NCAA championship preview: Western Michigan, BU vying for immortality

The recent history of college hockey is littered with newcomers. Teams that had never been to a national championship game, teams that had never won a national title.

Western Michigan is yet another. For a program that started in the early 1970s, this season marked the Broncos' first-ever conference regular-season championship, and therefore first-ever conference double-title, as they won the NCHC postseason championship as well. In their 10th NCAA tournament appearance, Thursday saw the program's first-ever Frozen Four game. Tonight will be the first-ever championship game, playing for the first-ever national title.

For their opponents, the jerseys may be scarlet, but the blood runs blue.

The Boston University Terriers have been around for over 100 seasons. They've won 17 conference regular-