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MADISON, Wisc. -­ The field is set. (All five teams have won at least 20 games. Four of the five clubs have ranked among the nation's top 15 Div. 1 teams during much of the season while the fifth has consistently been among those receiving votes.) Ticket sales are on a record pace. (Last year's conference championship event drew a league record 75,151 fans.) The exposure factor is at an all-time high. (Live television coverage will be provided by Fox Sports Net with live audio of all five games also going worldwide via wcha.com). The facility (Xcel Energy Center) is second to none. And a hockey-crazed community (Saint Paul, Minn.) is primed and ready to roll out the red carpet to arriving teams and fans.

The 2003 Kellogg's WCHA Final Five, presented by Keeber, gets underway Thursday (March 20) at 18,000-seat Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn., and continues on through Saturday (March 22). The five teams that earned this highly-sought after reward? They are Colorado College (28-5-5), ranked No. 1 in the country in last week's two polls; University of Minnesota (22-8-9), ranked No. 6; Minnesota State University (20-8-10), ranked No. 9/10, University of North Dakota (26-10-5), ranked No. 11, and University of Minnesota-Duluth (20-14-5), a team that has continually received votes in the polls over the last two months of the season.

It wasn't an easy road for most teams in last weekend's first round, best-of-three WCHA playoff series. Six of the 12 games were decided by one goal or less, two more were by just two goals, and four of the games went into overtime. But the top five seeds, based on their regular season finish, survived and move on in the hunt for the Broadmoor Trophy and an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament.

Competition in the 2003 Kellogg's WCHA Final Five will get underway on Thursday (March 20) evening when #5 tournament seed Minnesota-Duluth takes on #4 seed North Dakota at 7:08 pm CT, with the winner moving on to face top-seeded and 2002-03 MacNaughton Cup champion Colorado College on Friday (March 21) afternoon at 2:08 pm CT. On Friday night, #3 seed Minnesota State will skate against defending national champion Minnesota at 7:08 pm CT. Then on Saturday (March 22), the third place game will get underway at 2:08 pm CT followed by the Broadmoor Trophy championship contest at 7:08 pm CT.

WCHA Playoff Results: First Round: Best-of-Three
Friday, March 14: #10 Alaska Anchorage 3 @ #1 Colorado College 5; #9 Michigan Tech 1 @ #2 Minnesota 3; #8 Wisconsin 1 @ #3 Minnesota State 2; #7 Denver 4 @ #4 North Dakota 1; #6 St. Cloud State 4 @ #5 Minnesota-Duluth 5. Saturday, March 15: Alaska Anchorage 1 @ Colorado College 4; Michigan Tech 2 @ Minnesota 5; Wisconsin 5 @ Minnesota State 6 (2 ot); Denver 2 @ North Dakota 3 (ot); St. Cloud State 3 @ Minnesota-Duluth 2 (ot). Sunday, March 16: Denver 2 @ North Dakota 3 ot; St. Cloud State 3 @ Minnesota-Duluth 7.

2003 Kellogg's WCHA Final Five: March 20, 21, 22: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
Thursday, March 20: #5 Minnesota-Duluth vs #4 North Dakota, 7:08 pm CT.
Friday, March 21: Thursday's Winner vs #1 Colorado College, 2:08 pm CT;
#3 Minnesota State vs #2 Minnesota, 7:08 pm CT.
Saturday, March 22: Third Place Game, 2:08 pm CT; Broadmoor Trophy Championship Game, 7:08 pm CT.

2003 Kellogg's WCHA Final Five Media Teleconference
Kellogg's WCHA Final Five: Tuesday, March 18: 11 AM CT The WCHA will conduct a media teleconference for the 2003 Kellogg's WCHA Final Five, featuring the Commissioner and the five head coaches whose teams qualified for the championship, on Tuesday, March 18 at 11:00 am CT.

Final Five qualifying head coaches should phone in to the teleconference by 10:59 am CT at: 1-888-245-7014, followed by passcode 729388#.

Media should phone in to the Final Five teleconference by 10:59 am CT at: 1-973-935-2025, followed by passcode 729388#.

Televison Coverage: 2003 Kellogg's WCHA Final Five
The 2003 Kellogg's WCHA Final Five will be telecast live. The Minnesota Wild and Wild Director of Broadcasting Patrick O'Connor are producing the telecasts in conjunction with the Western Collegiate Hockey Association on Fox Sports Net North (FSN North). Games will be produced by Patrick O'Connor and Rick Lee.

The 2003 Kellogg's WCHA Final Five will be televised in several states including Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Additional markets may also be added.

The television schedule for the 2003 Kellogg's WCHA Final Five is listed below. Game coverage will start on the hour, with faceoffs at 2:08 and 7:08 pm CT.

Live Audio Broadcasts of 2003 Kellogg's WCHA Final Five featured on wcha.com
For the third consecutive season, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association will provide live broadcasts of all five games from the 2003 Kellogg's WCHA Final Five via the league's official web site ­ wcha.com.

All five games of the tournament will start on the hour and will be broadcast live on www.wcha.com, with Jack Swanson (station manager at KJ102 in Roseau and longtime college hockey broadcaster) and Jim Rich ­ voice of This Week in the WCHA (league's weekly radio show) ­ handling the commentary. The league will also rotate special guests throughout the five live broadcasts.

2003 WCHA Awards Ceremony
March 20: 4 pm: Landmark Center
The Western Collegiate Hockey Association's annual Awards Ceremony ­ to honor the league's individual award winners and kickoff the 2003 Kellogg's WCHA Final Five ­ will be held on Thursday, March 20th at the Landmark Center in downtown St. Paul. The event is open to media, Final Five teams, conference-member coaches and administrators, and invited guests.

The program will begin at 4:00 pm CT with the announcements of the 2002-03 WCHA individual award winners and all-league teams, followed by the official announcement of the Top 10 Finalists for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award.

Those two events will then be followed by a catered meal for attending media, the five competing teams, league and member-school administrators and staff, and invited guests.

WCHA Playoff Championship
The Western Collegiate Hockey Association has sanctioned post-season tournament competition since 1959-60. The University of Denver owns the most playoff titles with 13, followed by Minnesota and Wisconsin with 11 each, and Michigan Tech with nine.

The last team to win back-to-back playoff championships were the Golden Gophers, in 1992-93 and 1993-94.