Winter Break Edition of College Hockey Bracketology: Puck Drop

Winter Break has fully arrived in college hockey, with only a couple of regular-season games this week, and nearly nothing next week until we get into holiday tournaments after Christmas.

With the schedule being limited in mid-December, there wasn’t too much movement in the latest rankings, or the NPI (NCAA Percentage Index) which will be the primary metric for the selection committee in determining and seeding this season’s NCAA Tournament.

With that in mind, this Bracketology update will be abbreviated, but also one that will be often referred to as representing the conclusion to the first half of the 2025-26 season. So here goes, and if you need further explanation on anything try checking out last week’s edition.

It’s a 16-team field that will make up the 2026 Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship, with the Frozen Four set to be played in Las Vegas on April 9-11.

The six conferences receive automatic bids. They’ll eventually be determined by the conference tournaments, but our purposes they’re represented by the current first-place team in the standings: Hockey East, ECAC Hockey, Big Ten, NCHC, CCHA and Atlantic Hockey (AHA): Dartmouth, Connecticut, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Minnesota State and Holy Cross.

The NPI rankings of our automatic qualifiers are No. 2, 18, 4, 3, 10, and 22. Only two of those teams had the same rank as a week ago.

We round out the field with 10 at-large bids, based on NPI: Michigan, Michigan State, Denver, Minnesota Duluth, Penn State, Harvard, Augustana, Western Michigan, Quinnipiac and finally Cornell.

Compared to a week ago, Northeastern is out, Quinnipiac is back in. As we noted in Tuesday’s Puck Drop, Hockey East would only have one team in the tournament, but look at the next three teams on the doorstep: Providence, Boston College and Northeastern, with New Hampshire lurking at No. 21 and Boston University at No. 23.

Seeding is next. 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, respectively. As we group the teams, the * indicates the school is hosting so it must play at that site. Note that North Dakota is not the host venue in Sioux Falls (which is South Dakota), but is the host for the Frozen Four.

1: Michigan, Dartmouth, Wisconsin and North Dakota (UND moved up to the top line)
2: Michigan State, Denver*, Minnesota Duluth and Penn State (no teams moved out of top eight)
3: Harvard, Minnesota State, Augustana, Western Michigan (Vikings moved up from No. 4 line)
4: Quinnipiac, Cornell, Connecticut, Holy Cross* (the Bobcats are back, and almost a 3)

We're down to placing teams in the bracket, and pairings, which need to be geographically friendly when possible but avoid first-round conference matchups, and all in a way that doesn't negatively impact the bracket integrity.

About the only thing we don’t like about this week’s projection is having two Big Ten teams seeded first and second in the Albany Regional, but that is geographically friendly for Penn State.

Winter Break Bracketology Projection

Albany Regional: 1 Michigan vs. 4 Connecticut; 2 Penn State vs. 3 Western Michigan
Sioux Falls Regional: 1 North Dakota vs. 4 Quinnipiac; 2 Michigan State vs. 3 Harvard
Worchester Regional: 1 Dartmouth vs. 4 Holy Cross*; 2 Minnesota Duluth vs 3 Augustana
Loveland Regional: 1 Wisconsin vs. 4 Cornell; vs. 2 Denver* vs. 3 Minnesota State

Just like last week, a handful of results led to big changes in our bracket:

Last Week’s Projection

Worcester Regional: 1 Dartmouth vs. Holy Cross*; 2 Penn State vs. Minnesota State
Albany Regional: 1 UMD vs. Augustana; 2 North Dakota vs. Northeastern
Sioux Falls Regional: 1 Michigan vs. Connecticut; 2 Michigan State vs. Western Michigan
Loveland Regional: 1 Wisconsin vs. Cornell; 2 Denver* vs. Harvard

SEE ALSO: Last Week's Bracketology

Puck Drop: Wednesday, December 17, 2025

• Former Boston College goaltender Thatcher Demko made 23 saves for his first shutout this season, and the Vancouver Canucks won their second straight game since trading former Michigan defenseman Quinn Hughes, 3-0 against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. It was Demko's 10th shutout. Meanwhile, former UMass goaltender Jonathan Quick made 14 saves for the Rangers.

"SD boys take care of each other."

Buium 🪓 Demko pic.twitter.com/jjeGVjcnab
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) December 17, 2025

• Freshman defenseman Liam Hupka's late first-period goal nearly held up, as Switzerland got a late goal to salvage a tie against No. 15 Minnesota State in a World Junior Pre-Tournament Series exhibition game at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center. Switzerland won a five-round shootout with the final goal scored by Robin Antenen.

• Nick Saban Joins NHL Franchise Ownership Group

Former Michigan player Adam Fantilli, off a pass from another former Wolverines player Kent Johnston, scored with 1:28 left in overtime as Columbus snapped a five-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory over Anaheim. Yer another former UM player, defenseman Zach Werenski, had two goals and an assist for the Blue Jackets.

Adam Fantilli said, "Fine, I'll do it myself" 😤

The @BlueJacketsNHL win it in @Energizer overtime! pic.twitter.com/gOdT7POlXh
— NHL (@NHL) December 17, 2025

Tuesday's Score

MEN
Exhibition
No. 15 Minnesota State 1, Swiss Junior Team 1 (SUI wins shootout)

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

This Week's College Hockey Schedule

MEN
Non-Conference
Omaha at Augustana, 7 p.m. CT Friday; 6 p.m. Saturday

This Date in Hockey History:

December 17. 1957: The largest trade in NHL history, at the time, went down on Dec. 17, 1957, between the Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings. Chicago sent Nick Mickoski, Jack McIntyre, Bob Bailey, and Hec Lalande to their rival for Dutch Reibel, Billy Dea, Bill Dineen, and Lorne Ferguson.

December 17, 1958: Notre Dame center Dave Poulin was born in Timmins, Ontario.

December 17, 1961: Princeton right wing Edward Lee was born in Rochester, N.Y.

December 17, 1964: Minnesota goaltender Frank Pietrangelo was born in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

December 17. 1979: RPI left wing Matt Murley was born in Troy, N.Y.

December 17, 1982: Northern Michigan defenseman Nathan Oystrick was born in Regina, Saskatchewan.

December 17, 1983: In just his 352nd NHL game Wayne Gretzky scored a goal and had five assists to reach 500 career assists and 800 points faster than anyone in league history. Edmonton blew out Quebec 8-1.

December 17. 1984: Bowling Green left wing Derek Whitmore was born in Rochester, N.Y.

December 17, 1986: Former Minnesota and Miracle on Ice defenseman Mike Ramsey played in his 50tth NHL game, a 4-3 loss for Buffalo at Hartford.

December 17, 1988: The North Start traded former Minnesota Gophers right wing Scott Bjugstad and Gord Dineen to Pittsburgh for defenseman Ville Siren and center Steve Gotaas.

December 17. 1991: Former Boston College right wing Joe Mullen had a goal and two assists to give him 800 career points as the Penguins, aided by an eight-goal second period, routed San Jose 10-2.

December 17. 2000: In a move that made the home-state fans truly wild, former Minnesota Gophers center Neil Broten did the “Let’s Play Hockey” announcement the first time the Minnesota Wild hosted the Dallas Stars, which were the North Stars before relocating. Broten began by taking off his Dallas Stars jersey to reveal a Wild No. 7 sweater underneath. Former Gopher right wing Jeff Nielson and Marian Gaborik scored in a span of 48 seconds during the first period and former Gophers center Darby Hendrickson scored two goals as the Wild won 6-0.

December 17, 2005: Former Lake Superior State center Brian Rolston had two goals and two assists as the Minnesota Wild defeated the visiting Montral Canadiens in overtime 4-3.

December 17, 2022: Former Connecticut center Tage Thompson scored his 25th goal in his 31st game as Buffalo won at Arizona 5-2.

December 17, 2023: Former Boston University center Jack Eichel had a goal and an assist to become the first Golden Knights player to record a double-digit point streak with a 6-3 home win against Ottawa.

Hockey Quote of the Day

"When I look at a forward, I don't care whether he's big, small or medium. I just want to know: Will he take a check to make a play? Joe [Mullen] will."
Emile “The Cat” Francis

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We'll Leave You With This ...

Bruins come out onto the ice with a custom “Brown University 401” sweater hanging from the glass behind their bench ❤️@WEEI #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/K30DdKjxvY
— Tom Carroll (@yaboiTCfresh) December 16, 2025

Ahead of puck drop, the Bruins hold a moment of silence for the victims of both the Brown University and Bondi Beach shootings. pic.twitter.com/3hqsWHskXR
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) December 17, 2025