The 2026 NCAA women's hockey tournament field is set with Ohio State earning the top overall seed after winning the WCHA championship. The Buckeyes will host the regional final as the No. 1 seed, with Penn State, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Northeastern rounding out the top five seeds. Eleven teams qualified for the tournament, with five conference champions earning automatic bids and six at-large selections.

Regional play begins Thursday with first-round games streaming on the ESPN App, leading to the Frozen Four on March 20-22 at University Park, Pennsylvania. The championship game will air March 22 at 4 p.m. ET on ESPNU. Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Minnesota have dominated recent tournaments, with Wisconsin winning the 2025 title and those teams alternating championships over the last five seasons.

The tournament features powerhouse programs like Wisconsin, which leads the nation in scoring at 5.26 goals per game, and Penn State, which claimed its fourth straight Atlantic Hockey tournament title. UConn enters as the Hockey East champion after a dramatic double-overtime win, while Quinnipiac won its first ECAC title since 2016. With top teams like Ohio State and Wisconsin on a collision course, the bracket sets up for another compelling championship run.