We’ve reached the mid-way point of the Division III Hockey season, as we have one last snapshot before the Christmas holiday!  We’ll give you a sneak peak at what the bracket would look like as of today.  If you haven’t done so yet, take a look at last week’s projections.

Current Projections as of 12/16/25

Automatic Qualifiers (NPI Rank)

• CNE: UNE (9)
• LEC: Babson (13)
• MAC: Neumann (39)
• MASCAC: Fitchburg State (27)
• MIAC: Saint Mary’s (28)
• NCHA: Adrian (3)
• NESCAC: Bowdoin (2)
• SUNYAC: Hobart (1)
• UCHC: Utica (25)
• WIAC: UW-Eau Claire (23)

At-Large (NPI Rank)

• Hamilton (4)
• Salve Regina (5)
• Oswego (6)
• St. Norbert (7)

First Four Out (NPI Rank)

• Aurora (8)
• Middlebury (10)
• Endicott (11)
• Colby (12)

Discussion

• New Teams in Field:
  • Salve Regina, previously #13 in the NPI, earned a pair of wins this past weekend up in the Pinetree State, defeating Southern Maine Friday, and upsetting a ranked Bowdoin squad on Saturday.  Salve was the hot topic of the D-III hockey world this offseason, and now they appear to be one of the main talking points for the rest of this season.
    • Being an independent, there’s no denying their schedule has lacked the strength they’re used to having.  The rules are the rules, and as long as they play 70% of their games against D-III foes (they will have 80%), they are eligible for the NCAA Tournament.
    • This is an extremely controversial story to follow down the stretch, but if you are a fan of a title contender in the NCHA, CNE, or even the SUNYAC, you better win your league tournament just to be safe.  Given Salve’s remaining schedule, the Seahawks have a real chance at qualifying for the NCAAs.
    • Middlebury entered the field last week, but is now exiting with Salve Regina moving up, falling to #10 in the NPI.
• Seed Line Shifts:
  • Adrian’s sweep with Hiram, combined with Hamilton’s 2nd-straight tie, means the Bulldogs have jumped HC for the #3 seed, meaning Hamilton falls a seed line to #4.
  • Oswego also fell one spot to #6, solely due to Salve’s big jump up.
  • UW-Eau Claire earned an impressive sweep of Stevens Point, jumping from the #12 seed to the #10 seed.
    • Utica and Fitchburg fell a spot each to #11 and #12, respectively.
• The cut line for this projection is #8 being the first spot out.  This gives us 7 auto-bid schools in the projected field ranked lower than the first team out, #8 Aurora.
• With Salve being an independent, we are down to just three multibid leagues:
• Multi-bid Leagues:
  • NCHA: (2)
  • NESCAC: (2)
  • SUNYAC: (2)

Seeding

1. Hobart
2. Bowdoin
3. Adrian
4. Hamilton
5. Salve Regina
6. Oswego
7. St. Norbert
8. UNE
9. Babson
10. UW-Eau Claire
11. Utica
12. Fitchburg State
13. Saint Mary’s
14. Neumann

Projected Bracket

First Round

9) Babson @ 8) UNE

12) Fitchburg State @ 5) Salve Regina

14) Neumann @ 4) Hamilton

10) UW-Eau Claire @ 7) St. Norbert

11) Utica @ 6) Oswego

13) Saint Mary’s @ 3) Adrian

Quarterfinals

9) Babson/8) UNE @ 1) Hobart

12) Fitchburg St./5) SRU vs. 14) Neumann/4) Hamilton

10) UWEC/7) SNC @ 2) Bowdoin

11) Utica/6) Oswego vs. 13) SMU/3) Adrian

Geographical Breakdown

• Thick black lines indicate first round travel matchups.
• The colored shapes indicate which quadrant of the bracket is which.

Rationale

The Byes

With not many games this past weekend, we won’t see a whole bunch of moving and shifting.  Hobart and Bowdoin stand pat as the top 2 seeds this week, despite Bowdoin’s upset loss to Salve.

The 10E/4W Split

Again, Middlebury is replaced with Salve which doesn’t change our 10/4 split at all.  With no west team earning a bye, Adrian will be grouped with the rest of the west, despite being in driving distance of a number of east teams.

Setting West Matchups

Despite the mileage, we have no choice but to pair up all four west teams. So, #13 Saint Mary’s flies to #3 Adrian, and #10 UWEC drives cross-state to #7 St. Norbert.

Setting East Matchups

Pairing the highest and lowest ranked teams by seeding, we are left with these matchups in the east: #14 Neumann buses up to #4 Hamilton.  It’s a battle of the birds as the Seahawks of #5 Salve host the Falcons of #12 Fitchburg.  #6 Oswego gets their shot at revenge, hosting #11 Utica.  Finally, we continue the trend for the third straight Bracketology, as #9 Babson heads up to #8 UNE.

With no geographical issues or intraconference games, these should work out great!  Note, when looking at the true seeding you would see in a 14-team field, Adrian and Saint Mary’s get a (slightly) harder draw due to seed, while Hamilton and Neumann get a tad easier draw.

Cross-Region Quarterfinals

Assuming we have similar principles to the 2025 tournament, we will be more than okay assuming flights can be allowed in the quarterfinals to protect bracket integrity.

#1 Hobart gets the #8 UNE/#9 Babson winner in a true-to-seed quarterfinal.  In another matchup that’s perfectly true-to-seed, the #10 Eau Claire/#7 SNC winner will fly to Maine to take on #2 Bowdoin.

On the bottom side, we will match up the #13 SMU/#3 Adrian winner with the #11 Utica/#6 Oswego winner.  Some big-time programs are facing off here, and if home teams win, it’s a drivable trip from Oswego to Adrian.

Finally, we have the last pod of teams with the #14 Neumann /#4 Hamilton winner playing the #12 Fitchburg/#5 Salve winner at the home of the highest seed.

Frozen Four Placement

The #1 Hobart pod gets paired with the #4 Hamilton pod winner on one side of the bracket.  On the other side, the #2 Bowdoin pod winner plays the winner of the #3 Adrian pod.

Dollars & “Sense”

Here’s what flights the NCAA is ponying up for in this bracket projection.

First Two Rounds:

• First Round:
  • 1 flight from Saint Mary’s to Adrian
• Quarterfinals:
  • 1 flight for UWEC/SNC to Bowdoin
  • 1 additional flight if Utica OR Saint Mary’s wins

Frozen Four (Host: Utica University: Utica Memorial Auditorium)

• 1 additional flight if St. Norbert/UW-Eau Claire advances from top right quadrant of bracket
• 1 additional flight if Adrian/Saint Mary’s advances from bottom right quadrant of bracket

Depending on results, this bracket results in anywhere from 2-5 flights.

Wrap-Up

While there weren’t a ton of changes this week, we will be sure to have a brand-new landscape after the Christmas holiday when we’re back for another edition of Bracketology!  Merry Christmas, everyone!