This story is part of The Sun’s 2026 NCAA Hockey Tournament Supplement. To view the rest of the supplement, click here.
Jane: 7/11
Eli: 9/11
Jane: [redacted]
Eli: 7/11
Editor’s note: Jane predicted the 2025 champion, Western Michigan, would lose in the first round. There is no way this year’s picks can get worse… right?
Editor’s note (again): That first-round game went to double overtime. Jane was close.
Albany, New York Regional:
After a dominant run to a Big 10 Tournament championship, Michigan heads east as the NCAA Tournament’s top seed and No. 1 in both the USCHO.com and USA Hockey polls. The Wolverines score a whopping 4.6 goals per game — half a goal more than Division I’s next leading offense — in large part thanks to the nation’s second-leading and third-leading point scorers, T.J. Hughes and Michael Hage.
But arguably the biggest reason Michigan has gone from missing the NCAA Tournament in 2025 to sitting atop the NCAA percentage index has been the addition of its freshman netminder, Jack Ivankovic, who earned All-Big 10 second team honors in his debut season. For Michigan — the second-youngest team in the country — the biggest question heading into the tournament is whether Ivankovic and the other 16 underclassmen can handle the pressure of playing for a national title.
One Michigan player who understands the pressure of playing in an NCAA Tournament? Ben Robertson, a transfer from Cornell who played in six NCAA Tournament games during his time with the Red.
Hoping to upset the Wolverines is Bentley, the lone representative of Atlantic Hockey America. Despite a mediocre end to the regular season, the Falcons captured the AHA Tournament title thanks to a pair of overtime wins and a third-period comeback in the championship game.
It’s difficult to fully convey how much of an underdog Bentley will be against Michigan, but comparing the two teams’ out-of-conference records helps illustrate the difference between the Big 10 and the AHA. While Michigan posted a 12-1 record against non-Big 10 opponents (including a 4-0 mark against AHA squads), Bentley went just 2-5-1 playing outside its conference.
On paper, the region’s other matchup — Penn State vs. Minnesota Duluth — should be a closer contest. The Nittany Lions sport a pair of Big 10 second teamers in Jackson Smith and 2026 NHL draft consensus top pick in Gavin McKenna, but will be without captain Dane Dowiak after he suffered a season-ending injury against Michigan in February.
Making matters worse for Penn State, the Bulldogs present a matchup nightmare for the Nittany Lions. While Penn State is the nation's most penalized team — averaging almost 19 minutes of penalties per game — Minnesota Duluth’s power play ranks second in the country. If (or more likely when) Penn State ends up in the penalty box, keep an eye out for brothers Zam and Max Plante, who rank fourth and eighth nationally in power-play goals.
Eli’s Predictions
Michigan over Bentley
Duluth over Penn State
Michigan over Duluth
Jane’s Predictions
Michigan over Bentley
Duluth over Penn State
Michigan over Duluth
Loveland, Colorado Regional:
Western Michigan, the defending national champion, will look to begin its title defense against a red-hot Minnesota State squad. Though the Central Collegiate Hockey Association is the nation’s second-worst conference by winning percentage (trailing only AHA), the Mavericks have lost only twice since Jan. 17 and picked up emphatic 7-2 and 4-1 wins in the CCHA Tournament semifinals and final. A stingy defensive team, Minnesota State is backstopped by senior Alex Tracy, a Mike Richter Award semifinalist who owns the country’s second-best goals against average.
Opposing Tracy in net will be the Broncos’ Hampton Slukynsky, who set the program record for goals against average en route to backstopping Western Michigan to the program’s first national title a season ago. Though his 2025-2026 numbers are less impressive, Slukynsky was dominant in the Broncos’ (ultimately unsuccessful) National Collegiate Hockey Conference Tournament run. On the other end of the ice, Western Michigan is led by another Slukynsky — Hampton’s brother Grant — who is one of eight Division I players to boast 30 assists.
The Sun's Cornell-Denver preview will be posted on March 24. This story will be updated with the link to the preview.
Eli’s Predictions
Western Michigan over Minnesota State
"The Sun’s strict anti-jinxing policy forbids me from making a selection."
Jane’s Predictions
Western Michigan over Minnesota State
"Still an impartial reporter."
Sioux Falls, South Dakota Regional:
Quinnipiac’s M&T Bank Arena and Providence’s Schneider Arena are located a roughly two-hour drive from each other. It will take the Bobcats and Friars quite a bit longer than that to get to Sioux Falls.
Cornell fans are likely familiar with the Bobcats’ recent postseason history. While Quinnipiac has struggled in the ECAC playoffs, it captured a national title in 2023 and has wins in four of the last six NCAA Tournaments. This year’s Quinnipiac squad is headlined by star freshman Ethan Wyttenbach, a Hobey Baker Award finalist who leads the nation in points with 58.
Providence has a star of its own in the 2025 NHL draft’s 10th overall selection, Roger McQueen, but the Friars’ most intriguing storyline of the season has been a fierce battle for the starting goaltender position. While Philip Svedebäck started the year as Providence’s No. 1 netminder, Jack Parsons has received the nod for the majority of the games in 2026. However, it was Parsons who gave up all three goals in the Friars’ overtime loss to Merrimack in the Hockey East Tournament quarterfinals.
Speaking of the Warriors, Merrimack finished the regular season eighth in the standings, but knocked off the conference’s No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 seeds to claim its first Hockey East title. The lowest seed to ever win the tournament, Merrimack’s miracle run was spearheaded by goaltender Max Lundgren, who made a career-high 49 saves in the championship game victory.
The Warriors will face a difficult matchup against North Dakota, the region’s top seed that will likely have near-unanimous support from spectators. Thanks to a change behind the bench and a series of additions in the transfer portal, the Fighting Hawks look like an almost completely different team than the one Cornell swept to open its 2024-2025 season.
Rangers fans will recognize E.J. Emery, New York’s 2024 first-round draft pick, while Keaton Verhoeff is possibly the only challenger to McKenna’s top selection in the 2026 draft. However, North Dakota’s third-in-the-nation offense has been powered by its less-acclaimed prospects, especially Will Zellers (2024 third-round pick) and Dylan James (2022 second-round pick).
Eli’s Predictions
North Dakota over Merrimack
Quinnipiac over Providence
North Dakota over Quinnipiac
Jane’s Predictions
North Dakota over Merrimack
Providence over Quinnipiac
North Dakota over Providence
Worcester, Massachusetts Regional:
Despite an eye-opening home loss in the Big 10 Tournament semifinals to Ohio State, Michigan State has all the pieces to make a serious run at a national championship. A Mike Richter Award finalist in net? Check. Highly skilled NHL prospects? Check, including four first-round draft picks. A decorated coach? You bet.
Of course, the Spartans will also be looking to exact revenge on the NCAA Tournament, a season after Cornell’s last-second goal eliminated Michigan State in the first round.
Taking on the star-studded Spartans will be Connecticut, the Hockey East Tournament’s runner-up. The Huskies are led by a pair of all-conference second team forwards — Joey Muldowney and Ryan Tattle — and netminder Tyler Muszelik, whose .927 save percentage ranks eighth in the nation.
The region’s other first-round matchup represents an intriguing battle between the ECAC and Big 10. Though Wisconsin looked like the best team in the country in November, it seems like the Badgers may have reached the high point of their season too early. Wisconsin has struggled to rebound from a six-game losing streak in January, and while a sweep of Penn State to conclude the regular season was a positive sign, a 7-1 home loss to Ohio State in the Big 10 Tournament was not.
The Badgers will face Dartmouth, the ECAC Tournament champion. Boasting Hayden Stavroff — the nation’s leading goal-scorer with 29 — and a stout defense, the Big Green enter the tournament riding an eight-game undefeated streak.
Eli’s Predictions
Michigan State over Connecticut
Wisconsin over Dartmouth
Michigan State over Wisconsin
Jane’s Predictions
Michigan State over Connecticut
Dartmouth over Wisconsin
Michigan State over Dartmouth
Bonus Hockey Beat Predictions
Eli Kwait:
Tyler Goldberg:
Eli Fastiff is a senior editor on the 143rd editorial board and a member of the class of 2026 in the College of Arts and Sciences. You can follow him on X @Eli_Fastiff and reach him at efastiff@cornellsun.com.
