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After an up-and-down season, the No. 7-ranked Michigan Wolverines earned an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament.
Michigan is a No. 2️⃣ seed in the @NCAAIceHockey Tournament!#GoBlue〽️ pic.twitter.com/AHNIrRgdk2
— Michigan Hockey (@umichhockey) March 21, 2021
The Wolverines will face the region’s No. 3 seed, Minnesota-Duluth, in their first game on Friday, March 26th at 4:30 pm ET in Fargo, North Dakota. The Bulldogs have won the last two championships, and were runners-up in 2017, so they will not be an easy out. The NCAA hockey regionals are a single-elimination competition.
The region’s No. 1 seed and tournament’s No. 1-overall seed, North Dakota, will face the region’s No. 4 seed, American-International, in the other first round matchup. The winner of each first round matchup will face off on Saturday for a spot in the Frozen Four. The Fighting Hawks are one of the best teams in the country — as they are most seasons — and will be a difficult opponent should Michigan see them in the quarterfinals, especially given the location.
In addition to the Wolverines, Notre Dame (No. 4 seed, Albany), Wisconsin (No. 1 seed, Bridgeport), and Minnesota (No. 1 seed, Loveland) also made the NCAA Tournament from the Big Ten.
This year’s Frozen Four will be played in Pittsburgh from April 8-10.