Top overall seed Ohio State, defending champion Wisconsin, Frozen Four host Penn State and Minnesota earned regional hosting rights for the 2026 NCAA National Collegiate women’s hockey tournament when brackets were unveiled Sunday.
Ohio State took the top spot in the bracket after beating Wisconsin in the WCHA Final Faceoff championship game Saturday.
NCAA tournament: See the bracket here
Conference playoff champions Penn State (Atlantic Hockey), UConn (Hockey East), Quinnipiac (ECAC Hockey) and Franklin Pierce (NEWHA) also earned automatic bids. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Northeastern, Yale, Princeton and Minnesota Duluth earned the six at-large bids.
The 11-team bracket has three regionals with three teams and one with two. First-round games are Thursday and regional finals are Saturday. The regional winners advance to the Frozen Four, March 20 and 22 in State College, Pa.
The regionals are (all times Eastern):
At Columbus, Ohio: Yale vs. Minnesota Duluth, 6 p.m. Thursday; winner plays (1) Ohio State, 6 p.m. Saturday
At Minneapolis: (4) Minnesota vs. (5) Northeastern, 3 p.m. Saturday
At State College, Pa.: UConn vs. Princeton, 7 p.m. Thursday; winner plays (3) Penn State, 2 p.m. Saturday
At Madison, Wis.: Quinnipiac vs. Franklin Pierce, 8 p.m. Thursday; winner plays (2) Wisconsin, 2 p.m. Saturday
Wisconsin and Ohio State have played in the championship game in three straight seasons. The No. 3 overall seed is the highest ever for Penn State, which is 0-3 all-time in NCAA games. Minnesota held onto the No. 4 overall seed and regional hosting rights when Northeastern lost the Hockey East title game to UConn in two overtimes Saturday.