Off The Hop:  11th-rated Minnesota State (24-13-3 overall) faces #5 Miami (24-11-5) Saturday at the Midwest Regional in Toledo, Ohio. The Mavericks and the RedHawks face-off at 4:00 p.m. CST at Huntington Center.

About the Regional:   Hosted by Bowling Green, the NCAA Division Midwest Region is scheduled for March 30-31 at Huntington Center (8,000) in Toledo.  Besides Minnesota State and Miami, the other first round game features Notre Dame (25-12-3) vs. St. Cloud State (23-15-1).  The Fighting Irish and Huskies play at 12:30 p.m. Saturday and the two first-round winners will vie for the regional championship Sunday at 3:00 p.m.

Winners of the four regional championships will advance to the NCAA Men’s Hockey Frozen Four, which is slated for April 11 and 13 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Click HERE for the complete NCAA tournament bracket.

MSU Versus the RedHawks:  MSU owns an all-time record of 0-1-1 vs. Miami. The last time the Mavericks and RedHawks met was in a consolation game at a tournament hosted by Ohio State in 2004-05 in which the official score 3-3 (MSU won shoot-out, 3-1, to determine the winner). Miami defeated the Mavericks in 1996-97, 4-2, in a game played in Mankato.

MSU in NCAA Division I Tournament Action:    This is MSU’s second appearance in the NCAA Division I tournament. MSU’s other appearance was in 2002-03 when it dropped a 5-2 decision to Cornell in the East Regional in Providence, R.I.

The Mavericks, who played as members of Division II and Division three from 1969-96 before reaffiliating to Division I, have played in a total of 12 NCAA postseason men’s hockey tournaments (one as a member of Division I).

MSU won a NCAA Division II in 1979-80.

Where Amongst?:   Minnesota State is rated 11th in this week’s national USCHO.com poll (see page 5 of this release for additional poll information).

Prior to this year, the last time Minnesota State appeared in the USCHO poll was during the 2008-09 season when the Mavericks were rated in the top twenty 11 times, reaching a high of tenth at one point.

MSU Most Recently:  The Mavericks, who enter the NCAA tournament having won eight of their last 12 games, lost 7-2 to Wisconsin last Thursday in the first round of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Final Five.

The rest of this 15-page release is available HERE.