from Chris Peters at ESPN,
The connections between the four teams set to play in the men's Frozen Four semifinals are undeniable, starting with Thursday night's first semifinal game between Ohio State and Minnesota-Duluth.
The Bulldogs, last year's national runner up, needed significant help to get into the NCAA tournament. The last domino to fall was actually a Notre Dame overtime victory over Ohio State in the Big Ten final. That allowed the Bulldogs to sneak into the last at-large spot, thanks to a RPI rating .0001 better than that of University of Minnesota....
The second semifinal will feature a pair of teams that have played each other four times already as conference foes, with the season series split 2-2. However, Michigan also may not have gotten here were it not for Notre Dame.
Michigan coach Mel Pearson believes his team's season turned a corner after being swept by Notre Dame in a home-and-home series in early January. The Wolverines lost a pair of close 2-1 games, but showed signs of life amid an 8-10-2 record, including a 3-7-2 mark in Big Ten play at that point.
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