Previewing the 5 days of NCAA women's hockey conference championship week

On the March 3, 2026, edition of the PodKaz, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski from USCHO.com dig into the five days of play ahead leading to conference playoff championships.First, however, we take a look back at how we got here. There were only two teams advancing via upsets last week: Minnesota State over Minnesota Duluth in the WCHA and Vermont over Boston College in Hockey East.Minnesota, Quinnipiac, Princeton and Assumption also needed to win Game 3 on Sunday to make it to the final week.Four leagues have their semifinals on a day to themselves this week, with Hockey East going first Tuesday, NEWHA following Wednesday, the WCHA going Thursday and ECAC Hockey wrapping things up Friday. Then all five leagues have their playoff championship games Saturday.We wrap up by checking in with the NCAA Power Index, which determines selection and seeding for the NCAA tournament after Saturday’s games.If you’re new to the NPI, check out Nicole’s story from 2023 on how it works. And here’s our story laying out who’s locked into the field and who’s still trying to earn a bid. The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for us? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email [email protected].