The Wisconsin men's hockey team will compete in the NCAA tournament for the 23rd time in school history. The Badgers earned the No. 3 seed in the 2008 NCAA Midwest Regional and will take on second-seeded and WCHA playoff champion Denver on Saturday, March 29. The game will face off at 5:30 pm at the Kohl Center.
Joining the Badgers (15-16-7) and the Pioneers (26-13-1) in the WCHA-heavy Midwest Regional is top-seeded North Dakota (26-10-4) and fourth-seeded Princeton (21-13-0). Princeton earned its first NCAA tournament bid in 10 years and its second in school history when it won the ECAC playoff crown on Saturday night. UND and the Tigers meet Saturday at 2pm.
The winners of the regional semifinal match-ups will skate Sunday at 6pm in the regional title game. The regional final champion will advance to the 2008 NCAA Frozen Four, which will take place April 10 and 12 at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
Wisconsin split two games at Denver this season in the season's only meetings between the WCHA rivals. But the Badgers have dropped their last five meetings against Denver at the Kohl Center and is 1-11-2 against the Pioneers in the building since it opened in 1998.