Call it March Madness on ice.

The ACHA national championship tournament gets underway at noon today at The Tucson Convention Center when Ohio takes on Wisconsin-Whitewater. Penn State takes the ice 9:30 tonight against Kent State.

"Everyone has that little extra jump in their step right now and we're anxious to get started," Icer coach Joe Battista said. "If we stay healthy and play to our capabilities, we can definitely make another run at the championship."

The top four seeds appear to be head and shoulders above the rest of the field, but a few darkhorses have the ability to spoil the contenders' championship runs.

Here's a look at the seedings.

Eastern Michigan (32-2-2)

The Eagles are steamrolling into the tournament after winning 27 of their last 30 games including the Central States Collegiate Hockey League — arguably the best conference in the ACHA — tournament.

Eastern Michigan — last year's tournament runner-up — is perhaps the deepest team in the league and has to be considered the favorite to bring home the Murdoch Cup.

The Eagles allow only 2.7 goals per game while netting 5.6 of their own and Dane Dresch, David Cairns and Dan Maszatics make up the most potent power play in the ACHA.

Penn State (24-4-2)

The Icers are another hot team and are the only team in the field to defeat the mighty Eagles.

History says if the Icers can get out of pool play, look out. Penn State has reached the tournament finals each of the last three seasons, bringing home the title twice, including last season.

The Icers came into the season as the ACHA's preseason favorite, and if it wasn't for a slew of injuries, the Icers may be holding that coveted top seed.

If Battista's club can stay healthy, a showdown with Eastern Michigan appears inevitable.

Minot State (19-1-0)

This team is pretty much an enigma. Nestled away in the plains of North Dakota, Minot State has not played too many games against actual ACHA competition.

"We don't know a great deal about them," Battista said. "But they've won by some lopsided scores. They may be the team in the end that we're all gunning for."

Minot's lone loss came to Iowa State, but the Beavers still crushed the Cyclones in three other matchups by a combined score of 23-7.

Goalie Shawn Bergstan is the team leader and was Team U.S.A.'s goalie during the World University Games in Poland.

Ohio (17-8-5)

The Bobcats are traditionally tough come tournament time. Ohio made the tournament final four straight seasons from 1994-98, bringing home the Murdoch Cup three straight times in that span.

This year it seems Ohio goes as their goaltending goes, so if senior goalie Scott Walls plays up to his ability, the Bobcats can make some noise.

The stats prove it. In the Bobcats 17 wins, Walls let up only 29 goals, but in eight losses he's allowed 34.

Iowa State (30-12-1)

This has been a hot and cold team all season long. The Cyclones would win seven in a row here, then drop three in a row there. Win six in a row, lose three in a row.

It's tough to get a grasp on their chances but if junior forward Glenn Detulleo keeps playing at his current pace, he may carry this squad deep into the tournament.

Detulleo has been among the top scorers in the league throughout his career and has scolded ACHA defenses for 2.6 points per game this season.

Illinois (21-11-3)

Another team whose title hopes may rest on the shoulders of their goaltenders.

But the Fighting Illini have a pair of good ones themselves. The problem is they're only freshmen.

If Tim Danlow and Erik Fossum can keep the puck out of the net, the Illini could be a tournament darkhorse.

Arizona (28-2-1)

If nothing else, the Icecats have the home ice advantage in the tournament.

Battista said when the Arizona faithful gets rowdy, the Tucson Convention Center is one of the toughest ACHA venues to play at.

But this team could wreak some serious havoc if they get rolling

The Icecats' foursome of Paul Dorn, Tyler Brush, Marc Harris and Mike Graves are a deadly quartet that has smoked their opposition for 231 points this season.

Goalie Jason Morgan is only allowing 1.92 goals per game.

The biggest problem Arizona may face is history. The Icecats have lost seven of the last eight games against Penn State, including three during the tournament.

Both teams are in the same pool this year.

Michigan-Dearborn (14-19)

Don't let the record fool you. Nobody wants to play this team.

"I'm glad we're not in their bracket," Battista said. "They're a dangerous team and they've found some decent goaltending late in the year."

While the Wolves are a very young team — they started the season with 14 newcomers — they are an aggressive club that gave Eastern Michigan fits in the CSCHL title game.

Coincidentally, the Wolves and Eagles will meet for the seventh time in pool play, Saturday. Eastern won the first six meetings.

If the Wolves roughhouse style gets under the Eagles skin, watch out for a major upset.

Delaware (17-12-1)

Here's another team who's had an up and down season. After starting the season at 10-5, the Blue Hens stumbled and lost their next five and were embarrassed by an overtime loss to lowly West Chester in the Nittany Lion Invitational Tournament.

But coach Josh Brandwene's club roared back to win their last four games and almost pulled off two shockers against Penn State in early February games at the Ice Pavilion.

If this team keeps the momentum going, Eastern Michigan will have a tough time getting out of their pool.

Kent State (16-16-4)

Another physical team that could give Battista headaches if they pull everything together.

The Golden Flashes barely lost to the Icers 2-1, in early November and have a knack of throwing teams off of their game.

Kent State also lost a pair of nail-biting overtime games to Eastern Michigan, so this team's no pushover.

Towson (20-9-1)

Although the Tigers may have played the easiest schedule of the 12-team field, they almost pulled off the season's biggest upset by tying Penn State in early January.

This is another squad that will need to rely on strong goaltending.

Freshmen Jason Pilon and Kevin Birnstill have taken control of the Tigers three-man rotation and have come on very strong lately by posting a 91.5 save percentage and a 2.47 goals against average.

Wisconsin-Whitewater (7-14-4)

The Warhawks are another team whose record isn't as indicative of how good it really is.

Playing against the best of the CSCHL will give a team a record like this.

But ACHA coaches must have known something good about the Warhawks to have voted them into this ACHA championship. tournament.