How to watch Wisconsin men's hockey NCAA Tournament selection show

Madison, WI — It took until the final day before the selection show to be sure, but the Wisconsin Badgers men's hockey team is headed back to the NCAA Tournament for the 28th time in program history, and the second time in three seasons under head coach Mike Hastings.

No. 12 Wisconsin (21-12-2, 14-10-0 Big Ten) mathematically clinched its spot in the national tournament on Saturday evening as a consequence of other results around the country. The Badgers did not play deep enough into the Big Ten Tournament to control their own NCAA Tournament destiny, but an overtime victory in the ECAC Tournament final by the Dartmouth Big Green over the Princeton Tigers secured UW's hopes of earning an at-large bid.

Sunday afternoon, Wisconsin will learn its place in the bracket. It will be placed into one of four NCAA Regional sites: Albany (New York), Sioux Falls (South Dakota), Loveland (Colorado), or Worcester (Massachusetts).

Regional semifinal games are held inside the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls and the DCU Center in Worcester on Thursday, March 26th with regional finals to follow on Saturday.

At MVP Arena in Albany and Blue Arena in Loveland, regional semifinals will be played on Friday, March 27th before the regional finals on Sunday.

Teams that advance from regional round sites will compete in the Frozen Four inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Those teams will compete in the national semifinals on Thursday, April 9th before the season concludes with the national championship game on Saturday, April 11th.

NCAA men's hockey tournament selection show: How to watch, time, TV channel

It's a GREAT DAY for hockey!!! pic.twitter.com/a0W9n9IZOC
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) March 22, 2026

The 16-team bracket will be revealed at 2:00 p.m. Central on Sunday, March 22nd. The selection show will be televised and available to watch via streaming on ESPNU.

The 16 programs expected to be in the field according to the NCAA Percentage Index (NPI) rankings are:

Michigan
North Dakota
Michigan State
Western Michigan
Denver
Minnesota Duluth
Providence
Dartmouth
Penn State
Quinnipiac
Cornell
Wisconsin
Minnesota State
UConn
Merrimack
Bentley

Wisconsin is seeking its first win in an NCAA Tournament game since finishing as national runner-up in 2010. The Badgers have won six NCAA Tournament championships (the fourth-most of any program) and boast 12 total appearances in the Frozen Four.