The NCAA men's basketball tournament may have started two weeks ago, but the real March Madness occurred this past weekend at the NCAA men's hockey tournament. At the beginning of the weekend, things seemed pretty clear-cut: Boston University, Michigan and Notre Dame, all top seeds, should cruise to the Frozen Four. Denver seemed to be the only vulnerable top seed, having to face the Miami RedHawks, but at No. 4 in the nation, the Pioneers were widely considered one of the nation's top teams. In addition, two-seeds North Dakota and Northeastern seemed poised for the quarterfinals, and another No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth was the hottest team in college hockey. And then everything went off script. Way off script.

It started with the No. 4 seed Air Force. Only making the tournament because they won their conference championship, the Falcons got the prize of facing Michigan. Apparently, the Wolverines forgot to look at tape of Miami's victory against Air Force in last season's NCAAs. Goalie Andrew Volkening was untouchable as he shutout Michigan, and Air Force scored the biggest upset in their program's history, defeating the Wolverines 2-0. They were only the first No. 4 seed to advance.

Miami, who had well documented struggles the second half of the season, looked like the 12-3-3 team from the first semester, as they dominated Denver from the start. Justin Mercier was unstoppable, and freshman Cody Reichard looked like a senior between the pipes as Rico beat his old coach and mentor, George Gwozecky, in a 4-2 victory that put Miami into the quarterfinals once again.

Vermont followed up Miami's victory with an upset of their own as the No. 3 Catamounts defeated the No. 2 Yale Bulldogs in a convincing 4-1 fashion. It was a short stint for Yale who would be joined on the road by Princeton when Minnesota-Duluth, who was favored, scored two goals in the last 30 seconds to force overtime and then scored the game-winner in the extra session.

After day one, two No. 4 seeds had beaten No. 1 seeds, a No. 3 had beaten a No. 2 and the only higher seed to advance, No. 2 UMD, needed to score two goals in the last thirty seconds to force overtime and make the quarterfinals. Out of breath? We aren't done yet.

Then there was day two. It opened with another huge surprise, No. 3 New Hampshire was all but done when they crawled to within one goal against the favored No. 2 North Dakota Fighting Sioux. But in the final second, UNH tied the game, forcing overtime, and put in the game winner to stun UND. It was another NCAA miracle. Only to be followed by more.

Cornell was facing a Northeastern team that spent most of the season in the top five. Their No. 2 seed in the tournament was slightly controversial, but after a late slide at the end of the season, it was not all that surprising. What stunned everyone was when the No. 3 Big Red of the Ivy League scored in the final seconds to defeat Northeastern 3-2 and advance to the quarterfinals. Cornell had played well all season, but a victory over the Huskies had seemed out of reach. It wasn't.

Boston University easily handled Ohio State 8-3. That's all that needs to be said. It was supposed to happen. But if you filled out your NCAA hockey bracket and chose Bemidji State over Notre Dame, you're lying. In what may be the biggest upset in NCAA history, on the ranks of Holy Cross upsetting Minnesota a few years back, the Beavers from that small college in Minnesota upended the Fighting Irish. They did not just win; Bemidji dominated Notre Dame. 5-1 was the final score in the most convincing victory of the tournament other than BU's win against OSU.

More hockey was to be played. Air Force and Vermont went into double overtime, when the whistle blew. After 15 minutes, it was clear the referees were reviewing a goal from minutes earlier. Six minutes before the whistle, Vermont had put in a shot from the point. It was now being reviewed. In something that broadcasters and people around the game said they had never seen before, Vermont was awarded the victory even though six minutes had been played after the game-winning goal. Vermont was through to the Frozen Four as the No. 3 seed.

And then, there is Miami. This was supposed to be a rebuilding year. The RedHawks were supposed to be fighting for a tournament spot. And they battled. Miami made it. And they have made the most of it. Making their third straight quarterfinal, the Red and White finally faced a team that was not Boston College. Reichard was sensational. Mercier scored both goals, and now Miami, for the first time is school history, and as a No. 4 seed no less, will make their first trip to the Frozen Four.

With two more games set to be played at the deadline of this article, it is a conclusion that the Frozen Four will feature at least three teams at the three or four seed. If UNH can upset BU, all four teams would be three seeds or four seeds. So say what you want about Cinderellas in the NCAA basketball tournament, but the slipper is clearly fitting in college hockey.