DULUTH — The Minnesota Duluth men’s and women’s hockey programs are down to their final four games of the 2025-26 regular season.
The Bulldogs men are on a bye this weekend.
The UMD women host St. Thomas at 6 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Saturday in their final home series of the regular season. They will get at least two more games when they host a WCHA best-of-three quarterfinal series Feb. 27-March 1.
With the postseason fast approaching, it’s time for the News Tribune’s weekly bracketology.
This season both the men and women are using the
which replaced the Pairwise rankings as the formula used to select at-large teams and seed the NCAA tournaments. The formulas for the NPI and Pairwise are pretty close, with a strong nonconference record by a team and league influencing the rankings.
Both Bulldogs programs are in a position to make the NCAA tournament. Here is where they stand heading into this weekend’s games on Feb. 13-14.
Minnesota Duluth forward Kyler Kovich (38) rests during a media timeout against North Dakota on Saturday at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.
Clint Austin / File / Duluth Media Group
The 16-team NCAA men’s field will be unveiled on March 22. There are six automatic bids from the conference tournaments on the men’s side.
Despite a push in recent years, the men’s tournament still includes four-team regionals at pre-determined sites. Those are scheduled for March 26-29 this season. Las Vegas will host the 2026 NCAA Frozen Four on April 9-11.
The Bulldogs men continue to drop in the NPI, going from No. 8 to No. 10 this week after beating No. 3 North Dakota at home in overtime and losing in regulation. UMD is still safely in the field, for now.
Below is the News Tribune’s projected bracket. Denver is hosting the Loveland Regional, so the Pioneers must be placed there. Boston College was moved to Worcester, Quinnipiac to Sioux Falls and UMD to Albany. It was the easiest and most logical way to break up first round intraconference matchups between ECAC’s Cornell and Quinnipiac and Hockey East’s Providence and Boston College.
Albany, New York Regional
1. Michigan State vs. 16. Bentley
8. Cornell vs. 10. Minnesota Duluth
Worcester, Massachusetts Regional
2. Michigan vs. 15. UConn
7. Dartmouth vs. 12. Boston College
Sioux Falls, South Dakota Regional
3. North Dakota vs. 14. Wisconsin
6. Providence vs. 9. Quinnipiac
Loveland, Colorado Regional
4. Western Michigan vs. 13. St. Thomas
5. Penn State vs. 11. Denver
Current conference leaders:
NCHC: North Dakota
Big 10: Michigan State
ECAC: Quinnipiac
Hockey East: Providence
AHA: Bentley
CCHA: St. Thomas
Minnesota Duluth forward Madison Burr (18) celebrates a second-period goal against Bemidji State with goaltender Ève Gascon (1) on Saturday at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.
Clint Austin / File / Duluth Media Group
The 11-team NCAA women’s tournament will be announced on March 8, with five of the 11 teams being conference tournament champions. The six at-large teams will be selected using the NPI.
The top three seeds host three-team regionals March 12-14. The No. 4 overall seed hosts No. 5 on March 14. The 2026 NCAA Frozen Four is being hosted by Penn State on March 20-22 in University Park, Pennsylvania.
The Bulldogs are clinging to the very edge of the tournament bubble at No. 10 following a home sweep of No. 32 Bemidji State.
If the season ended today, UMD would be the last at-large team to make the tournament, but would get knocked out if any Cinderellas from outside the top 10 of the NPI won conference tournaments in the WCHA, ECAC, Hockey East or Atlantic Hockey America.
This week’s bracket projection from the News Tribune remains the same as last week, with no changes in the top 10 of the NPI and no changes atop the five conference standings. To avoid a first round intraconference matchup between ECAC’s Princeton and Yale, the three No. 3 seeds (No. 9-10) were shuffled.
Madison, Wisconsin Regional
1. Wisconsin
8. Princeton vs. 10. Minnesota Duluth
Columbus, Ohio Regional
2. Ohio State
7. Quinnipiac vs. 11. Saint Anselm
Minneapolis, Minnesota Regional
3. Minnesota
6. UConn vs. 9. Yale
University Park, Pennsylvania Regional
5. Northeastern at 4. Penn State
Current conference leaders:
WCHA: Wisconsin
ECAC: Princeton
Hockey East: Northeastern
AHA: Penn State
NEWHA: Saint Anselm