UNION LAKE, Mich. -- The Adrian College Men's ACHA Division 1 hockey team ends the regular season ranked the No. 6 team in the nation. The Bulldogs will defend their 2024 National Championship victory at the 2025 ACHA National Championship Tournament in St. Louis, Missouri as the No. 6 seed.
Last night, the ACHA held a live selection show to determine the seeds and match-ups for next month's national showdown. The Bulldogs were revealed as the No. 6 seed in the tournament, with No. 1 Minot State, No. 2 UNLV, No. 3 Ohio, No. 4 Liberty, and No. 5 Jamestown sitting in front of them.
Nineteen teams in the ranking will return after participating in 2024 ACHA Men's Division I National Championships last season, including No. 6 seed Adrian College (15th consecutive/overall appearance); No. 7 seed Niagara University (fourth consecutive/seventh overall appearance); No. 8 seed University of Utah (second consecutive/overall appearance); No. 10 seed Maryville University (fifth consecutive/overall appearance); No. 11 seed Calvin University (third consecutive/fifth overall appearance); No. 12 seed Grand Canyon University (second consecutive/overall appearance); No. 13 seed Indiana Tech (sixth consecutive/overall appearance); No. 14 seed University of Mary (second consecutive/overall appearance); No. 15 seed University of Arizona (fourth consecutive/22nd overall appearance); No. 17 seed Purdue University Northwest (second consecutive/overall appearance); No. 19 seed University of Pittsburgh (fourth consecutive/sixth overall appearance); No. 20 seed Oswego State University (second consecutive/overall appearance); No. 21 seed University of Delaware (second consecutive/19th overall appearance); No. 24 seed West Chester University (second consecutive/eighth overall appearance).
Joining those schools will be five teams that did not participate a year ago, including two teams making their inaugural appearance: No. 9 seed Drury University (first overall appearance); No. 16 seed Midland University (second overall appearance and first since 2017); No. 18 seed University of Oklahoma (14th overall appearance and first since 2019); No. 22 seed John Carroll University (fourth overall appearance and first since 2022); and No. 23 seed Northwood University (first overall appearance).
2025 ACHA Men's Division I National Championships team breakdown by conferences:
5 – WCHL                   Arizona, Grand Canyon, Nevada-Las Vegas, Oklahoma, and Utah
5 – Independent        Drury, Liberty, Maryville, Niagara, and Ohio
4 – MCH                     Jamestown, Mary, Midland, Minot State
3 – GL6                       Adrian, Calvin, and Purdue Northwest
2 – ESCHL                   Delaware and Pittsburgh
1 – CHMA                   John Carroll
1 – ECHA                    West Chester
1 – GLCHL                   Northwood
1 – NECHL                  Oswego State
1 – WHAC                  Indiana Tech
The Great Lakes 6 Hockey Conference, playing in its inaugural season, leads the way with four (of 6) of its member teams ranked, while Western Collegiate Hockey League has seven (of 11) of its member teams ranked, Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League has three (of 6) of its member teams ranked, and Midwest College Hockey has four (of 10) of its member teams ranked.
The ACHA uses two computer rankings generated by USHSHO.com, Ranking A (Wins with Maximum Goal Differential of 7) and Ranking B (Wins with Maximum Goal Differential of 1), and come up with an average of the two rankings. The ACHA will then use the list generated from the average for its weekly ranking. Ties will be broken using the higher ranked team from Ranking B until the Top 25 teams are listed. All games that go to overtime will be scored as ties in the computer ranking.
The MD1 Bulldogs still have some work left to do this season before they make their way down to Missouri in March. The Bulldogs are set to host the GL6 Conference Playoffs this week at the Arrington Ice Arena, with action beginning tomorrow at 5:30 PM.
Adrian will begin their national tournament quest on Saturday, March 15 at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Missouri. A full Adrian College Men's ACHA Division 1 hockey national tournament preview will be released on the Adrian College Athletics website leading up to the action.
