Hockey East non-conference struggles continue, and it's creating an NCAA Tournament problem

Hockey East endured another dismal showing in non-conference play over the weekend, posting a 1–4 record. UNH managed a split against Union and RPI, UMass Lowell was swept by those same opponents, and BU was handled convincingly by Quinnipiac.

The league now finds itself in a precarious spot in the early NCAA Tournament picture. The NPI isn’t the Pairwise, but it operates close enough that poor non-conference results will drag down every Hockey East team relative to their counterparts in the Big Ten and NCHC.

As we barrel toward Thanksgiving here in the United States, Hockey East is saddled with a meager .543 non-conference winning percentage — a far cry from the Big Ten (.700) and NCHC (.681). This downturn comes just one year removed from Hockey East’s robust .693 non-league mark.

Hockey East hasn’t posted a non-conference record this poor since 2018-19 (.534). That season, the league secured only three NCAA Tournament berths, and Providence — which advanced to the Frozen Four — did so as the No. 14 overall seed. The next-closest Hockey East team was UMass Lowell at No. 21, well outside the at-large bubble.