2020 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey tournament

The 2020 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was a postseason tournament scheduled for the culmination of the 2019–20 season, the 37th such tournament in NCAA history. It was scheduled to conclude on March 28 at the LECOM Harborcenter in Buffalo, New York.[1] On March 12, the NCAA announced that the tournament was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.[2]

2020 NCAA Division III men's
ice hockey tournament
Teams12
Finals site

Qualifying teams

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Twelve teams qualified for the tournament in the following ways: (Pool A) eight teams will receive bids as a result of being conference tournament champions from conferences that possessed an automatic bid, (Pool C) four additional teams will receive at-large bids based upon their records.[3]

East West
Seed School Conference Record Berth Type Appearance Last Bid Seed School Conference Record Berth Type Appearance Last Bid
1 Utica (1) UCHC 25–2–2 Tournament Champion 2nd 2013 1 Wisconsin–Eau Claire (4) WIAC 22–4–2 At–Large 3rd 2013
2 Norwich (2) NEHC 24–2–2 Tournament Champion 19th 2019 2 Adrian NCHA 21–5–3 Tournament Champion 9th 2018
3 Geneseo State (3) SUNYAC 22–3–2 Tournament Champion 8th 2019 3 Lake Forest NCHA 18–6–3 At–Large 2nd 1991
4 Hobart NEHC 20–5–3 At–Large 10th 2019 4 St. Thomas MIAC 15–10–3 Tournament Champion 17th 2014
5 Endicott CCC 22–5–0 Tournament Champion 2nd 2017
6 Babson NEHC 18–6–2 At–Large 15th 2014
7 Wesleyan NESCAC 15–11–1 Tournament Champion 1st Never
8 Plymouth State MASCAC 15–9–3 Tournament Champion 4th 2019

Format

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The tournament was to feature four rounds of play. All rounds would have been Single-game elimination.

The top four overall seeds, with at least one coming from each region, received automatic bids into the quarterfinal round and were arranged so that if all were to reach the semifinals, the top seed would play the fourth seed while the second seed would play the third seed.

The two lowest seeded western teams were placed in the first round of the same quarterfinal bracket with the winner advancing to play the top western seed. The remaining western seed was set against the top eastern team in the first round with the winner advancing to play the third eastern seed.

The remaining eastern teams were arranged so that the fifth- and eighth-seeded teams would play with the winner advancing to play the second eastern seed while the sixth- and seventh-seeded teams would play with the winner advancing to play the top eastern seed.

In the First Round and Quarterfinals the higher-seeded team served as host.

Tournament Bracket

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First Round
March 14
Quarterfinals
March 21
Semifinals
March 27
National Championship
March 28
E1 Utica (1)
E6 Babson  
E7 Wesleyan  
 
W1 Wisconsin–Eau Claire (4)
W3 Lake Forest  
W4 St. Thomas  
 
E2 Norwich (2)
E5 Endicott  
E8 Plymouth State  
 
E3 Geneseo State (3)
W2 Adrian  
E4 Hobart

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

[4]

References

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  1. ^ "2019 - 2022 Future DIII NCAA Championship Sites". NCAA.com. Retrieved October 13, 2019.
  2. ^ "NCAA cancels remaining winter and spring championships due to coronavirus concerns". NCAA.com. March 12, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  3. ^ "NCAA Division III men's hockey tournament". USCHO.com. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  4. ^ "2020 Division III men's ice hockey championship Official Bracket". NCAA.com. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
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