The 2026 WCCHA Tournament kicks off tomorrow as the top 8 teams in the league enter the battle to raise the Carla Berg Cup this Sunday. Among the qualifiers, five teams – #1 St. Thomas, #3 Minnesota, #5 Wisconsin, #6 Minnesota State, and #8 UW-Eau Claire – will be looking to regain the conference crown, with the remaining three teams – #2 Minnesota-Crookston, #4 Jamestown, and #7 North Dakota State – all look to claim their first ever league title.
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Top ranked St. Thomas will come in confident, having successfully navigated an extremely competitive Southeast Division to earn a regular season title. On the other half of the bracket, the #2 Minnesota-Crookston Golden Eagles fought their way to an undefeated division record and title, and will be extra motivated to claim the league championship for the first time. #3 Minnesota and #4 Jamestown round out the higher seeds, both extremely capable of winning any given night. At #5, Wisconsin may be the least likely “dark horse” given their status as defending champions and high regional rankings.
#6 Minnesota State returns to the tournament looking to improve on last year’s performance, and more importantly, build on their ranking resume. #7 North Dakota State – back in Blaine at the first attempt since rejoining – and #8 UW-Eau Claire will look to spring an upset (or two, or three?) to earn the conference crown and coveted autobid to Regionals.
In addition, this weekend’s results may play a key role in the final ACHA rankings and subsequent qualification for ACHA Central Regionals. Newly expanded this season, 16 teams (up from 12) will take part in the ACHA postseason in each region. In addition, for the first time since the introduction of Regionals, there will be no direct qualifiers to nationals as all teams must navigate the Regional Tournament for one of 4 available slots to Nationals.
As of this morning (note: updated rankings to be released later today, 2/5), 6 teams from the WCCHA sit above the cut line for regionals. This includes #2 St. Thomas, #3 Minnesota, #5 Wisconsin, #7 Minnesota-Crookston, #15 Minnesota State, and #16 Jamestown. While the four higher ranked WCCHA teams can feel confident of qualification, key results across the entire weekend could be the difference for both Crookston and Jamestown. Regionals will be held Feb. 20-22 in Hammond, Indiana, hosted by Purdue University-Northwest.