we fill in the field based on the NPI: Wisconsin, Minnesota Duluth, North Dakota, Northeastern, Penn State, Michigan State, Western Michigan, Cornell, Quinnipiac and St. Cloud State.

The first four teams out would be Harvard, Bowling Green, Miami and St. Thomas (with Lindenwood fifth). Teams that obviously have some work to do include No. 20 Providence, No. 22 Boston College, No. 27 Boston University, No. 28 Maine, No. 34 Colorado College, No. 35 Union and No. 36 Minnesota. Among the the Black Bears are ranked the highest in the polls at No. 11.

Now for seeding. The Frozen Four will be played in Las Vegas for the first time, at T-Mobile Arena on April 9 and 11. The four regionals will be March 27-29, at Albany, N.Y., Sioux Falls, S.D., and Loveland, Colo., Worcester, Mass. Host teams are Union, Denver, Omaha and Holy Cross. It could be as such:

1: Dartmouth, Michigan, Wisconsin and UMD
2: Denver*, Minnesota State, North Dakota, Northeastern
3: Penn State, Michigan State, Western Michigan, Cornell
4: Quinnipiac, St. Cloud State, Holy Cross*, Connecticut

That brings us to potential regional pairings, which need to be geographically friendly when possible but avoid first-round conference matchups. It could look something like this ...

Worcester Regional: 1 Dartmouth vs. 4 Holy Cross; 2 Northeastern vs. 3 Cornell
Albany Regional: 1 UMD vs. 4 Quinnipiac; 2 Minnesota State vs. 3 Western Michigan
Sioux Falls Regional: 1 Michigan vs. 4 UConn; 2 North Dakota vs. 3 Michigan State
Loveland Regional: 1 Wisconsin vs. 4 St. Cloud State; 2 Denver vs. 3 Penn State

So what are the chances of the eventual bracket looking like this? Probably close to none, but it provides a glimpse just how tough the tournament might be this season, and provide a feel for how far some teams need to climb the rest of the season.

Puck Drop: Wednesday, November 3, 2025

• Alarms have finally gone off in the hockey world that the 16,000-seat Milano SantaGiulia Arena that's under construction for the 2026 Winter Olympics still isn't finsihed and the test event scheduled for this month has been moved. Moreover, the ice surface might not meet the NHL/NHLPA’s agreed-upon standards and appears to be smaller than NHL regulation size. For more, check out Break Away On SI,

Team Canada assistant coach Pete DeBoer saying ice surface in Milan arena will be smaller than NHL size by about 3-4 ft.

DeBoer: “I don’t understand how that happened”
— NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) December 2, 2025

• Also from Break Away On SI: Predators Give Rookie Life-Changing News

• The bottom four in NPI: Stonehill (1-13-1), St. Lawrence (2-13-1), Northern Michigan (0-16) and Mercyhurst (0-14-1). Remember, Miami finished in that group last season and is currently ranked in the polls.

• Declan Farmer scored two goals and notched three assists to help lead the U.S. National Sled Team to a 6-3 victory over China in the preliminary round of the 2025 Para Hockey Cup at Dawson Creek, British Columbia. Team USA will take on Canada in its third and final preliminary-round game Wednesday.

• Western Michigan landed a commitment from left wing Anthony Thomas-Maroon, who hails from St. Louis and plays for the Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL).

• News from Wisconsin:

Badgers freshman defenseman Luke Osburn, who has missed the last four games with mono, is "full go" this week, coach Mike Hastings said today. It'd be big for him to play this weekend's series at Notre Dame before the U.S. World Juniors final camp starts Dec. 15 in Duluth.
— Todd Milewski (@ToddMilewski) December 3, 2025

Tuesday's Scores

Hockey East
New Hampshire 4, No. 6 Northeastern 3 (OT)
Boston University 3, Holy Cross 0

NEWHA
Post 2, Sacred Heart 1

Games between ranked opponents are bolded. All times are local to where the game is being played.

Wednesday's Schedule

WOMEN
NEWHA
Saint Anselm at Franklin Pierce, 6 p.m. ET

This Date in Hockey History:

December 3, 1929: The Boston Bruins defeated Montreal 3-1 to start a 14-game winning streak that would stand as an NHL record until 1981-82 (Islanders), and a 22-game home winning streak that

This was their first of 14 straight wins and 22 wins in a row on home ice.

December 3, 1960: Minnesota and Miracle on Ice defenseman Mike Ramsey was born in Minneapolis.

December 3, 1975: North Dakota defenseman Curtis Murphy was born in Kerrobert, Saskatchewan.

December 3, 1978: Colorado College defenseman Tom Preissing was born in Arlington Heights, Ill.

December 3, 1987: When the Boston Bruins retired Phil Esposito’s No. 7 during an emotional pregame ceremony, Ray Bourque, who had always worn the number, took off his jersey reveal his new number 77. He went ot on notch an assist in a 4-3 victory over the Rangers.

December 3, 1988: Former Yale center Bob Brooke assisted on three shorthanded goals in the second period, including two by former Minnesota center Neal Broten in the span of 2:10, as the Minnesota North Stars won at Hartford, 4-2.

December 3, 1991: Former Wisconsin left wing Brian Mullen’s goal gave the San Jose Sharks their first-overtime victory, 3-2 win over the Kings.

December 3, 2015: Patrick Kane, out of the United States National Team Development Program, had a goal and two assists in a 4-3 overtime loss at Ottawa. It was his 21st consecutive game with at least one point, tying Bobby Hull for the longest streak in Blackhawks history.

December 3, 2022: Patrick Kane notched his 1,200th career point during 5-2 loss to the Rangers. He became just the second player in Blackhawks history to reach the milestone, joining Stan Mikita.

December 3, 2023: Former Massachusetts goaltender Jonathan Quick became the first goaltender in New York Rangers history to record a point in each of his first eight starts with the franchise. It had previously been held by former Colorado College goaltender Eddie Mio in 1981-82.

Hockey Quote of the Day

“Potential is synonymous with getting your ass kicked.”
Kevin Constantine

We'll Leave You With This ...

Gwyneth Philips told me and a few reporters in September that she doesn’t watch hockey or other sports. Which you might not expect considering she’s a PWHL playoff MVP and Team USA goalie.

Shoutout Logan Angers for putting her to the test because … wow pic.twitter.com/6qaclvWvzW
— Kyle Cushman (@Kyle_Cush) December 2, 2025