Notre Dame Hockey: Irish ranked #15 in PairWise Rankings to begin crucial stretch

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish hockey team is currently ranked #15 in the latest PairWise College Hockey rankings.

It hasn’t been a lights-out type of season for the Irish who hold an 11-12-3 record overall — but at #15 it’s currently good enough to get into the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Hockey Tournament takes the 6 conference champions and then the best 10 at large according to the PairWise rankings. While #15 theoretically can get Notre Dame in the tourney — it’s a much safer bet to be no lower than #12.

The Big 10 is loaded with teams inside the top 15 with five other teams besides Notre Dame:

• #1 Minnesota Gophers
• #3 Penn State Nittany Lions
• #7 Ohio State Buckeyes
• #7 Michigan Wolverines
• #13 Michigan State Spartans

Notre Dame’s final three series of the regular season are against Sparty, Bucks, and Michigan — so there is a real opportunity to rise to a more comfortable position. There’s always the Big 10 Tournament as well, but Minnesota is brutally tough this year — as is the rest of the conference (with an exception of the Wisconsin Badgers who the Irish play this weekend).

This year’s Frozen Four will be held in Tampa Bay, Florida.