NCAA Tournament Field is Set

Hockey's "March Madness" begins this Friday. The tournament field is 16 teams. Here are the match ups.

Albany (East)
No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 4 Niagara Friday 7:30 pm
No. 2 St. Cloud State vs. No. 3 Clarkson Friday 4pm
Winners face off at 7pm on Saturday

Colorado Springs (West)
No. 1 New Hampshire vs. No. 4 Notre Dame Friday 6:30 pm
No. 2 Colorado College vs. No. 3 Michigan State Friday 10pm
Winners face off Saturday at 10pm

Madison (Midwest)
No. 1 North Dakota vs. No. 4 Princeton Saturday 3pm
No. 2 Denver vs. No. 3 Wisconsin Saturday 6:30pm
Winners face of Sunday at 7:00pm

Worcester (Northeast)
No. 1 Miami vs. No. 4 Air Force Saturday 4pm
No. 2 Boston College vs. No. 3 Minnesota Saturday 7:30pm
Winners face off at Sunday at 4:30pm

Elite 8
No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 2 St. Cloud State
No. 1 New Hampshire vs. No. 3 Michigan State
No. 1 North Dakota vs. No. 2 Denver
No. 1 Miami vs. No. 3 Minnesota

Frozen 4 (Denver) April 10th ESPN2
No. 2 Denver vs. No. 1 Miami
No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 1 New Hampshire

National Championship April 12 ESPN
No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 2 Denver

All regional games will be on ESPNU and ESPN360.com

The regionals are messed up. UNH should be in the Northeast, Michigan in the West, and Miami in the East. If UNH won the Hockey East Title they would of been in the Northeast. Boston College who won the Hockey East title got rewarded and is playing in Worcester. What did Wisconsin do to deserve to have home ice advantage? I read earlier today its all about the money. I believe there should be 20 teams in the tournament. Minnesota State finished fourth in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association doesn't get in but Wisconsin does finishing 6th in the WCHA. I guess conference games don't mean anything. Wisconsin played the better out of conference schedule. Vermont lost in the Hockey East Final not in the dance. Boston University finished second in the Hockey East standings wasn't invited. Harvard or Army could fill the 20th spot. Have 4 play in games and I believe every game would be entertaining. You can't say I am being East coast biased because the field is West coast heavy.

That's My Take

Nathan Fournier

(Nathan also is a writer for MVN.com. He's the writer for the Asylum which covers the Lewiston Maineiacs of the QMJHL. He's also a regular contributor to the NHL Source also at MVN.com. He can be reached at fbbhgfan@aol.com)