in the season. North Dakota and UNH will be a tough tilt on the Wildcats' home ice. If North Dakota plays like it did at the WCHA Final Five, New Hampshire should roll, setting up a potential BU/UNH match up featuring two Hockey East teams on UNH's home ice, where the teams split two meetings during the regular season.

Midwest - Notre Dame vs. Bemidji State / Northeastern vs. Cornell - Don't think for a second Notre Dams is overlooking BSU, especially after the Beavers almost stunned #1 seed and defending national champion Denver in the 2005 tournament, losing in OT. In the selection show last Sunday, ND coach Jeff Jackson praised BSU coach Tom Serratore's bunch, but the Irish are a tough draw. Should they survive, both Northeasternand Cornell present challenges for the second-ranked team in the land.

West - Denver vs. Miami (OH) / UMD vs. Princeton - Denver coach George Gwozdecky used to coach Miami (OH) and the Redhawks will be up for the challenge. Looming in the other game is goaltender Alex Stalock of UMD, who compiled a GAA in the WCHA Final Five of 0.33 in three games and shut out both North Dakota and Denver. Do the Pioneers have enough firepower to beat him this time?

Northeast - Michigan vs. Air Force / Yale vs. Vermont - Air Force is probably the toughest first round draw for a top seed, led by national goal-scoring champion and Hobey Baker top 10 nominee Jacques Lamoureaux.

My predictions by regional. Please note, none of the teams