For the first time in the history of the 16 team field tournament, which dates back to 2003, six teams from one conference made the NCAA. Three of those teams from the WCHA are featured in the Midwest regional, taking place in Madison, Wisconsin.

In the Midwest, the featured teams are the North Dakota Fighting Sioux, a team that loves to play a grinding style of defense, the Denver Pioneers, a team that just recently won the WCHA tournament, a Wisconsin Badger team that some say doesn’t belong in the tournament because of a losing record and a Princeton team that got into the tournament for the first time since 1998.

Overall, this could be the most interesting bracket, in part due to the host team, Wisconsin, who even with a losing record, got the third seed in the tournament as an at-large team. So who will come out victorious? Here are some predictions, beginning with the first round match-ups.

#1 North Dakota vs. #4 Princeton

The Fighting Sioux of North Dakota feature two Hobey Baker finalists, the most out of any team (T.J. Oshie and J.P. Lamoureux). Oshie led the team in scoring with 41 points, while Lamoureux’s 1.65 goals-against-average was the lowest in the country.

Those two players aren’t the only ones who are making an impact for Dave Hakstol’s club. Last year’s Hobey winner, Ryan Duncan, provided a +18 rating and tallied 36 points, while Chris VandeVelde improved his goal total by 12 in his sophomore season.

While the offense is solid, the defense is the main aspect of this team. Lamoureux’s great goaltending has been in part due to that feared defense, led by Robbie Bina, Taylor Chorney, Chay Genoway and Joe Finley. Derrick LaPoint, Jake Marto, Zach Jones and Kyle Radke have also made numerous contributions to the leading defense in the nation.

With Princeton, you really don’t know what to expect. They can outscore you one game and play a stifling defense the next. Lee Jubinville, Brett Wilson and Cam McIntyre provide most of the offense for the Tigers, while Mike Moore is a good two way defenseman. Combined, the four currently have a plus/minus total of +43.

Consistency is the name of the game if the Tigers are to advance to this round. The goaltending of Zane Kalemba was probably the most consistent performance for the Tigers in their run in the ECAC tournament. Kalemba had three shutouts in the tournament en route to becoming the most outstanding player.

While head coach Guy Gadowsky is seeing his first NCAA game, it will probably be the last game of the season for the Tigers. Expect North Dakota to come out victorious by the slimmest of margins in a defensive struggle.

Prediction: North Dakota 2 – Princeton 1

#2 Denver vs. #3 Wisconsin

Some thought Denver head coach George Gwozdecky and the Pioneers would’ve had a tough time in the WCHA tournament. However, Gwozdecky and his team proved them wrong by defeating Minnesota in the WCHA championship game en route to an automatic qualifying bid.

Though Brock Trotter left near the end of the season to sign a professional contract, freshman Tyler Bozak has been coming up strong as of late. After not registering a point from February 23rd to March 7th, Bozak has tallied five points in the team’s last five games. Rhett Rakhshani and Kyle Ostrow have also provided some offensive moments for the Pioneers.

Goaltending was an issue the previous two seasons for Denver. In fact, the last few games of the 2005-06 and the 2006-07 seasons the goaltending was inconsistent, which led to the team missing the NCAA tournament. However, senior Peter Mannino had one heck of a season between the pipes. Mannino’s six shutouts tied Lamoureux and Mark Dekanich of Colgate for the most in the country.

On the other side, the Wisconsin Badgers are a team that limped in to the tournament. With Notre Dame losing and Princeton winning their conferences, the Badgers leaped over Minnesota State, who was the last team out, and Notre Dame to finish 12th in the pairwise rankings.

Kyle Turris led the team in scoring in his freshman season; however, he will have to step up his play for Wisconsin to defeat Denver.

The offense for the Badgers is struggling and the defense is shaky at times. Shane Connelly has provided a spark at times in net, but, he will have to be consistent in order for Wisconsin to win this game.

Head Coach Mike Eaves and the Badgers backed into the postseason. Their year began on campus with pre-season workouts and will end on campus against Denver.

Prediction: Denver 4 – Wisconsin 1

As for Denver, they will move on and face the Fighting Sioux in the regional final. The Pioneers run will end in Madison as Dave Hakstol’s club will defeat Denver and move on to their fourth consecutive Frozen Four.

Regional Final Prediction: North Dakota 3 – Denver 2