NCAA moves the 2027 Bridgeport Regional to Hartford
PeoplesBank Arena hosts March 25-28 with Sacred Heart as host school, after Bridgeport lost its AHL tenant and went under renovation.
The NCAA made it official Tuesday: the 2027 Bridgeport Regional is now the Hartford Regional. The men's tournament's Northeast stop moves up I-91 to PeoplesBank Arena, March 25-28, with Sacred Heart staying on as host school.
The NCAA's release blames renovations at Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, which left the building unable to host. College Hockey News reported the move on Sept. 14 and added the part the release skips. The Islanders pulled their AHL club out of Bridgeport for Hamilton, Ontario, and the committee reopened bidding for the site.
What Hartford gets
This is the first time Hartford has hosted an NCAA regional, per NCAA.com. The building has hockey history to spare. It was the Whalers' barn until the NHL left town in 1997, and it's where UConn plays its home games now.
So a program that's been trying to build a real hockey footprint in Hartford gets a regional in its own rink. That's not a small thing for a Hockey East team that's spent a decade fighting for attention in a state that lost its NHL club.
The rest of the bracket
The other three regionals sit in Fargo, North Dakota; Loveland, Colorado; and Springfield, Massachusetts. Selections come Sunday, March 21, 2027, when 16 teams make the field. The Frozen Four is April 8-10 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
Two of four regionals in New England is the usual East Coast tilt. With Denver at No. 1 in the preseason poll and the Frozen Four in D.C., the western powers will grumble about the geography like they do every year.
Ferda take
The renovation line is fine, but the AHL exit is the real story. An arena without an anchor tenant doesn't keep a regional, and the NCAA wasn't going to fill a building that just lost its only pro team.
Hartford is the better fit anyway. UConn's fans already know the building, and every Hockey East school can get there on a bus. If UConn actually makes the field and draws the home regional, that building will be as loud as it's been since 1997.
A regional in Bridgeport was always a quiet room in a nice arena. Hartford at least has a chance to feel like a hockey town again for a weekend.
What's next
The college season starts next month. Anyone eyeing Hartford as a home-ice edge has six months to earn a top seed and a spot on the committee's map.
