Unlike years past, no single program has emerged as the odds-on favorite to capture the NCAA title and any one of several schools could emerge from each of the regionals to challenge for the championship in Columbus on April 9.

Of course, if one were betting on a single conference, smart money would be on the WCHA, which earned five bids, including No. 1 seeds Denver, Colorado College, and Minnesota, the last of which will enjoy all the comforts of home prior to the Frozen Four. Play in the East and Midwest Regionals starts today, while the West and Northeast Regionals drop the puck tomorrow.

BREAKING DOWN UNH

RECORD: 25-10-5

SEED: 2

New Hampshire, Hockey East’s post-season runner up, has a 3-3-2 record in its last eight games and was awarded an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

Harvard and UNH haven’t met since Dec. 14, 2000, when the Wildcats downed the Crimson at the Whittemore Center, 4-1, its fifth straight victory in the series. Harvard holds a 17-10 record all-time against UNH, though.

Though the two have not matched up head-to-head thus far this season, the Crimson managed a 3-3 record against Hockey East, splitting a pair with BC, defeating Maine and BU, and losing to Northeastern and Merrimack.

In six contests versus ECAC opponents, the Wildcats went 4-2, dropping St. Lawrence twice, Yale and Clarkson once, and losing to both Dartmouth and Vermont.

Strengths: New Hampshire enters tomorrow’s regional semifinal averaging 4.03 goals per game, good for second best in the country behind only Michigan.

Most of that firepower is drawn from the Wildcats’ first two lines, which feature six forwards with at least 30 points—more than any single member of the Crimson.

UNH’s top trio—Sean Collins, Preston Callander, and Brett Hemingway—is particularly potent, racking up a whopping 149 points, anchored by Collins’ 54.

The Wildcats also thrive on the power play, converting on a whopping 24.6 percent of their chances, the second-highest rate in the nation. Hemingway leads all scorers with 11 man-advantage goals, while Callander and defenseman Brian Yandle each have nine.

Yandle is no small threat at even-strength, either, with 35 points to his credit thus far this year.