Men’s college hockey conference tournaments — Schedules, results, NCAA bids

The men’s college hockey season is heating up, with conference tournaments getting underway and the Frozen Four (April 7 and 9 at TD Garden in Boston) within sight.

The first steps toward filling the NCAA field are the conference tournaments, which, in addition to crowning league champions, will determine the six automatic qualifiers. From there, 10 at-large teams will be selected, based largely on the PairWise rankings. The NCAA selection show is March 20 at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU, with regional play to begin March 24.

Here’s a look at each of the conference tournaments, including schedules and outlooks. This page will be updated throughout the tournaments and as NCAA berths are secured.

Atlantic

The top six seeds of the 10-team league get first-round byes. Seeds 7-10 play best-of-three first-round series. After a reseed, the top four seeds host best-of-three quarterfinal series. Winners move on to the semifinals.

First round, March 4-6: No. 9 Bentley at No. 8 Niagara; No. 10 Holy Cross at No. 7 Mercyhurst

Quarterfinals, March 11-13: Niagara/Bentley/Holy Cross at No. 1 AIC; Mercyhurst/Niagara/Bentley at No. 2 Canisius; No. 6 Air Force at No. 3 Army; No. 5 Sacred Heart at No. 4 RIT

Semifinals and finals, March 18 and 19: at Adirondack Bank Center, Utica, N.Y.

AIC, which won its fourth straight regular-season title, is the team to beat, but the Yellow Jackets had at least one loss (regulation, OT or shootout) to seven of its conference foes, so they are not a shoo-in. There are no NCAA at-large candidates in the Atlantic.

Big Ten

Regular-season champ Minnesota gets a bye into the semifinals. Seeds 2-7 play best-of-three quarterfinal series before the single-game semis and final, all on campus sites.

Quarterfinals, March 4-6: No. 7 Michigan State at No. 2 Michigan; No. 6 Wisconsin at No. 3 Notre Dame; No. 5 Penn State at No. 4 Ohio…