Michigan, Minnesota State, Western Michigan and Denver top seeds as NCAA tournament field announced

Michigan will be the top seed in the 2022 NCAA tournament after winning the Big Ten championship Saturday night (photo: Michigan Photography)

Michigan is the top overall seed in the 2022 Men’s NCAA Ice Hockey tournament, which will get underway this Thursday and Friday with regionals taking place in Albany, N.Y., Loveland, Colo, Worcester, Mass. and Allentown, Penn.

Michigan, the Big Ten tournament champion, will travel to the Allentown Regional and will take on AIC, the Atlantic Hockey regular season and tournament champion. Quinnipiac and St. Cloud State will make up the remainder of that region.

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Minnesota State, the CCHA regular season and tournament champion, is the second overall seed and will face ECAC tournament champion Harvard in Albany. North Dakota, the NCHC regular season co-champion will face Notre Dame in that region’s other semifinal.

Western Michigan is the third overall seed and will take on Hockey East regular season champion Northeastern in the Worcester Regional. Minnesota will face defending national champion Massachusetts, the Hockey East tournament champion.

The final regional in Loveland, Colo., will feature host Denver, the regular season NCHC co-champion taking on UMass Lowell. Minnesota Duluth, the NCHC tournament champion, will face Michigan Tech in the other semifinal.

Below is the complete schedule of opening round games with game times and television networks. All times are eastern.

Albany Regional (March 24 and 26)

  1. Minnesota State vs. 4. Harvard (Noon, Thursday, ESPNU)
  2. North Dakota vs. 3. Notre Dame (6pm, Thursday, ESPNU)

Loveland Regional (March 24 and 26)

  1. Denver vs. 4. UMass Lowell (9pm, Thursday, ESPNU)
  2. Minnesota Duluth vs. Michigan Tech (3pm, Thursday, ESPNU)

Worcester Regional (March 25 and 27)

  1. Western Michigan vs. 4. Northeastern (Noon, Friday, ESPNU)
  2. Minnesota vs. 3. Massachusetts (6pm, Friday, ESPNU)

Allentown Regional (March 25 and 27)

  1. Michigan vs. 4. AIC (3pm, Friday, ESPNU)
  2. Quinnipiac vs. St. Cloud State (8pm, Friday, ESPN News)

The winners of the Allentown and Loveland Regional will meet in the one of the semifinals at the Frozen Four in Boston on April 7. The other national semifinal will the winners of the Albany and Worcester regionals.