Projections for the 2024 Men’s Hockey NCAA Tournament seeding

As Michigan State moves closer to its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2012, it’s time to predict where it will end up.

The chase for seeding in the NCAA Tournament has begun.

As we enter the final two weeks of the regular season, it seems like it is safe to say that for the first time since 2012, Michigan State will be playing in the NCAA Men’s Hockey Tournament and fighting for a national title in St. Paul, Minn. This will be our first projection for how the seeding could go.

Qualifying rules

Per the NCAA, there will be 16 teams that make the tournament in total. Out of those 16 teams, six spots are reserved for the champions of each conference (AHA, Big Ten, CCHA, Hockey East, ECAC, and NCHC). The other 10 teams are determined by at-large bids. The teams are then sorted into four regions and the winner of each region moves on to the Frozen Four.

This year, the regions are Providence (RI), Sioux Falls (SD), Springfield (Mass.), and Maryland Heights (Mo.). Also, it is important to note that if a team is hosting one of the regionals and they are in the tournament, they will be assigned that region.

Conference champions

Most of the predictions here are based on the stats and recent consistency shown by these programs. I’m also taking the most recent rankings into account when putting this together.

Projected AHA champion: RIT (20-10-2)
Projected Big Ten champion: Michigan State (20-7-3)
Projected CCHA champion: Minnesota State (15-11-4)
Projected Hockey East champion: Boston College (23-5-1)
Projected ECAC champion: Quinnipiac (22-7-2)
Projected NCHC champion: Denver (20-8-2)

At-large bids

The remaining 10 teams will be selected by their ranking and record.

• Boston University (20-8-2)
• North Dakota (20-8-2)
• Minnesota (19-8-5)
• Maine (18-8-2)
• Colorado College (18-9-1)
• Western Michigan (17-10-1)
• Cornell (16-4-5)
• Providence College (16-10-3)
• UMass (16-9-3)
• St. Cloud State (14-9-5)

Projected regions

The regions are the very interesting part of this setup. For those of you who are used to the way that the men’s basketball tournament is seeded, there are a few differences. The way that it typically works is that the NCAA tries to get teams geographically arranged. This allows for more fans to come and support the teams. Also, as I said earlier, if a team is hosting a regional they will play in that region. In this case, we already have one of the teams decided. Since UMass is hosting the Springfield, Mass., regional, they will be playing there.

Springfield, Mass. (MassMutual Center)

1. Boston College
8. Quinnipiac
9. Maine
16. St. Cloud State

Maryland Heights, Mo. (Centene Community Ice Center)

4. Michigan State
5. Wisconsin
12. Colorado College
13. Cornell

Providence, R.I. (Amica Mutual Pavilion)

3. Boston University
7. Minnesota
10. UMass
14. RIT

Sioux Falls, N.D. (Denny Sanford PREMIER Center)

2. North Dakota
6. Denver
11. Western Michigan
15. Minnesota State

Final thoughts

There is a lot that could happen with two weeks remaining in the season. This will most likely change quite a bit before the actual bracket releases at the end of March. If the bracket did shake out this way though, I see a path for the Spartans to reach their first Frozen Four since they won it all back in 2007. That doesn’t mean it would be easy, just that there is a chance. I will be updating this bracket a few more times before the official bracket is released. Be on the lookout for updates in the coming weeks.