MSU Heads To Toledo As No. 1 Seed in NCAA Regional

East Lansing, Mich. -- Michigan State begins NCAA Tournament play on Thursday and has been placed in the Toledo Regional. Bowling Green will host the regional at the Huntington Center, the home of the ECHL's Toledo Walleye.   The Spartans' first-round opponent will be ECAC Tournament champion Cornell at 5:30 pm on Thursday.

MSU is a No.1 seed for the second consecutive season and will play in the Toledo regional. The Spartans are the overall No. 2 seed behind No. 1 Boston College and ahead of No. 3 Maine and No. 4 Western Michigan. Three of the top four seeds - MSU, Maine, and Western - all captured conference tournament titles last weekend.

The Spartans are making their second consecutive and 29th NCAA Tournament appearance overall, which ranks seventh all-time among Division I schools.

The Toledo regional and entirety of the NCAA Hockey Championship will be carried live on the ESPN family of networks. The games played in Toledo will have Kevin Gehl and Sean Ritchlin on the call.

Links to all broadcasts, webstreams, and live statistics can be found on the hockey schedule page at MSUSpartans.com when information becomes available.

NCAA Tournament Notes:
• The Spartans are making their second consecutive and 29th NCAA Tournament appearance overall. MSU ranks seventh all-time among Division I schools in NCAA Tournament appearances.
• MSU is 31-30-1 all-time in NCAA Tournament games dating back to its first-ever selection in 1959.

• This is the third time in program history that the Spartans have earned a No. 1 seed in back to back seasons. The first was 1984 and 1985, and again in 1989 and 1990.

• MSU is one of four programs from the Big Ten Conference to qualify for this year's tournament. No. 13 seed Penn State is hosting the regional in Allentown, Minnesota is the overall No. 5 seed and playing in the Fargo regional, while Ohio State is overall No. 10 and joins MSU in Toledo.

• The Spartans are 9-3-4 against teams selected for the NCAA field. MSU is 2-0-2 against Minnesota, 4-1-0 against Ohio State and 1-1-2 against Penn State; in non-conference games, the Spartans split a pair of games against No. 1 and Hockey East regular-season champion Boston College in October, and defeated No. 4 seed and NCHC double champion Western Michigan (4-1) in the Great Lakes Invitational championship game.

•    The Spartans are 7-9 as a No. 1 seed and have never won a national championship as a No. 1.   MSU has, however, advanced to the Frozen Four as a No. 1 seed in 1984, 1989, and 2001.

• MSU is one of three schools to earn both their league's regular-season and tournament titles this season: Minnesota State (CCHA) and Western Michigan (NCHC) are the other two.

• This will be MSU's first meeting all-time against Cornell in the NCAA Tournament, but the 11th game all-time between the schools. MSU owns a 6-4-0 mark against the Big Red all-time and is 1-1 at neutral sites - the first two games were at the Boston Invitational in 1966 (L, 2-3 OT) and in the 1994 Great Lakes Invitational (W, 9-4).

• MSU and Boston University could meet on Saturday in the regional final. The squads have met in the NCAA tournament on seven previous occasions, and MSU owns a 4-3 mark in those games. The teams last met in back-to-back seasons in 2013 and 2014, but the last faceoff in an NCAA Tournament game came in 2007 in the first round in Grand Rapids. MSU is 9-9-0 against the Terriers in program history, and 4-2-0 in neutral-site contests.

• Should MSU and Ohio State meet on Saturday, it would be the sixth meeting of the teams this season and the second in two weeks. The Spartans outlasted OSU on Saturday in double overtime to claim the Big Ten title. It would also be the second consecutive season that MSU defeated a team in OT in the Big Ten championship game and had to face that same squad a week later – that happened with Michigan in 2024, as MSU won the title tilt 5-4 in OT and then Michigan won the rematch in the regional final a week later, 5-2.

• The series between Ohio State and Michigan State stands in favor of the Spartans, 104-58-13. This would be the first-ever NCAA Tournament meeting between the schools. The two teams have met in seven Big Ten Tournaments all-time, with OSU taking the first five (all in quarterfinals) and MSU earning wins in last year's semifinal (2-1) and Saturday night (4-3, 2OT) in the Championship game.

TICKET INFORMATION

The Spartan Ticket Office is currently accepting requests with payment for NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Regional Semifinal tickets (limit 4) from Spartan Fund donors in Athlos levels $100,000 and above, Ambassadors, and Champions Circle until 5:00 p.m. on Monday, March 24. To request tickets, contact the Spartan Ticket Office at (517) 355-1610 between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. or request online now by clicking here. If you are not part of the targeted segment and would like to purchase tickets, please visit Ticketmaster.com or SeatGeek.com.

Related Videos