College Hockey Insider by Mike McMahon

College Hockey Insider by Mike McMahon

Weekend Preview: Series with big NPI and conference implications headline the weekend

Plus: Tom Upton is the favorite to land Brown, UMass received a gift, and NCAA payouts on the Ray case revealed

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Mike McMahon
Feb 20, 2026
∙ Paid
Photo: Cornell Athletics

It’s another marquee weekend across the college hockey landscape.

Among the headliners: Cornell–Quinnipiac in the ECAC, Connecticut–Boston College in Hockey East, Bentley–RIT in Atlantic Hockey, and Augustana–St. Thomas in the CCHA. We’ll preview all of it.

Also in today’s newsletter (#646):

  • Brown has narrowed its head coaching search to two candidates, and there’s a growing belief that UMass assistant coach Tom Upton will emerge as the hire. I’ve got notes and a reaction on where things stand.

  • Speaking of UMass, the program received a significant gift that will have a meaningful impact on hockey.

  • And finally, we circle back to the Ray v. NCAA case. It hasn’t gotten much attention amid the broader legal churn in college athletics, but it was recently settled, and the NCAA has now approved the framework for how those payments will be distributed.

If you have ideas for a future newsletter, tips to pass along, or questions for a mailbag, I’d love to hear from you. You can reach me anytime at mike@collegehockeyinsider.com. Sponsorship inquiries are also welcome.

You can also find me on X at @MikeMcMahonCHN.

And a sincere thank you to our premium subscribers — your support makes independent, in-depth college hockey coverage possible.

Now, let’s get into today’s newsletter.


This newsletter is brought to you by the United Collegiate Hockey Cup, the inaugural postseason tournament for college hockey’s independent programs, set for March 5–7 in St. Louis. Don’t miss your chance to be part of the first edition of this new championship event — click here to purchase tickets to the 2025 UCHC.


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