COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Four National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) teams will have a chance to compete for a national championship as NCHC teams make up a quarter of the 2024 NCAA Tournament field, which was revealed Sunday on ESPNU. The four NCHC teams in the tournament tie with the Big Ten and Hockey East for the most from one conference.

Denver earned a No. 1 seed in the Springfield, Mass. Regional and the No. 3 overall national seed, while North Dakota is a No. 2 seed and Western Michigan is the No. 4 seed in the Maryland Heights, Mo. Regional. Omaha slotted in as the No. 3 seed in the Sioux Falls, S.D. Regional, which the Mavericks are hosting. Denver and Omaha will begin regional play on Thursday, while the Maryland Heights regional opens play on Friday. Three of four regional semifinal opponents for the NCHC are Big Ten foes (Michigan, Michigan State and Minnesota).

The four NCHC squads in the NCAA Tournament are the conference’s most since five qualified in 2022. It also gives the NCHC 39 teams in the NCAA Tournament in the conference’s 11-year history (10 NCAA Tournaments).

DENVER PIONEERS
Denver (28-9-3) heads into the NCAA Tournament on a five-game winning streak after capturing the 2024 NCHC Frozen Faceoff title at Xcel Energy Center last weekend, the same place that will host the NCAA Men’s Frozen Four in three weeks. DU faces No. 4 seed Massachusetts (20-13-3) of Hockey East in the Springfield, Mass. Regional, hosted by UMass at the Mass Mutual Center. Puck drop for DU’s regional semifinal is set for 2 p.m. ET/noon MT on Thursday and will be televised on ESPN2. The regional final will then take place on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN2 with the winner facing the winner of the second regional semifinal between Maine and Cornell.

The Pioneers earned their 33rd NCAA Tournament bid all-time, capturing the NCHC’s auto-bid with their third NCHC Tournament title. DU has made 15 of the last 16 NCAA Tournaments, with the lone exception in 2021 when the field was hand-selected during a shortened season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Pioneers are 5-3-0 all-time against UMass, but the Minutemen swept their last meetings in Amherst in October of 2022. UMass also won the 2019 NCAA Frozen Four Semifinal in Buffalo, N.Y. over DU in overtime. The Pioneers are 40-25 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, last advancing to the Frozen Four in 2022 when DU won the national title, its ninth in program history.

NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING HAWKS
North Dakota (26-11-2) will face No. 3 seed Michigan (21-14-3) out of the Big Ten in the Maryland Heights, Mo. Regional. Second-seeded UND is in the second regional semifinal on Friday with puck drop slated for 7:30 p.m. CT on ESPNU at Centene Community Ice Center, with the regional hosted by Lindenwood University. The other regional semifinal is also an NCHC versus Big Ten battle as Western Michigan takes on Michigan State (more on this below). The regional final is set for Sunday at 5:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2 for a trip to the Frozen Four.

The Fighting Hawks head into their 35th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance after falling in the Frozen Faceoff semifinals to Omaha last Friday night at Xcel Energy Center. UND, which captured the Penrose Cup for an NCHC-best sixth time this season, will be facing Michigan for the 92nd time in Friday’s regional semifinal. The Wolverines lead the all-time series, 46-41-4, however UND is 3-2 against Michigan in the NCAA Tournament, including a 5-2 win in their last encounter in the 2016 NCAA regional final in Cincinnati when UND went on to win its eighth national title. North Dakota is 53-28 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, with the 53 wins third among college hockey programs.

OMAHA MAVERICKS
Omaha (23-12-4) heads to Sioux Falls, S.D. for a regional semifinal match-up against No. 2 seed Minnesota (22-10-5) on Thursday in another NCHC-Big Ten clash. Puck drop between the Mavericks and Golden Gophers is set for 7:30 p.m. CT at Denny Sanford PREMIER Center and will be televised on ESPNU. The other regional semifinal features No. 1 seed Boston University and No. 4 seed RIT, with the regional final slated for Saturday at 5:30 p.m. CT also televised on ESPNU.

The Mavericks are coming off their first appearance in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff, making it to the championship game before falling to Denver. Omaha earned its fifth NCAA Tournament berth with strong play down the stretch, going 9-2-1 in its last 12 games. The Mavs last appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2021, when they also faced Minnesota and fell in Loveland, Colo. in the regional semifinals, 7-2. The Golden Gophers, who were national runners-up last year, lead the all-time series with UNO, 5-3-0, with the 2021 meeting their last clash and only in the NCAA Tournament. The Mavericks are looking for their second trip to the Frozen Four, earning their first in 2015, and are 2-4 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.

WESTERN MICHIGAN BRONCOS
Joining North Dakota in the Maryland Heights Regional is fourth-seeded Western Michigan (21-15-1), which tangles with No. 1 seed and fourth national seed overall Michigan State (24-9-3) in the first regional semifinal at the Centene Community Ice Center on Friday. Puck drop between the NCHC’s Broncos and Big Ten’s Spartans is at 4:00 p.m. CT and will be televised on ESPNU. The regional final is set for Sunday at 5:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

Western Michigan made history by earning a third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament this year for the first time as a program. The Broncos booked their ninth NCAA Tournament berth all-time, with their only other back-to-back appearances in 2011 and 2012. WMU is just 1-9 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, with its first and only win coming in 2022 against Northeastern in overtime. The Spartans won both the Big Ten regular season and tournament championships this year. The Broncos are 6-3-1 in their last 10 meetings with MSU, however the Spartans lead the all-time series between the former CCHA rivals, 65-35-9.

All NCAA regional games this weekend will also be streamed on ESPN+ in the United States and on TSN+ in Canada.

The NCHC is home to five NCAA National Champions in its history, all coming in the last seven NCAA Tournaments. North Dakota won the Conference’s first in 2016, while Denver won titles in 2017 and 2022 to give the Pioneers nine all-time, tying Michigan for the most in college hockey history. Minnesota Duluth won back-to-back championships in 2018 and 2019. The NCHC has had at least one team in the Frozen Four each year since the conference began play except last year (2023), and has seen 13 NCHC teams make the Frozen Four in nine tournaments since 2014.

The 2024 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four is set for April 11-13 at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn. The national semifinals are on Thursday, April 11, with the championship game on Saturday, April 13 at 6 p.m. ET. All Frozen Four games can be seen on ESPN2.