NCHC Announces 2027 Conference Tournament Format

(KNSI) – The road to a conference championship will get a bit longer starting in 2027 for St. Cloud State Hockey.

One week longer to be exact. In the 2026-27 season, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference is adding a 10th team, St. Thomas, and all squads will make the playoffs. The first weekend will be best-of-three series determined by the regular season standings. The top five seeds will host the bottom five seeds; #10 at #1, #9 at #2, and so on.

The five winners will be re-seeded for the next rounds. The lowest ranked teams will meet on the following Friday in a one-game playoff at the site of the #1 seed. On Saturday, the winner of #4-#5 plays #1 and #2 hosts #3 in the semifinal matchups.

The highest remaining seed will then welcome the other survivor of the bracket in the championship game the weekend after the semifinals. The format expands the conference tournament from two weeks to three.

The schedule is:

Round One: March 5-7, 2027
Rounds Two and Three: March 12-13, 2027
Championship: March 19 or 20, 2027

The NCHC is the last remaining western college hockey conference to decide its championship at a neutral site. That format ends with the upcoming season as squads will make a final trip to the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul in March 2025.

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