NCHC semifinals: Arizona State, North Dakota looking for upsets against tournament-bound Denver and Western Michigan

It's an unfamiliar situation for the NCHC, but it's the reality this year: Two of the teams in the conference semifinals need to win it all to make the NCAA tournament. While Western Michigan and Denver are guaranteed to make it, Arizona State is just barely hanging onto a top-15 spot and North Dakota is just on the wrong side of the top 16. However, because there are going to be at least three line-movers thanks to other conferences' automatic bids, they don't even have the luxury of hoping for chalk wins elsewhere. Their destiny is fully in their own hands.

The question, then, is whether they are properly equipped to make the steep climbs they now face.

Denver vs. Arizona State (4 p.m. Central, Friday)

Denver has locked up its NCAA berth already, while ASU has not, but the Sun Devils are th