It’s been a bit of a formality since the day it was announced in 2020, but Denver is officially heading back to Loveland for the NCAA Tournament.

When the NCAA announced future regional and Frozen Four sites through the 2026 season, all the way back in October 2020, everyone knew what Loveland’s inclusion meant: a chance for the Pioneers to play NCAA Tournament games in front of their home fans.

They got to do so for the first time in 2022 on the way to a national championship, and David Carle’s team is heading back there this weekend.

DU is the No. 5 overall seed (No. 2 seed in the region) and will play Cornell on Friday (4 p.m., ESPN+) at Blue Arena.

It’s the third time in the last four years the Pios will face the Big Red in a regional. Cornell won a regional semifinal in Manchester, N.H., in 2023, while DU got revenge a year later in Springfield, Mass., to win the regional and advance to the Frozen Four.

No. 4 overall seed Western Michigan and Minnesota State will play in the other semifinal at 12:30 p.m. (ESPNU). The winners of the two games will meet Sunday with a trip to the Frozen Four in Las Vegas on the line.

The Pios are red-hot going into the NCAA Tournament with a 13-game unbeaten streak that dates back to late January.

DU won the NCHC Frozen Faceoff on home ice at Magness Arena on Saturday night with a 4-3 win over Minnesota Duluth in double overtime to clinch an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. Still, its spot was already guaranteed mathematically by the new NCAA Percentage Index (NPI) that the selection committee uses to determine the 16 teams playing for the national championship.

Four NCHC teams made the NCAA Tournament with DU and Western Michigan heading to Loveland, while North Dakota is a No. 1 seed playing in Sioux Falls, S.D., and Minnesota Duluth is a No. 2 playing in Albany, N.Y.

Michigan is the No. 1 overall seed after winning the Big Ten tournament and the top team in Albany.

This will be the Pios’ fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. The program has missed the tournament only once since 2008 (2021). They are seeking a third straight trip to the Frozen Four, something the program has accomplished once (1971-73).

This is the first of two straight years DU will host an NCAA regional in Loveland.