BY MICHAEL SPATH
W
hile the Michigan basketball
team sweated out Selection
Sunday, the hockey team will not
have to. According to formulas run
by CollegeHockeyNews.com, the
seventh-ranked Wolverines have a
99.9 percent chance to make the 16-
team NCAA field when brackets are
announced March 20.
"We're back in the [NCAA] Tour-
nament now, locked in," said senior
Justin Selman, the weight falling off
his shoulders.
This will be the first time anyone
on the team plays in an NCAA Tour-
nament after U-M missed out each
of the past three seasons following a
22-year streak of postseason partici-
pation from 1990-91 through 2011-12.
During that period, Michigan ad-
vanced to 11 Frozen Fours, winning
the 1996 and 1998 national titles
while finishing as the runner-up in
2011.
First things first, though, and that's
the Maize and Blue seeking to add
a Big Ten Tournament banner to
the Yost Ice Arena rafters. Michigan
earned a first-round bye and will
MICHIGAN HOCKEY
U‑M Punches Its Ticket
To The NCAA Tournament
After missing the NCAA Tournament the last three years, the Wolverines should safely
be back in the field this year under longtime coach Red Berenson, who led the team on a
22-year streak of NCAA bids stretching from the 1990-91 season to 2011-12.
PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL
