March 23, 2025, 04:30 PM ET
The 2025 NCAA Men’s Hockey Tournament is set up, with 16 team brackets in place, with all roads leading to the St. Louis Frozen 4.
Regional play begins on Thursday with regional finals on Saturday and Sunday, with Frozen Four taking place in St. Louis on April 10th and 12th. All games will be aired on the ESPN network and streamed on ESPN+.
The six conference tournament winners will win the automatic NCAA berth, while the top 10 Attlarge teams (based on pairwise rankings) will close the field.
Boston College is the No. 1 seed overall and will play in the region of Manchester, New Hampshire.
Last year’s national champion Denver defended the title as Manchester’s third seed, with UConn (2nd in Allentown) and Bentley (4th in Manchester) taking part in the NCAA tournament for the first time.
Below is the overall tournament schedule. This will be updated with the results as the game plays, and take a look at each of the 16 teams.
All NCAA Tournament games are available on ESPN+. Subscribe to our watch.
schedule
Always in the East
Toledo (Ohio) Region
Semi-finals, March 27th
Boston University vs Ohio, 2pm, ESPNU
Michigan vs Cornell, 5:30pm, ESPN+
Last March 29th
Semi-final winner, 4pm or 6:30pm, ESPNU
Fargo (ND) Region
Semi-finals, March 27th
Western Michigan vs Minnesota, 5pm, ESPNU
Minnesota vs Umasu, 8:30pm, ESPN2
Last March 29th
Semi-final winner, 4pm or 6:30pm, ESPNU
Manchester (NH) Region
Semi-finals, March 28th
Boston College vs. Bentley, 2pm, ESPNU
Providence v Denver, 5:30pm, ESPN+
Last March 30th
Semi-final winners, 4:30pm or 7pm, ESPN2
Allentown (Pennsylvania)
Semi-finals, March 28th
UConn vs. Quinnipiac, 5pm, ESPNU
Main vs. Pennsylvania, 8:30pm, ESPN2
Last March 30th
Semi-final winners, 4:30pm or 7pm, ESPN2
Frozen 4
At the Enterprise Center in St. Louis
National semi-finals, April 10th
Manchester winner vs Fargo winner, Time TBD, ESPN2
Toledo winner vs Allentown winner, Time TBD, ESPN2
April 12th, National Championship Game
Semi-final winner, 7:30pm, ESPN2
Team at a glance
In last year’s national title game, Andre Gasso from Boston University pucked and skated against Denver. Both BC and Denver are back in the NCAA Tournament. Bailey Hillesheim/Icon Sportswire
Toledo Region
No. 1 Michigan
Record: 26-6-4
Pairwise rating: No. 2
How the Spartans Come Here: Big Ten Champion
The last 10 games: 6-3-1
History Lesson: This is the arrival of Michigan’s 29th NCAA. The Spartans won the Frozen 4 11 times, winning the final three national titles of 2007. Michigan lost to Michigan in the regional final last season. This was the first tournament since 2012.
2nd Boston University
Record: 21-13-2
Pairwise rating: 7
How Terrier Reached Here: Large Bids
Last 10 games: 6-3-1 (Lost Hockey East Semi-Final to Maine)
History Lesson: This is the appearance of BU’s 40th NCAA, including three of the past four years. Terrier won the final five national titles of 2009 with four frozen innings. Terrier worked overtime in Denver in the national semi-finals last season.
No. 3 Ohio
Record: 24-13-2
Pairwise rating: 10
How the Buckeyes got here: Large Bids
Last 10 games: 5-5 (losing the Big Ten Final to Michigan State)
History Lesson: This is the appearance of Ohio’s 12th NCAA, second in three years. The Buckeyes have not recently won the national title twice in 2018.
No. 4 Cornell
Record: 18-10-6
Pairwise rating: 17
How Big Red reached here: ECAC Champion
The last 10 games: 8-2
History Lesson: This is Cornell’s 27th NCAA appearance, including the past three years in a row. Big Red won four frozen eight times, and most recently twice in the 1970 national championship. Cornell lost to Denver in the regional final last season.
Fargo Region
No.1 West Michigan
Record: 30-7-1
Pairwise rating: 4
How the Broncos came here: NCHC Champion
The last 10 games: 8-2
History Lesson: This is the 10th NCAA appearance in western Michigan. This includes the past four years. The Broncos lost overtime to Michigan State in the first round last season, losing to Michigan State, consistently falling 1-10 in NCAA Tournament play.
No. 2 Minnesota
Record: 25-10-4
Pairwise rating: 5
How Golden Gophers got here: Large Bids
Last 10 games: 5-4-1 (lost Big Ten Quarter Final Series to Notre Dame)
History Lesson: This is Minnesota’s 42nd NCAA appearance. This includes the past five years. The Gophers won the final five national titles of 2003 in the Frozen Four 23 times. Minnesota lost to Boston University in the regional final last season.
No. 3 Umass
Record: 20-13-5
Pairwise rating: 11
How Minutemen got here: Large Bids
Last 10 games: 5-2-3 (BU with overtime since the lost Hockey East Quarter Final)
History Lesson: This is the look of UMass’ seventh NCAA, including five of the past six tournaments. Minutemen won Frozen Four twice and won one national title in 2021. Umass lost to Denver in the first round of last year’s tournament with double overtime.
No. 4 Minnesota
Record: 27-8-3
Pairwise rating: 14
How the Mavericks Come Here: CCHA Champion
The last 10 games: 9-0-1
History Lesson: This is the appearance of Minnesota’s NCAA’s 12th NCAA, including six of the past seven tournaments. The Mavericks have been to the Frozen Four twice and are still looking for their first national championship. Minnesota didn’t play the tournament last year and lost to St. Cloud State in the first round of 2023.
Manchester Region
No. 1 Boston College
Record: 26-7-2
Pairwise rating: 1
How the Eagles got here: Large Bids
Last 10 games: 6-3-1 (Northeast from the Hockey East Quarter Final)
History Lesson: This is the look of BC’s 39th NCAA. The Eagles won their final five national titles in 2012 with four frozen innings.
No. 2 Providence
Record: 21-10-5
Pairwise rating: 8
How the Monks Come Here: Large Bids
Last 10 games: 5-4-1 (UConn from Lost Hockey East Quarter Final)
History Lesson: This is Providence’s 16th NCAA appearance, first since 2019. The brothers froze four times and five times, winning the national title once in 2015.
No. 3 Denver
Record: 29-11-1
Pairwise rating: 9
How the pioneers got here: Large bids
Last 10 games: 7-3 (loss NCHC Finals to Western Michigan)
History Lesson: This is the arrival of Denver’s 34th NCAA. This includes 15 of the last 16 tournaments. Pio won 10 national titles in the Frozen 4 18th innings. Denver beat BC at the national championships last season, winning their second title in three years.
No. 4 Bentley
Record: 23-14-2
Pairwise rating: 22
How the Falcons came here: Atlantic Champion
The last 10 games: 8-2
History Lesson: This is Bentley’s first NCAA appearance in the 26th-day season in Division I of the program, and his second year with Andy Jones as coach. The Falcons set school records for victory and are enjoying their first victory season since 2020.
Allentown area
No. 1 Main
Record: 24-7-6
Pairwise rating: 3
How the Black Bears Come Here: Hockey East Champion
The last 10 games: 6-2-2
History Lesson: This is the look of Maine’s 21st NCAA. The Frozen Bears won the Frozen 4 11 times, winning the final two national titles of 1999. Main lost to Cornell in the first round of last season. This is his first tournament appearance since 2012.
No. 2 UConn
Record: 22-11-4
Pairwise rating: 6
How Huskys got here: Large Bids
The last 10 games: 8-1-1
History Lesson: This is UConn’s first NCAA appearance in the 27-year program in Division I. The Husky set a school record for victory as a Div. One of Mike Kavanaugh’s 11th season.
No. 3 Quinnipiac
Record: 24-11-2
Pairwise ranking: 12
How the Bobcats got here: Large Bids
Last 10 games: 7-3 (losing Cornell’s ECAC semi-finals after working overtime)
History Lesson: This is the arrival of Quinnipiac’s 11th NCAA, including each of the last six tournaments. The Bobcats won the Frozen 4 three times in 2023, winning one national title. In the regional finals last season, Quinnipiac worked overtime at Boston College.
No. 4 Pennsylvania
Record: 20-13-4
Pairwise rating: 13
How the Nittany Lions came here: Large Bids
Last 10 games: 7-2-1 (losing Ohio State’s Big Ten semi-finals in overtime)
History Lesson: This is the look of Pennsylvania’s fifth NCAA. In 2023, the Nittany Lions lost in the regional final to Michigan State in overtime. I’ve never been to Frozen Four in Pennsylvania.
