Field: The championship features eight teams, including the champions of the Eastern College Athletic Conference's East and Northeast divisions, the State University of New York Athletic, Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic and New England Small College Athletic Conferences, and the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association. The remaining two teams are selected at large through Division III qualification procedures.

Dates and sites: The four winners of first-round competition, which features a two-game series with a minigame tiebreaker system, at campus sites March 10-11 will advance to the campus of one of the competing institutions for the semifinals, third-place and championship games March 17-18.

Information/results: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/563-1133 (pin code 1915); request numbers are 1423 for bracket/schedule, 5124 for semifinal results, and 5125 for third-place-game and championship-game results. Championship results will be published in the March 27 issue of The NCAA News.

Championship notes: Five-time defending champion Middlebury became the first NCAA ice hockey team to claim five consecutive titles last year, defeating Wisconsin-Superior. Norwich, which hosted the championship last season, has been rated tops in the nation for much of the season. St. Thomas (Minnesota), Plattsburgh and St. Norbert will try to break Middlebury's string.