Frozen Four

This weekend, the men's division-one college hockey tournament started, and it started with a bang. On Friday, Air Force and Miami (OH) upset Michigan and Denver, who were the fourth and third overall seeds, respectively. University of Minnesota-Deluth scored two goals in the final 39 seconds - the last being with 0.8 seconds remaining - against Princeton and ended up winning in overtime. Minnesota-Deluth will face the Redhawks of Miami tonight at 9pm on ESPNU.

Today, New Hampshire came back from a third period 5-3 deficit and one-upped Minnesota-Deluth by tying the game with .3 seconds left. After the intermission at the end of regulation, UNH scored 45 seconds in to advance to play the winner of #1 overall seed Boston University and Ohio State (currently 3-0 BU in the first period as I type this) on Sunday.

The men's basketball tournament may have the national attention (and deservedly so), but this tournament is just as good, if not better. Sure, only sixteen teams get in (and the 16 are decided by a computer), and there really isn't the prospect of a "Cinderella" team, but the emotion and excitement are, in my opinion, only matched by the NHL playoffs. Many of the games go down to the wire and the games get more physical as the tournament goes on. Playoff/tournament hockey overtimes are unmatched in sports because the game could be decided at any point and when the winning goal is scored, the relief and pure joy is amazing to watch.

Oh, and the Frozen Four (the final four teams) is taking place in Washington, D.C. this year. Tickets are at a premium (sold out at this point), but that doesn't mean you won't be able to watch. Games are on ESPN2 and ESPN360.com. If you have nothing else to watch tomorrow evening (there isn't much on), check out the 2nd round of the tournament. The games should be great - every team has a chance in every game and the games usually go down to the wire.