Bracketology: Where is Gophers hockey projected before final regular season series?

After last weekend's series sweep of Ohio State, Gophers men's hockey sits atop the Big Ten standings heading into the final week of the regular season. They cannot fall any lower than the No. 2 seed for the Big Ten tournament, but what's their current outlook for the NCAA Tournament?

The USCHO PairWise Rankings is essentially the main and only tool the NCAA uses to seed teams for the national tournament. Last weekend saw Michigan State pick up only one point at home against Penn State, and they currently trail top-ranked Boston College at No. 2 in the latest rankings. Minnesota is currently No. 3 after their performance against the Buckeyes.

That means if the NCAA Tournament field was made today, Minnesota would earn one of the four No. 1 seeds. Based on the latest PairWise Rankings, they would head to a regional in Fargo, N.D., and face UMass Lowell in the first round with Providence and Michigan in the other game.

🚨BRACKETOLOGY UPDATE🚨

Updated look based on the CURRENT PAIRWISE at what the bracket could very well look like if the season ended today... ⌛️

Key notes🎶
🧑‍🔬.0002 is the current difference in the RPI for the last at large spot between UMass Lowell & Penn State
🤯Hockey East… pic.twitter.com/1tLzvkdE0R
— College Puck NXT (@CollegePuckNXT) February 24, 2025

Top-ranked Boston College is on a roll, winning 13 of its last 15 games, so Minnesota's chances of claiming the No. 1 overall seed is likely a pipe dream. Catching Michigan State for the No. 2 overall seed seems far more likely of a scenario.

If the Gophers take care of business against Penn State this weekend and roll through the Big Ten tournament, it would be fair to assume they could jump the Spartans, despite failing to beat them once in the regular season. If that scenario happens, Minnesota would earn its seventh Big Ten regular season title and third tournament title, but they would still head to the same Fargo regional.

The Gophers are only 0.015 points ahead of No. 5 Western Michigan in the PairWise, so the potential of losing a one-seed seems like a far more important storyline for their NCAA Tournament outlook. If they struggle this weekend against Penn State and have an early exit from the Big Ten tournament, the Broncos and No. 4 Maine could potentially jump them. With a 0.022 lead over No. 6 Providence, five is likely the furthest they could fall at this point of the season.

There's a lot of hockey left to play before the NCAA Tournament field is officially announced on March 23, but the Gophers have plenty of momentum building before postseason play begins next month.

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