North Dakota is the No. 1 seed, was No. 1 in the Parwise last year when the season ended, and probably would be No. 1 in the Pairwise right now if this were a normal year.
So it was no surprise that North Dakota handled last-place Miami with a 6-2 quarterfinal win, jumping all over the Red Hawks early and often.
"There was some excitement here after what went on last year," ND coach Brad Berry said about his team finally getting to play a playoff game again. "Some of the young guys might have had jitters, but it didn't take them long to settle into the game.