February 20, 2014
Salt Lake City, UT
After a successful campaign during the 2013-2014 season, the Utes are heading to the playoffs for the third straight year.
The Utah Utes were ranked 4th in the final ACHA West rankings, which is the highest final ranking in club history. The Utes finished the last two years ranked 6th and 7th heading into the postseason.
The five ACHA rankings throughout the season decide which teams make it to the playoffs at season’s end. The top two ranked teams receive automatic bids to the National Tournament, which is in Boston, MA this year. Teams ranked 3rd through 10th advance to the Regional Tournament, where the final two spots at Nationals are up or grabs in each division. Weber State and Northern Arizona finished first and second in the west division, receiving the automatic bids to Nationals for the West Division.
Just ahead of Utah in the final poll is Utah State, who will be the top seed at the West Regionals in Flagstaff, AZ this weekend. Utah came in at number four and will be the second seed in the tournament. After Utah at number five is San Jose State, who finished with their highest ranking of the season. Rounding out the top ten was Cal State Fullerton, Boise State, Texas A&M, Loyola Marymount, and Denver.
Cal State Fullerton, Boise State, and Loyola Marymount are going to the playoffs for the first time while the other five made the playoffs last year.
Just outside of the playoffs are Montana Tech, Cal State Long Beach, San Diego State, Arizona State PAC 8, and Cal State Northridge.
As the second seed at regionals, the Utes will take on ninth-ranked Loyola Marymount in the first round of the ACHA West Regionals. The winners of first round matchups will play the next day with the winners advancing to Nationals in March.
This will be the third time Utah has made the regional tournament and their third straight playoff appearance. The regional playoffs begin on February 22nd in Flagstaff, AZ. The second round will be February 23rd with two spots for Nationals up for grabs.
