Four wins away from glory
Here we are. The final stretch. Four wins away from glory.
After the Boston College men’s hockey team wrapped up their huge Hockey East Championship win over #2 BU on Saturday night, another game across the country was wrapping up. In the NCHC, #3 Denver rode a late surge to defeat the Omaha Mavericks in their conference championship game, which had the cascading effect of vaulting UMass into the NCAA tournament and leaving out Colorado College. The full bracket was worked out from there and released on Sunday evening:
The 2024 NCAA hockey tournament bracket will see Boston College play Michigan Tech, the CCHA champion, on Friday afternoon in Providence and then, if they advance, the winner of Wisconsin/Quinnipiac. BC earned the #1 seed and it is paying dividends now, because this is about as easy of a path as you can get to the Frozen Four. MTU is ranked just 32nd nationally in Pairwise and is in the tournament by virtue of their auto-bid from winning their conference. Plus, both Wisconsin and Quinnipiac were upset in their own conference tournaments and have looked vulnerable in recent weeks.
Though QU are the reigning national champions, they don’t have the same top end offensive talent that they had last year and have dropped some pretty lousy games in a weak conference. St. Lawrence (#43 in Pairwise) beat QU 3-0 in the ECAC semifinals, Clarkson (#36) beat them in OT earlier this month, and Cornell (the only tournament team they’ve played since November) beat them in OT in January. BC beat them in the first game of the season on their banner night, too, before the Eagles’ freshman had even gotten their footing.
Wisconsin hasn’t been much better recently either. They lost a three-game series to Ohio State (#26) in the Big Ten quarterfinals, a very poor showing for a team that is supposed to play a great style of playoff hockey. But maybe it’s mostly match-up based, because Ohio State also swept them during the regular season, but the Badgers’ only other losses since the beginning of February came in a series split against Michigan State (#4) and a series split against Minnesota (#6) in OT. Wisconsin looks like a more formidable opponent than Quinnipiac mostly because they play in a competitive Big Ten and have traded punches with some of their top programs.
Looking around at the other parts of the bracket, it should amuse BC fans everywhere that BU is getting shipped off to South Dakota to play their regional instead of traveling down the Mass Pike to play in Springfield. BU will lack any kind of homefield advantage because UMass is hosting the Springfield regional and was the last team to slip into the NCAA tournament, so they are obligated to play there. The tournament selection committee had to avoid the first round Hockey East match-up, so their solution was to send the Terriers out west. Lol.
If BC makes it to the Frozen Four, it will be very interesting to see who comes out of the Missouri regional to face them. The Eagles swept Michigan State at home earlier this season, so that seems like a pretty appealing option, all things considered. But the threat of North Dakota or Michigan battling their way to the Frozen Four could make things interesting. The Big Ten teams especially have been in some playoff dogfights already this year, so the one that makes it to St. Paul is going to be battle-tested.
Finally, there is something I need to address. There is a very real possibility that the 2024 national championship game could come down to Boston College and Boston University. BC is a heavy favorite to reach the title game, and BU is a very talented team with a lot of firepower, despite their loss to BC in the Hockey East championship. BU’s regional is slightly harder than BC’s regional, and the Terriers would have to get through some tough match-ups against likely #6 Minnesota and #3 Denver in order to reach the title game, but the path is absolutely there. It would mark the second time in history that college hockey’s greatest rivalry met in a national championship game, and it would give BC the chance to avenge the program’s loss in 1978. Plus, with both programs tied at 5 total national championships, they would be playing for some serious bragging rights.
Boston College will play Michigan Tech at 2pm ET on Friday March 29th in Providence, RI. If they advance, they will face the winner of Wisconsin/Quinnipiac on Sunday March 31st at 4pm ET. The winner of that contest will advance to the Frozen Four in St. Paul, Minnesota.