Selection Sunday looms! Two titanic showdowns could reshape rankings and playoff seeding as the regular season concludes.
Ten days away from Selection Sunday, postseason series have begun, but there are some drastic regular-season matchups still on the horizon that could decipher a lot in little time.
One game means too much: #13 Boston College vs #17 UMass
#2 in the Hockey East, Boston College, will try to keep their 2nd seed safely with a crucial weekend ahead against the conference’s current #4 in UMass, who is only two points behind the Golden Eagles at the moment.
Boston College will try to close out their regular season on a positive note after already clinching home ice advantage for the Hockey East Quarterfinals, but the competition will try to derail them with the 4th and 7th best in the conference from UMass and Northeastern.
Boston College plays in Amherst tonight at 7:00 PM Eastern, have Friday off before heading back to Conte Forum to host the Huskies.
For UMass, they will follow the same suit, playing tonight and then Saturday. New Hampshire in Durham will be their last test of the regular season, and a team that blanked the Minutemen last time with a shutout.
If the Minutemen can beat BC tonight in regulation, they’ll be one point ahead of the Golden Eagles come Saturday to potentially jump into the #2 seed for the quarterfinals.
State controls their fate: #2 Michigan State vs Minnesota
Michigan State will try to become big brother over the rival Michigan Wolverines at the top of the Big Ten, but will need three of the potential six points left in the regular season.
Michigan is above all at the moment, with 49 points and a 17-6-1 conference record. Michigan State has 47 points, but two matchups left, both in Minneapolis against the Golden Gophers.
Game one is tonight, game two follows on Friday, both on Big Ten Plus. Michigan State swept Minnesota in two close affairs, dating back to January 23-24.
The Spartans are especially strong away from home as well, even in a tough arena like Minnesota’s. Prior to their recent overtime loss to Michigan at Yost, the Spartans hadn’t lost a road affair since January 10th when they shockingly fell to Ohio State.
#1 Michigan has concluded their regular season as they will patiently watch and wait for the results of their rival.