CCHA championship: St. Thomas, Minnesota State playing for pride with NCAA berth determined

Across college hockey, winning your conference's postseason championship always means you automatically book a ticket to the NCAA tournament.

Well, almost always.

This season, the CCHA is the one conference championship game — which will be held at 7:07 p.m. Eastern, Friday, in Mankato, Minnesota — where the result is guaranteed to have zero bearing on the NCAA tournament.

That's because St. Thomas, now in its fourth year of existence, is still in what the NCAA calls a "probationary period" after elevating its athletic department from Div. 3 in 2020. That period will expire at the start of the next academic year, but until it does, the school's teams cannot participate in an NCAA tournament in any sport. Many find that to be a silly rule, but that's the reality for the Tommies.

As such, by win