NCAA men's hockey field is ready. Here's what the bracket might look like.

The field for the NCAA Division I men's hockey tournament will be officially announced on ESPNU on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. However, Friday's action left 15 of the 16 spots filled, leaving only Colorado College and Massachusetts as candidates for the final at-large bid.

And whether that bid went to the Tigers or Minutemen played out Saturday night in St. Paul as Denver defeated Nebraska Omaha 4-1 to win the NCHC Frozen Faceoff championship. The Pioneers' victory sent UMass to the NCAA tournament, while Colorado College fell out of contention.

The 16-team NCAA field will feature the conference tournament champions from the six Division I leagues: Atlantic Hockey (Rochester Institute of Technology), Big Ten (Michigan State), CCHA (Michigan Tech), ECAC (Cornell), Hockey East (Boston College) and NCHC (Denver).

The remaining 10 spots are filled by major teams based on their PairWise Ratings, a computer comparison formula used by the NCAA hockey selection committee. They are: Boston University, Maine, North Dakota, the Gophers, Wisconsin, Quinnipiac, Michigan, Nebraska Omaha, Western Michigan and Massachusetts.

Where will the Gophers end up? They will be one of four No. 2 regional seeds, with the Sioux Falls Regional leading the pack as their destination. They would play host team Nebraska Omaha when they land in South Dakota.

When assigning teams to the four regional regions of Providence, RI; Springfield, MA; Sioux Falls; and Maryland Heights, Mo. the selection committee will try to keep the bracket as balanced as possible by using #1 vs. #16, #2 vs. #15, #3 vs. #14, etc.

There are exceptions. Intra-conference first round matches should be avoided, and the host of the regional match, if on the tournament field, should be placed in that regional region. Also, the committee may use attendance or travel reasons to move teams within their seeding band (Nos. 1-4, Nos. 5-8, Nos. 9-12 and Nos. 13-16), but not outside their seeding band. . If there are five or more teams from one conference, the committee may hold an intraconference matchup in the first round, but this is not required.

Here's what the bracket might look like using just the balanced approach and before eliminating any host or intraconference matchup issues:

Bracketology concept, before changes

Regional Providence

1. Boston College vs. 16. Michigan Tech

8. Wisconsin vs. 9. Quinnipiac

Springfield Regional

2. Boston University vs. 15. Rochester Institute of Technology

7. Gophers vs. 10. Michigan

Sioux Falls Regional

3. Denver vs. 14. Massachusetts

6. North Dakota vs. 11. Nebraska Omaha

Maryland Heights Regional

4. Michigan State vs. 13. Western Michigan

5. Maine vs. 12 Cornell

There are a few problems with this design:

Massachusetts and Nebraska Omaha are host states and cannot be in the same region. Solution: Move Massachusetts to Springfield, as required. Move Rochester Tech to Sioux Falls.

There is an intraconference matchup between Boston U. and Massachusetts. Solution: Move Boston U. to Maryland Heights and Michigan State to Springfield.

There are intraconference matchups between the Gophers and Michigan in Springfield, and North Dakota and Nebraska Omaha in Sioux Falls. Solution: Move the Gophers to Sioux Falls and North Dakota to Springfield.

There are now three eastern teams in Maryland Heights and three western teams in Springfield. Solution: Move North Dakota to Maryland Heights and Maine to Springfield.

That should settle things. There are no intra-conference matchups and the field below is geographically balanced.

Latest Bracketology Projection

Providence Regional (March 29 and 31)

1. Boston College vs. 4. Michigan Tech

2. Wisconsin vs. 3. Quinnipiac

Springfield Regional (March 28 and 30)

1. State of Michigan vs. 4. Massachusetts

2. Maine vs. 3. Michigan

Sioux Falls Regional (March 28 and 30)

1. Denver vs. 4. Rochester Institute of Technology

2. Gophers vs. 3. Nebraska Omaha

Maryland Heights Regional (March 29 and 31)

1. Boston University vs. 4. Western Michigan

2. North Dakota vs. 3. Cornell