The road to the 2025 men’s Frozen Four heats up as the sport’s six leagues dive into tournament mode as the last step before the NCAA tournament.
The six conference tournament champions will earn spots in the NCAA field, with 10 at-large teams (based on the PairWise rankings) rounding out the 16-team field. The NCAA tournament bracket will be revealed March 23 on ESPNU and ESPN+.
Regional play begins March 27, with regional finals March 29 and 30, and the Frozen Four will be in St. Louis on April 10 and 12. All games will air on the ESPN networks and stream on ESPN+.
Three leagues — the Atlantic, CCHA and ECAC — appear to be one-bid leagues, meaning the conference tournaments most likely will determine their lone NCAA representative.
Below is each conference’s tournament schedule, which will be updated with results as games are played, along with a look at the NCAA picture of each league. (All times ET.)
Every game of the Hockey East and ECAC tournaments, plus every NCAA tournament game, will be available on ESPN+. Subscribe to watch.
Atlantic Hockey
With the Atlantic lined up as a one-bid league, Holy Cross, which won its first regular-season title since 2006 and comes in on a 12-1-1 heater, will need to stay on a roll and win the league tournament to make the NCAA field. The Crusaders advanced to the semifinals at the expense of AIC, which did its best to extend its time as a Division I program but lost in overtime in Game 3.
Quarterfinals, March 7-9(best of three)
No. 8 AIC at No. 1 Holy CrossGame 1: AIC 3, Holy Cross 2Game 2: Holy Cross 3, AIC 2Game 3: Holy Cross 4, AIC 3 (OT)Holy Cross wins series 2-1
No. 5 Army at No. 4 NiagaraGame 1: Army 3, Niagara 2 (2 OT)Game 2: Niagara 4, Army 3Game 3: Army 4, Niagara 3 (OT)Army wins series 2-1
No. 6 Canisius at No. 3 BentleyGame 1: Bentley 4, Canisius 0Game 2: Bentley 2, Canisius 0Bentley wins series 2-0
No. 7 Air Force at No. 2 Sacred HeartGame 1: Sacred Heart 4, Air Force 1Game 2: Air Force 3, Sacred Heart 2 (2 OT)Game 3: Sacred Heart 4, Air Force 1Sacred Heart wins series 2-1
Semifinals, March 14-16(best of three)
Army at Holy Cross
Bentley at Sacred Heart
Final, March 22
At higher remaining seed
Big Ten
Penn State is as hot as any team in the country, playing its way to the right side of the PairWise bubble by taking four of six points in a weekend series against Minnesota to close the regular season, then sweeping Michigan in the Big Ten quarterfinals. The loss leaves the Wolverines on shaky ground for an at-large bid. Michigan State and Minnesota are in position to be No. 1 seeds, although the Gophers’ case was hurt by their quarterfinal loss to Notre Dame, while Ohio State is in position to make the field.
Quarterfinals, March 7-9(best of three)
No. 5 Penn State at No. 4 MichiganGame 1: Penn State 6, Michigan 5 (OT)Game 2: Penn State 5, Michigan 2Penn State wins series 2-0
No. 6 Wisconsin at No. 3 Ohio StateGame 1: Wisconsin 4, Ohio State 1Game 2: Ohio State 3, Wisconsin 2 (OT)Game 3: Ohio State 3, Wisconsin 2Ohio State wins series 2-1
No. 7 Notre Dame at No. 2 MinnesotaGame 1: Notre Dame 3, Minnesota 2Game 2: Minnesota 4, Notre Dame 2Game 3: Notre Dame 4, Minnesota 1Notre Dame wins series 2-1
Semifinals, March 15
Notre Dame at No. 1 Michigan State
Penn State at Ohio State
Final, March 22
At higher remaining seed
CCHA
Minnesota State, which pulled away from the pack by going 6-0-1 in its last seven regular-season games, sits just below the PairWise cut line, and no other CCHA team is in the top 30. So if anyone other than the Mavericks wins the conference title, that will be one fewer at-large NCAA spot.
Quarterfinals, March 7-9(best of three)
No. 8 Lake Superior at No. 1 Minnesota StateGame 1: Minnesota State 4, Lake Superior 1Game 2: Minnesota State 3, Lake Superior 2Minnesota State wins series 2-0
No. 5 Michigan Tech at No. 4 Bowling GreenGame 1: Bowling Green 2, Michigan Tech 1 (OT)Game 2: Bowling Green 4, Michigan Tech 0Bowling Green wins series 2-0
No. 6 Ferris State at No. 3 St. ThomasGame 1: St. Thomas 7, Ferris State 3Game 2: St. Thomas 4, Ferris StateSt. Thomas wins series 2-0
No. 7 Bemidji State at No. 2 AugustanaGame 1: Augustana 3, Bemidji State 1Game 2: Bemidji State 4, Augustana 3Game 3: Bemidji State 3, Augustana 2 (OT)Bemidji State wins series 2-1
Semifinals, March 15
Bemidji State at Minnesota State
Bowling Green at St. Thomas
Final, March 22
At higher remaining seed
ECAC
Quinnipiac is on the fringes of the NCAA bubble, but one more loss figures to knock the Bobcats out of at-large contention, likely making this another one-bid league. But the ECAC is deep, with Clarkson, Colgate, Cornell and Dartmouth all in the PairWise top 25, so the tournament is wide open.
First round
March 7
No. 8 Brown 3, No. 9 Princeton 2
No. 7 Harvard 5, No. 10 Rensselaer 2
March 8
No. 5 Dartmouth 6, No. 12 St. Lawrence 2
No. 6 Cornell 5, No. 11 Yale 1
Quarterfinals, March 14-16(best of three)
Brown at No. 1 Quinnipiac
Harvard at No. 2 Clarkson
Cornell at No. 3 Colgate
Dartmouth at No. 4 Union
Semifinals, March 21at Lake Placid, N.Y.
Final, March 22at Lake Placid, N.Y.
Hockey East
Boston College, the No. 1 team in the country, will be the team to beat, while Maine, Providence, Boston University, UConn and UMass are all pretty much NCAA locks. In fact, all six of those teams are in the top 10 in PairWise.
First round, March 12
No. 11 Vermont at No. 6 UMass
No. 10 New Hampshire at No. 7 UMass-Lowell
No. 9 Northeastern at No. 8 Merrimack
Quarterfinals, March 15
TBD at No. 1 Boston College
TBD at No. 2 Maine
TBD at No. 3 Boston University
No. 5 Providence at No. 4 UConn
Semifinals, March 20at Boston
Finals, March 21at Boston
NCHC
Western Michigan has hopes of earning a No. 1 NCAA seed, while defending national champion Denver is eyeing a 2-seed. Arizona State (and the rest of the league) will need to win the NCHC tournament to go ice dancing.
Quarterfinals, March 14-16(best of three)
No. 8 St. Cloud State at No. 1 Western Michigan
No. 7 Minnesota Duluth at No. 2 Arizona State
No. 6 Colorado College at No. 3 Denver
No. 5 North Dakota at No. 4 Omaha
Semifinals, March 21at St. Paul, Minnesota
Finals, March 22at St. Paul, Minnesota
