A pair of CCHA-WCHA matchups are in the works for the 2011 Frozen Four in St. Paul, Minn.
And if history holds any weight, the CCHA teams have the advantage.
Notre Dame and Minnesota-Duluth will play in one national semifinal on Thursday, April 7, and Michigan and North Dakota will square off in the other.
The Irish and the Wolverines both hold the lead over their upcoming opponents in the series records.
Notre Dame is 18-10-4 against the Bulldogs, including a 3-1 victory in the teams’ most recent meeting on Jan. 3, 2009, at the Shillelagh Tournament in Hoffman Estates, Ill.
The teams first met on Feb. 12, 1971, a 5-5 tie in South Bend, Ind.
Michigan holds a 45-40-4 lead over North Dakota in a series that dates to Jan. 9, 1948, the year that Michigan claimed the inaugural NCAA tournament championship.
The Fighting Sioux won that first game between the teams, 6-5 in Ann Arbor, Mich., but the Wolverines took the next 10 meetings.
North Dakota won the most recent game, an 8-5 victory in an NCAA regional semifinal in Denver on March 24, 2007. The teams have split six games played on neutral ice.
Minnesota-Duluth was the first to claim a spot in the Frozen Four, beating Yale 5-3 in the East Regional final on Saturday.
Michigan made it two with a 2-1 victory over Colorado College in the West Regional later Saturday.
North Dakota rolled past Denver 6-1 and into a Frozen Four spot from the Midwest Regional on Sunday.
Notre Dame completed the group by ousting New Hampshire 2-1 on Sunday in the Northeast Regional.
