Familiarity with your opponent is not often a feature of the first round of the NCAA tournament.
The national spread of teams and the selection committee’s mandate to avoid intraconference games in the round of 16 seems to make it more of a head-scratcher when coaches are asked to give initial impressions of the team against which they’re drawn.
Last season, only one first-round game matched teams that had played each other at least 10 times.
In the 2013 NCAA tournament, half of the eight first-round games meet that criteria. Then again, recency isn’t a big thing this season; only three games renew a series that has been active in the last five seasons.
We have a game between former conference foes, rematches of five previous NCAA tournament games, one first-time matchup, 85 total previous games and a series that dates to 1934 among the first-round games this season.
Here’s a look at the all-time series that are getting dusted off (or started) in the regional openers starting Friday.
Return of the MAAC: Quinnipiac vs. Canisius
Quinnipiac leads 17-7-4
Quinnipiac and Canisius shared membership in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (it later transitioned to what’s now known as Atlantic Hockey) from 1998 to 2005, when the Bobcats moved to ECAC Hockey.
The Bobcats were 14-7-3 against the Golden Griffins in their common conference days and Quinnipiac is 3-0-1 in the series since the split.
But Canisius won two of the three postseason meetings between the teams, the most recent a 1-0 overtime win in the 2004 Atlantic Hockey quarterfinals.
Oct. 30, 1998 — at Quinnipiac 6, Canisius 3
Oct. 31, 1998 — at Quinnipiac 2, Canisius 1 (OT)
Jan. 23, 1999 — at Canisius 3, Quinnipiac 3
Jan. 24, 1999 — at Canisius 3, Quinnipiac 3
March 19, 1999 — Canisius 5, Quinnipiac 2 (MAAC semifinals at Worcester, Mass.)
Nov. 5, 1999 — Quinnipiac 5, at Canisius 2 (at Amherst Pepsi Center)
Jan. 21, 2000 — at Quinnipiac 7, Canisius 0
Jan. 22, 2000 — at Quinnipiac 3, Canisius 1
Jan. 16, 2001 — at Canisius 4, Quinnipiac 2
Feb. 2, 2001 — at Quinnipiac 7, Canisius 2
Feb. 16, 2001 — at Canisius 6, Quinnipiac 2
Dec. 1, 2001 — at Quinnipiac 3, Canisius 1
Feb. 15, 2002 — Quinnipiac 4, at Canisius 3
Oct. 25, 2002 — Quinnipiac 6, at Canisius 3
Jan. 3, 2003 — at Quinnipiac 2, Canisius 0
Jan. 4, 2003 — at Quinnipiac 4, Canisius 3 (OT)
March 15, 2003 — at Quinnipiac 3, Canisius 2 (MAAC quarterfinals)
Jan. 9, 2004 — at Canisius 3, Quinnipiac 0
Jan. 10, 2004 — at Canisius 4, Quinnipiac 2
Feb. 6, 2004 — at Quinnipiac 3, Canisius 2
March 13, 2004 — Canisius 1, Quinnipiac 0 (OT) (Atlantic Hockey quarterfinals at West Point, N.Y.)
Jan. 4, 2005 — at Canisius 4, Quinnipiac 4
Feb. 18, 2005 — Canisius 2, at Quinnipiac 1
Feb. 19, 2005 — at Quinnipiac 8, Canisius 1
Jan. 16, 2011 — Quinnipiac 7, at Canisius 3
Jan. 17, 2011 — at Canisius 2, Quinnipiac 2
Oct. 15, 2011 — at Quinnipiac 7, Canisius 1
Oct. 16, 2011 — at Quinnipiac 4, Canisius 0
They go back a long way: Minnesota vs. Yale
Minnesota leads 13-6
Yale headed west in December 1934 for the first meetings between the teams and pulled out a pair of victories that seem even more convincing 78-plus years later when you read the Yale Daily News accounts.
“The Westerners gave Yale little trouble; they played an unaggressive game and the alert Elis pierced their defense with nice passing to win 2-0 and 3-1,” the newspaper wrote on Jan. 7, 1935.
It added: “Yale had little trouble proving its superiority in all departments.”
Things haven’t been that great for the Bulldogs since, with Minnesota winning six of the next eight meetings and going into Friday’s game on a seven-game winning streak over Yale.
Dec. 21, 1934 — Yale 2, at Minnesota 0
Dec. 22, 1934 — Yale 3, at Minnesota 1
Dec. 29, 1939 — Minnesota 3, at Yale 0
Dec. 30, 1939 — Minnesota 7, at Yale 2
Dec. 27, 1940 — Yale 5, at Minnesota 2
Dec. 28, 1940 — at Minnesota 5, Yale 4
Dec. 27, 1946 — at Yale 6, Minnesota 5
Dec. 28, 1946 — Minnesota 6, at Yale 2
Dec. 28, 1948 — at Minnesota 10, Yale 1
Dec. 29, 1948 — at Minnesota 4, Yale 2 (at St. Paul Auditorium)
Dec. 28, 1951 — Yale 7, at Minnesota 4
Dec. 29, 1951 — Yale 4, at Minnesota 3 (OT)
Dec. 28, 1956 — at Minnesota 5, Yale 2
Dec. 29, 1956 — at Minnesota 1, Yale 0
Dec. 28, 1978 — at Minnesota 7, Yale 3
Jan. 1, 1983 — at Minnesota 5, Yale 1
Jan. 2, 1983 — at Minnesota 6, Yale 4
Dec. 30, 1994 — at Minnesota 6, Yale 2 (Mariucci Classic)
Dec. 27, 2002 — at Minnesota 7, Yale 3 (Dodge Holiday Classic)
A little more familiar: New Hampshire vs. Denver
Denver leads 9-4
New Hampshire and Denver are in the only first-round game that’s a rematch of a contest played this season.
The Pioneers ran out to 3-0 and 4-2 leads after the first and second periods, respectively, on Nov. 24 in Denver before the Wildcats scored four times in the third for a 6-4 win.
Grayson Downing and Kevin Goumas both had hat tricks for New Hampshire.
Denver has the upper hand in NCAA meetings between the schools, upsetting the Wildcats in a 9-2 rout in 1995 and advancing to the Frozen Four with a 4-2 win in 2005.
Dec. 13, 1984 — Denver 5, at New Hampshire 4 (OT)
Dec. 14, 1984 — at New Hampshire 3, Denver 2
Jan. 17, 1986 — at Denver 9, New Hampshire 2
Jan. 18, 1986 — at Denver 8, New Hampshire 3
Jan. 10, 1987 — at Denver 7, New Hampshire 2
Nov. 28, 1987 — at New Hampshire 6, Denver 3
Nov. 12, 1988 — at Denver 8, New Hampshire 1
March 24, 1995 — Denver 9, New Hampshire 2 (NCAA East Regional first round at Worcester, Mass.)
Jan. 3, 1999 — at Denver 4, New Hampshire 2
Nov. 25, 2001 — at New Hampshire 5, Denver 2
Dec. 28, 2002 — at Denver 4, New Hampshire 0
March 27, 2005 — Denver 4, New Hampshire 2 (NCAA Northeast Regional second round at Amherst, Mass.)
Nov. 24, 2012 — New Hampshire 6, at Denver 4
Independent thinking: Notre Dame vs. St. Cloud State
Series tied 5-5
St. Cloud State was in its second season as a Division I team in 1988, still two years away from joining the WCHA. Notre Dame was in the fifth year of an eight-year stretch as an independent between stints in the CCHA.
They started a two-season series that year, playing six times as independents, with the Huskies winning four.
Not only are these teams tied in their all-time series, six of the 10 meetings have been decided by one goal.
Oct. 21, 1988 — at St. Cloud State 4, Notre Dame 3
Oct. 22, 1988 — Notre Dame 3, at St. Cloud State 2
Nov. 17, 1989 — at Notre Dame 3, St. Cloud State 2
Nov. 18, 1989 — St. Cloud State 8, at Notre Dame 2
Feb. 16, 1990 — at St. Cloud State 7, Notre Dame 3
Feb. 17, 1990 — at St. Cloud State 3, Notre Dame 2
Jan. 24, 1997 — at Notre Dame 5, St. Cloud State 2
Jan. 25, 1997 — St. Cloud State 2, at Notre Dame 1
Oct. 17, 1997 — Notre Dame 4, at St. Cloud State 3 (OT)
Oct. 18, 1997 — Notre Dame 4, at St. Cloud State 1
Interlocked: Massachusetts-Lowell vs. Wisconsin
Wisconsin leads 7-1-1
NCAA tournament games between Hockey East and WCHA teams usually have some history tied to the interlocking schedule between the leagues in Hockey East’s infancy.
For five seasons starting with Hockey East’s inception in 1984, the two leagues scheduled each other’s teams, with the results counting toward the standings.
That period accounts for the entirety of the River Hawks-Badgers series, save for a first-round NCAA tournament series played in Madison in 1988.
Nov. 9, 1984 — at Wisconsin 7, Massachusetts-Lowell 4
Nov. 19, 1984 — at Wisconsin 8, Massachusetts-Lowell 3
Oct. 26, 1985 — Wisconsin 5, at Massachusetts-Lowell 3
Oct. 27, 1985 — Wisconsin 6, at Massachusetts-Lowell 3
Dec. 6, 1986 — at Massachusetts-Lowell 4, Wisconsin 3
Jan. 4, 1988 — at Wisconsin 6, Massachusetts-Lowell 4
March 19, 1988 — at Wisconsin 7, Massachusetts-Lowell 1 (NCAA first-round, total goals series)
March 20, 1988 — at Wisconsin 4, Massachusetts-Lowell 4 (NCAA first-round, total goals series, Wisconsin wins 11-5)
Dec. 4, 1988 — Wisconsin 3, at Massachusetts-Lowell 2
One-sided: North Dakota vs. Niagara
North Dakota leads 4-0
As the second seed in the 2000 West Regional, North Dakota had a bye into the second round of the 12-team tournament and might have expected to face New Hampshire. Niagara had other ideas.
The Purple Eagles upset the Wildcats 4-1 in the first round in Minneapolis, but North Dakota ended Niagara’s run by the same score the next day to move the Frozen Four. North Dakota ended up as national champion that season.
March 25, 2000 — North Dakota 4, Niagara 1 (NCAA West Regional second round at Minneapolis)
Oct. 25, 2002 — at North Dakota 6, Niagara 4
Oct. 26, 2002 — at North Dakota 5, Niagara 3
Jan. 2, 2010 — North Dakota 3, Niagara 1 (Shillelagh Tournament at Hoffman Estates, Ill.)
Miami vs. Minnesota State
Miami leads 1-0-1
It has been eight seasons since the RedHawks and the Mavericks met, and the only other time they played before that was eight years previous. Draw conclusions at your own risk.
Dec. 30, 1996 — Miami 4, at Minnesota State 2
Dec. 30, 2004 — Miami 3, Minnesota State 3 (Ohio Hockey Classic third-place game, at Columbus, Ohio; Minnesota State won shootout 3-1)
Starting a series: Boston College vs. Union
No previous games
The Dutchmen have been playing Division I hockey for 22 years and they’ve never met the Eagles. Time to make some history.
