Sunday, March 8, 2026
Field Unveiled for 2026 NCAA DI Women’s Tourney
WCHA Champ Ohio State Earns No. 1 Overall Seed
The 11-team bracket was announced today for the 2026 NCAA Division I women’s hockey tournament, beginning the road to the NCAA Frozen Four.
WCHA playoff champion Ohio State earned the No. 1 overall seed for the national tournament, which begins with the NCAA Regionals from March 12-15. The four regional winners will advance to the NCAA Frozen Four from March 20-22 at Penn State’s Pegula Ice Arena in University Park, Pa.
The NCAA Tournament begins with three regional semifinal games on Thursday, March 12: Yale vs. Minnesota Duluth (5pm CDT), UConn vs. Princeton (6pm CDT) and Quinnipiac vs. Franklin Pierce (7pm CDT).
No. 4 seed Minnesota will host No. 5 seed Northeastern on Friday, March 14 (2pm CDT).
Other regional hosts OSU, No. 2 Wisconsin and No. 3 Penn State will await the winners from Thursday’s games.
The two NCAA Frozen Four semifinal games on Friday, March 20, will be shown live on ESPN+. The NCAA Frozen Four championship matchup on Sunday, March 22, can be seen live on ESPNU.
Visit NCAA.com for more information.