Michigan Hockey on the verge of NCAA Tournament berth

Michigan Hockey plays game 2 of the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament against Notre Dame on Saturday night, and the Wolverines are likely a win away from locking in an NCAA Tournament bid.

After winning game 1, the Wolverines rose from #14 to #10 in the Pairwise rankings.

Every team above Michigan is a virtual lock to make the tournament. The Wolverines have the next highest odds to make the tournament at 85%. Michigan has an edge over teams like Western Michigan, UMass, and Cornell.

If Michigan were to sweep Notre Dame tonight, that would all but guarantee a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The best of three series would go to Sunday if the Irish could pull out the win. Michigan would still likely get in with a series win but would like to wrap it up tonight. A game 3 and the chance the Irish could come back to steal the series would put Michigan in danger.

We don't know whether a series loss would knock the Wolverines out, but it would, at minimum, put them back into bubble territory.

Michigan has been on a tournament push after splitting with Minnesota and sweeping Notre Dame before entering the Big Ten Tournament. Pairwise gives Michigan a 15% chance to win the Big Ten, giving them an automatic bid.

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