{"id":151972,"date":"2025-03-15T21:33:57","date_gmt":"2025-03-16T02:33:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=151972"},"modified":"2025-03-15T21:33:57","modified_gmt":"2025-03-16T02:33:57","slug":"why-minnesota-state-is-already-locked-in-for-the-cchas-autobid-to-the-ncaa-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2025\/03\/15\/why-minnesota-state-is-already-locked-in-for-the-cchas-autobid-to-the-ncaa-tournament\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Minnesota State is already locked in for the CCHA’s autobid to the NCAA tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"

Minnesota State earned the first automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA men’s hockey tournament Saturday, six days before the CCHA playoff championship will be decided.<\/p>\n

The Mavericks are the only team left in the CCHA tournament that’s eligible to compete in the NCAA tournament this season.<\/p>\n

Minnesota State’s 4-0 win over Bemidji State in the CCHA semifinals on Saturday, coupled with St. Thomas’ 3-1 win over Bowling Green earlier in the day, meant the Mavericks and the Tommies will play for the championship in Mankato on Friday.<\/p>\n

St. Thomas isn’t eligible for the NCAA tournament until 2026 because it’s still in a transition period from Division III to Division I. That was moved up from 2027 because of an NCAA rule change in January changing the delay in tournament eligibility from five years after the program’s move to Division I to four years.<\/p>\n

The Tommies can win the CCHA championship by defeating Minnesota State but the Mavericks are going to get the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament either way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Mavericks will host St. Thomas in the CCHA championship game but the league’s automatic qualifier is already decided.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":150176,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[812],"coauthors":[901],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Minnesota State is already locked into an NCAA tourney autobid<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Mavericks will host St. Thomas in the CCHA championship game but the league's automatic qualifier is already decided.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151972\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Minnesota State is already locked into an NCAA tourney autobid\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Mavericks will host St. Thomas in the CCHA championship game but the league's automatic qualifier is already decided.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151972\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"College Hockey | USCHO.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OfficialUSCHO\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OfficialUSCHO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-16T02:33:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_0423.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1290\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"717\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"USCHO Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@uscho\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@USCHO\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"USCHO Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2025\/03\/15\/why-minnesota-state-is-already-locked-in-for-the-cchas-autobid-to-the-ncaa-tournament\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2025\/03\/15\/why-minnesota-state-is-already-locked-in-for-the-cchas-autobid-to-the-ncaa-tournament\/\",\"name\":\"Why Minnesota State is already locked into an NCAA tourney autobid\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2025\/03\/15\/why-minnesota-state-is-already-locked-in-for-the-cchas-autobid-to-the-ncaa-tournament\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2025\/03\/15\/why-minnesota-state-is-already-locked-in-for-the-cchas-autobid-to-the-ncaa-tournament\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_0423.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-16T02:33:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-16T02:33:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2d63d952cbce5030e3de41f9b5d221a8\"},\"description\":\"The Mavericks will host St. Thomas in the CCHA championship game but the league's automatic qualifier is already decided.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2025\/03\/15\/why-minnesota-state-is-already-locked-in-for-the-cchas-autobid-to-the-ncaa-tournament\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2025\/03\/15\/why-minnesota-state-is-already-locked-in-for-the-cchas-autobid-to-the-ncaa-tournament\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2025\/03\/15\/why-minnesota-state-is-already-locked-in-for-the-cchas-autobid-to-the-ncaa-tournament\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_0423.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_0423.jpeg\",\"width\":1290,\"height\":717,\"caption\":\"The Minnesota State offense has been clicking this season (photo: Dylan Engel).\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2025\/03\/15\/why-minnesota-state-is-already-locked-in-for-the-cchas-autobid-to-the-ncaa-tournament\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why Minnesota State is already locked in for the CCHA’s autobid to the NCAA tournament\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/\",\"name\":\"College Hockey | USCHO.com\",\"description\":\"Men's and Women's D-I and D-III College Hockey News, Features, Scores, Statistics, Fan Forum, Blogs\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2d63d952cbce5030e3de41f9b5d221a8\",\"name\":\"USCHO Staff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/9ee62a6a6c16d3fd15c646d7b1b6fa5a\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b30a8e93e23afaa5e51a2c1c4738dd51?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b30a8e93e23afaa5e51a2c1c4738dd51?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"USCHO Staff\"},\"description\":\"Contact USCHO editors at editstaff@uscho.com.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OfficialUSCHO\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/@uscho\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/author\/uschostaffreport\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why Minnesota State is already locked into an NCAA tourney autobid","description":"The Mavericks will host St. Thomas in the CCHA championship game but the league's automatic qualifier is already decided.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151972","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why Minnesota State is already locked into an NCAA tourney autobid","og_description":"The Mavericks will host St. Thomas in the CCHA championship game but the league's automatic qualifier is already decided.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151972","og_site_name":"College Hockey | USCHO.com","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OfficialUSCHO\/","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OfficialUSCHO","article_published_time":"2025-03-16T02:33:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1290,"height":717,"url":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_0423.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"USCHO Staff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@uscho","twitter_site":"@USCHO","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"USCHO Staff","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2025\/03\/15\/why-minnesota-state-is-already-locked-in-for-the-cchas-autobid-to-the-ncaa-tournament\/","url":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2025\/03\/15\/why-minnesota-state-is-already-locked-in-for-the-cchas-autobid-to-the-ncaa-tournament\/","name":"Why Minnesota State is already locked into an NCAA tourney autobid","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2025\/03\/15\/why-minnesota-state-is-already-locked-in-for-the-cchas-autobid-to-the-ncaa-tournament\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2025\/03\/15\/why-minnesota-state-is-already-locked-in-for-the-cchas-autobid-to-the-ncaa-tournament\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_0423.jpeg","datePublished":"2025-03-16T02:33:57+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-16T02:33:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2d63d952cbce5030e3de41f9b5d221a8"},"description":"The Mavericks will host St. Thomas in the CCHA championship game but the league's automatic qualifier is already decided.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2025\/03\/15\/why-minnesota-state-is-already-locked-in-for-the-cchas-autobid-to-the-ncaa-tournament\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2025\/03\/15\/why-minnesota-state-is-already-locked-in-for-the-cchas-autobid-to-the-ncaa-tournament\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2025\/03\/15\/why-minnesota-state-is-already-locked-in-for-the-cchas-autobid-to-the-ncaa-tournament\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_0423.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_0423.jpeg","width":1290,"height":717,"caption":"The Minnesota State offense has been clicking this season (photo: Dylan Engel)."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2025\/03\/15\/why-minnesota-state-is-already-locked-in-for-the-cchas-autobid-to-the-ncaa-tournament\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why Minnesota State is already locked in for the CCHA’s autobid to the NCAA tournament"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/","name":"College Hockey | USCHO.com","description":"Men's and Women's D-I and D-III College Hockey News, Features, Scores, Statistics, Fan Forum, Blogs","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2d63d952cbce5030e3de41f9b5d221a8","name":"USCHO Staff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/9ee62a6a6c16d3fd15c646d7b1b6fa5a","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b30a8e93e23afaa5e51a2c1c4738dd51?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b30a8e93e23afaa5e51a2c1c4738dd51?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"USCHO Staff"},"description":"Contact USCHO editors at editstaff@uscho.com.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OfficialUSCHO","https:\/\/x.com\/@uscho"],"url":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/author\/uschostaffreport\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151972"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/120"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151972"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":151974,"href":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151972\/revisions\/151974"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151972"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=151972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}