Uh-oh.
Michigan received expected news yesterday. The Wolverines were not surprised when it was announced they had received the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in the West Regional of the NCAA hockey tournament.
The unexpected news came when they learned their first opponent would be Minnesota or Michigan State.
The fourth-seeded Golden Gophers and the fifth-seeded Spartans will play Saturday at 3 p.m. for the right to meet the Wolverines at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday. Both games will be played at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids.
In the only meeting between Michigan and Minnesota this season, it took an overtime goal from Michigan captain Brendan Morrison to give the Wolverines a 4-3 victory over the Gophers.
The Spartans are one of only two teams to beat the Wolverines this season - and they did it twice in four games.
"The only surprise in it is that we're the only team of the bye teams that could play a team in our own league," Michigan coach Red Berenson said.
The brackets are set up so that it is possible for Michigan, should it advance, to play the same teams they did last in last year's regionals - Minnesota and Boston University.
Last year, Michigan and Minnesota met in the regionals, with the Wolverines eking out a 4-3 victory, thanks in part to Mike Legg's famous lacrosse-style goal.
"Those two teams sure look familiar on our side of the bracket," Morrison said. "Hopefully, (since) things turned out the same, we'll have the same outcome, too."
Colorado College, which the Wolverines beat in last year's championship game, again looms on the other side of the bracket, this time as the No. 5 seed in the East.
The No. 4 seeding of Minnesota was the biggest surprise in the announcement of the 12 team draw. The Gophers finished the season in a first-place tie with North Dakota in the WCHA, but lost to the Fighting Sioux in the conference tournament championship.
"Personally, I thought (Minnesota) would get the three seed in the West," Morrison said. "Every year there seems to be something other than what you think is gonna happen."
The WCHA sent the most teams to the tournament with four, followed by three each from the CCHA and ECAC, and two from Hockey East.
Clarkson received the top seed in the East and will face the winner of No. 4 New Hampshire and No. 5 Colorado College.
The other first-round bye went to North Dakota, the No. 2 seed in the West, which will await the winner of No. 3 seed Miami (Ohio) and Cornell, which received the No. 6 seed despite beating Clarkson in the ECAC championship.
BU, the No. 2 seed in the East, will face the winner of No. 3 Vermont and No. 6 Denver.