Three Minnesota Schools in 16-Team NCAA Men’s Hockey Tournament

The 2023 NCAA Men's Hockey Tournament brackets were unveiled yesterday, and the sixteen-team field includes three teams from the State of Hockey (aka Minnesota).

The Minnesota Golden Gophers (26-9-1) are the overall number-one seed in this year's tournament, finishing first in the Big Ten Conference regular season, and losing 4-3 in the Big Ten Tournament championship game to Michigan Saturday night in Minneapolis. The Golden Gophers will face Canisius (20-18-3) Thursday night at Scheels Arena in Fargo, North Dakota at 8:00 pm on ESPN2.

The Saint Cloud State Huskies (24-12-3) and Minnesota State Mavericks (25-12-1) are the other two teams in the Fargo Region, and will face off against each other this Thursday afternoon at Scheels Arena at 4:00 pm on ESPNU.

The winners of the Minnesota/Canisius and SCSU/MSU games will matchup on Saturday (3/25) at 5:00 pm for the right to advance from the Fargo Region to the Frozen Four in Tampa, Florida.

Good News/Bad News

All three Minnesota teams were loaded by the NCAA committee into the Fargo Region. The good news is that's an easy drive for fans from Minneapolis, St. Cloud, and Mankato to cheer on their teams.

The bad news is that only one Minnesota can advance to the Frozen Four in Tampa.

Tournament Teams by Conference

Four Big Ten teams make up a quarter of this year's NCAA Men's field, with Minnesota, Michigan, Penn State, and Ohio State making the field.

The NCHC has St. Cloud State and  Denver University in the field of 16 this year. Denver won it all last year, and SCSU was the runner-up in 2021. Minnesota State in Mankato is the only team from the WCHA to make it to this year's tournament.

Minnesota Teams Missing the Dance This Year

There are just sixty Division-One teams and Minnesota is home to six percent with the University of Minnesota, St. Cloud State, Minnesota State, St. Thomas, Bemidji State, and UMD. The UMD Bulldogs, Bemidji State Beavers, St. Thomas Tommie's are all on the outside looking in this year.