2026 Men’s Conference Tournaments
The six men’s Division I conferences each hold a postseason tournament to determine which team earns their automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Atlantic Hockey
Format: The chase for the Jack Riley trophy will include all 10 Atlantic Hockey America teams. The 2026 Atlantic Hockey America Postseason will open with single-game first round matchups on March 3. The No. 7 and No. 8 seeds will host the No. 10 and No. 9 seeds, respectively.
Best-of-three quarterfinal series will take place March 6-8. The semifinal best-of-three series will take place March 13-15 with the highest-remaining seeded quarterfinal winner hosting the lowest-seeded quarterfinal winner and the second-highest remaining seed hosting the third-highest remaining seed.
The postseason will conclude on March 21 when the two semifinal winners meet at the home of the highest-seeded semifinal winner for one game to determine Atlantic Hockey’s 2026 postseason champion.
More Information: AtlanticHockeyAmerica.com
Big Ten
Format: The Big Ten Hockey Tournament will shift to a two-week, single-elimination format with all games played on campus.
Quarterfinals will be held on Wednesday, March 11, with the Nos. 2, 3 and 4 seeds hosting the Nos. 5, 6 and 7 seeds. Semifinals will take place on Saturday, March 14, hosted by the No. 1 seed and the highest advancing seed from the quarterfinals.
The championship game will be held the weekend of March 20-21 and hosted by the highest remaining seed.
More Information: BigTen.org
CCHA
Format: The top four teams following regular-season action will host the opening round of -the Mason Playoffs from March 6-8, with the winner of each best-of-three series advancing to the league semifinals. Both the semifinals (March 14) and final (March 20) will be played as a single game at the respective campus sites of the highest-seeded team.
The famed Mason Cup will be presented to the CCHA playoff champions, who will receive an automatic qualification to the 16-team NCAA Tournament.
More Information: CCHA.com
ECAC Hockey
Format: All 12 ECAC hockey programs will compete in the 2026 Men’s Hockey Championship. The 5-8 seeds will host 9-through-12 in a one-game matchup the weekend of March 6-7.
The advancing teams will be re-seeded and travel to the 1-4 seeds for quarterfinal best-of three-series the weekend of March 13-15.
The semifinals will take place on March 20 followed by the championship game on March 21 at the historic Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, N.Y.
More Information: ecachockey.com
Hockey East
Format: The Hockey East Men’s Tournament remains an all-in, single-elimination format in 2026.
Seeds six, seven, and eight will host seeds 11, 10, and nine, respectively, in the opening round set for Wednesday, March 11. After a re-seeding, the top three seeds will host the winners of the opening round while the four seed will host the five seed in the quarterfinals on Saturday, March 14.
The Hockey East Men’s Championship Semifinals and Final will return to the TD Garden in Boston on Friday March 20, and Saturday, March 21.
More Information: HockeyEastOnline.com
National Collegiate Hockey Conference
Format: Starting in 2026, the NCHC will move its playoffs entirely to campus sites, as first announced in December of 2023. Like last season, only the top eight finishers in the regular season will make the 2026 NCHC Tournament, however the playoffs will stretch over three weeks, rather than two as was the case previously. As in years past, the first weekend (March 6-8, 2026) will consist of best-of-3 quarterfinal series with the top four seeds hosting the bottom four seeds (No. 1 seed hosts No. 8, No. 2 hosts No. 7, etc.).
The four quarterfinal series winners are then re-seeded with the next Saturday (March 14, 2026) featuring two single-game semifinals as the two highest remaining seeds host the other two quarterfinal winners (No. 1 seed hosts No. 4, No. 2 hosts No. 3). The Frozen Faceoff championship game will then be the following Saturday, March 21 at the highest remaining seed. The winner receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
More Information: NCHChockey.com
Independents
Format: The United Collegiate Hockey Cup makes its debut March 5-7 in Maryland Heights, Mo.
The tournament features NCAA Division I men’s hockey’s independents Alaska Anchorage, Alaska Fairbanks, Lindenwood, Long Island, and Stonehill, and provides their student-athletes with a postseason championship experience and an opportunity to showcase their talent on a national stage.
Lindenwood’s Centene Community Ice Center will be the host venue for the inaugural event.
The winner of the United Collegiate Hockey Cup does not receive an automatic berth for the NCAA Division I Tournament, but independent programs can earn an at-large bid into the national tournament.
More Information: Tickets