NCAA men's hockey - Teams, players to watch, Frozen Four picks - ESPN

The NCAA men's hockey tournament bracket is set, and this year's field is heavy on Hockey East, the Big Ten and — as usual — intrigue.

Ten of the 16 teams are from the two strongest conferences in the country (six from Hockey East, four from the Big Ten). Most of the usual suspects of the past few seasons are here, including conference champions Western Michigan, Minnesota State and Cornell, while two teams — UConn and Bentley — are in the field for the first time.

Boston College and Michigan State, the top two seeds, have been at the head of the class all season, but the field is deep with legitimate contenders. Three No. 3 seeds — Denver, Quinnipiac and UMass — have recent national championship banners that show they know what it takes to win it all.

And there's plenty of star power, from BC's Ryan Leonard and Michigan State's Isaac Howard to Minnesota's Jimmy Snuggerud and Denver's Zeev Buium.

Regional play begins Thursday, with the regional finals Saturday and Sunday. All games will be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks and/or streamed on ESPN+.

We asked ESPN college hockey analysts Andrew Raycroft and Sean Ritchlin for their takes on some of the top storylines entering the tournament, including the teams and players to watch, and who will be making the trip to St. Louis for the Frozen Four on April 10 and 12.

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