Welcome back to the 2nd edition of women’s bracketology of the 2025-26 season. We have a couple shakeups from last week, and some early-brewing controversy, so stay tuned. If you haven’t done so yet, take a look at last week’s projections for some additional perspective.
Current Projections as of 12/9/25
Automatic Qualifiers (NPI Rank)
- CNE: Endicott (10)
- MAC: Wilkes (17)
- MIAC: Hamline (9)
- NCHA: Concordia-WI (14)
- NESCAC: Middlebury (13)
- SUNYAC: Plattsburgh (18)
- UCHC: Nazareth (3)
At-Large (NPI Rank)
- Amherst (1)
- UW-River Falls (2)
- Colby (4)
- Williams (5)
- Connecticut College (6)
- UW-Eau Claire (7)
First Four Out (NPI Rank)
- Norwich (8)
- Augsburg (11)
- Bowdoin (12)
- Saint Benedict (15)
Discussion
- New Teams in Field:
- Wilkes has overtaken Arcadia for the conference lead in the MAC, as they slot into the #12 seed in this bracket. The Colonels swept Stevenson, while Arcadia split with LVC. The Knights are now outside the field.
- UW-Eau Claire won a pair of WIAC games versus Beloit and Superior to climb from the 3rd team out, into the field as the last team in at #7.
- Prior to this week, Colby had played just a mere 3 games on the season, so earning 2 more non-con wins has bumped their NPI up to #4 and into the field.
- Other New Conference Leaders:
- Endicott avoided an upset scare at the hands of Johnson & Wales. That combined with Suffolk getting swept put the Gulls in the CNE lead.
- Hamline earned a pair of close wins over St. Scholastica to edge out Augsburg for the MIAC lead. The Auggies split a pair with nationally-ranked Gustavus.
- Both Endicott and Hamline were already in the field with at-large bids last week, but Suffolk and Augsburg have now dropped out of the field for now.
- Seed Line Shifts:
- Surprisingly, Amherst has overtaken UWRF for the #1 overall seed, which could be big for bracketing, and home ice purposes. The Falcons just fell one spot to #2
- Williams made a sizable jump to #5 (previously #10) in the NPI after their road win at Plattsburgh.
- With Colby and Williams jumping quite high, the Camels of Connecticut College fell 2 spots to #6.
- Mainly due to other teams jumping them, there were a few schools that fell a couple of seed lines:
- Hamline fell from the #5 seed to the #8 seed.
- Pipers defeated Scholastica twice, one coming in OT.
- Middlebury fell from the #6 seed to the #10 seed.
- Panthers defeated Utica.
- Endicott fell from the #7 seed to the #9 seed.
- Gulls defeated JWU twice, one coming in OT.
- Concordia-WI fell from the #8 seed to the #11 seed.
- Falcons defeated Dubuque twice.
- Hamline fell from the #5 seed to the #8 seed.
- Plattsburgh’s aforementioned home loss to Williams dinged their NPI rating to the 18th best in the country, good for the bottom #13 seed in this bracket.
- The cut line for this projection is #8 being the first spot out. This gives us 6 auto-bid schools in the projected field ranked lower than the first team out, #8 Norwich.
- Multi-bid Leagues:
- NESCAC: (5)
- WIAC: (2)
- This will ruffle some feathers for sure, as the NESCAC fatigue is in full swing already, with over 1/3 of the teams coming from that league. Lots of hockey to be played, but expect the NESCAC to get a ton of bids again with how they have beaten up the East thus far.
- Interestingly enough, the WIAC, with no auto-bid, has collected the other 2 non-NESCAC at-larges for the time being.
Seeding
- Amherst
- UW-River Falls
- Nazareth
- Colby
- Williams
- Connecticut College
- UW-Eau Claire
- Hamline
- Endicott
- Middlebury
- Concordia (WI)
- Wilkes
- Plattsburgh
Projected Bracket
First Round
10) Middlebury @ 8) Hamline
12) Wilkes @ 5) Williams
13) Plattsburgh @ 4) Colby
11) Concordia (WI) @ 7) UW-Eau Claire
9) Endicott @ 6) Connecticut College
Quarterfinals
10) Middlebury/8) Hamline @ 1) Amherst
12) Wilkes/5) Williams vs. 13) Plattsburgh/4) Colby
10) CUW/7) UWEC@ 2) UW-River Falls
9) Endicott/6) CT College @ 3) Nazareth
Geographical Breakdown
- Thick black lines indicate first round travel matchups.
- The colored shapes indicate which quadrant of the bracket is which.
Rationale
The Byes
Despite the top 2 teams flip-flopping, the same three schools earn byes this week: Amherst, River Falls, and Nazareth.
The 9E/4W Split
Even though Augsburg fell out of the field, Eau Claire has taken their place on the right side of the bubble (These two face off in a 2-game series this weekend.) With one west team (UWRF) earning a bye, we’ll have an odd situation that will result in one west team playing an east team in Round 1.
Who plays the east?
With River Falls being #2, they would traditionally play the 7/10 winner. Given the seeding of the west teams, #11 Concordia-WI traveling to #7 Eau Claire makes the most sense here, with the winner heading to Hunt Arena in an all-Wisconsin pod, forcing Hamline into a game versus an East opponent. The NCAA can’t do anything about this one if they give UWRF a bye.
First Round Flip
From here, we can start pairing up the rest of the east teams by seed to create the most “fair” matchups.
- #13 Plattsburgh @ #4 Colby
- #12 Wilkes @ #5 Williams
- #10 Middlebury @ #6 Conn. College
- #9 Endicott @ #8 Hamline
Yes, we know the NCAA has no choice and is paying for a flight here to give Hamline their rightfully-earned home game, but there’s a bigger issue at play here. With the gluttony of NESCAC teams here, this was bound to happen eventually, as the 10/6 matchup can’t take place in Round 1.
Thus, Middlebury and Conn. College need to switch things up. Given Colby and Williams are also NESCAC teams set to host games, we will have to head back to Hamline for this one, essentially flipping Middlebury and Endicott in the bracket.
Now, we have:
- #9 Endicott @ #6 Conn. College
- #10 Middlebury @ #8 Hamline
According to seed, a bit of a tougher draw for the Camels of Connecticut College, but this is what will almost certainly happen when 5 teams from one league qualify.
Luckily, between those non-Hamline matchups, we have no other mileage concerns.
Setting the Quarterfinal Matchups
With the Wisconsin pod already set, it’s pretty easy to fill in the rest, as Amherst would get the #10 Middlebury/#8 Hamline winner due to seed preference. Yes, this could result in another flight if Hamline defends TRIA rink against the powerhouse Middlebury.
#3 Nazareth would traditionally get #6’s first round game, meaning the #6 CT College/#9 Endicott winner travels to greater Rochester.
From there, we have the #12 Wilkes/#5 Williams winner facing the #13 Plattsburgh/#4 Colby winner at the home site of the highest seed. Interesting grouping of teams here, with potential NCAA Tournament rematches like Wilkes/Colby as a possibility.
Frozen Four Placement
The #1 seed Amherst is placed with the #4 Colby quadrant, while the #2 River Falls pod matches up with the #3 Nazareth pod, leaving four NESCAC teams on the left side, with just CT College on the right.
Dollars & “Cents”
Here’s what flights the NCAA is ponying up for in this bracket projection.
First Two Rounds:
- First Round:
- 1 flight from Middlebury to Hamline
- Quarterfinals:
- 1 potential flight if Hamline defeats Middlebury (to Amherst)
Frozen Four:
-If Amherst/Endicott hosts:
- 1 flight from top right quadrant of bracket
-If Nazareth/Colby/Williams/CT College hosts:
- 1 flight from top right quadrant of bracket
- 1 additional flight if Hamline advances from top left quadrant of bracket
-If UW-River Falls/UW-Eau Claire hosts:
- 2 flights from bottom half of bracket
- 1 additional flight if Middlebury advances from top left quadrant of bracket
-If Hamline hosts:
- 2 flights from bottom half of bracket
Depending on results, this bracket results in anywhere from 2-5 flights.
Wrap-Up
We’ve reached the end of our 2nd edition of 2026 Women’s Bracketology. While there are less games with the Christmas break approaching, there are no shortage of big ones out west. Keep an eye out for the Blugolds playing both the Auggies (x2) and the Pipers, the Gusties hosting Adrian (x2), and a matchup between the defending champs and the Green Knights.
As a Gustie alumn, I will be interested in seeing how the rest of the season plays out for them. They were ranked #8 prior to playing #9 Adrian and they split. I think the loss to St. Olaf and the loss to Concordia hurt them the most because the rest of their losses were part of a split with a top 10 team. If they can win out the rest of the conference games against the unranked opponents, then they have resume boosting games against UW-River Falls and Hamline. If they were to win 3 or 4 of those games, that would be a huge boost. Then there is the MIAC tournament where they would most likely be playing Augsburg and Hamiline again. I would think if they go into the MIAC tournament having done what I just said and they pulled off a win against either Hamline or Augsburg and advanced to finals and played one of those two teams it would make for an interesting scenario. Win and they get the MIAC bid, lose and they become an interesting at-large bid despite the number of losses because they were splitting series with top tier teams.
Thanks for commenting! I do agree with how strong the west is, if they can win out in the non-River Falls/Hamline games, they definitely have a great shot at getting in. I just don’t see how this team does that, based on the first 11 games. They need to worry about making the MIAC playoffs at this point.
They’ve looked incredibly average for the first time in well over a decade, and although the goaltending has shown massive signs of life the last couple of series, they don’t scare anyone offensively.
Teams are totally comfortable letting them forecheck away, because even when the opposition turns it over, GAC never does anything with it. And when the opponent ultimately gets past the heavy forecheck, there’s an odd-man rush and usually a goal.
Again, if GAC can find a way to get to 18-7 with no additional losses to non-RF/Hamline teams, and make the MIAC tournament, they’re in play for the NCAA’s. But I think this team may stick around .500 this year.