Bob Motzko generally takes the “it is what it is” stance with things a coach can’t control. That attitude extends to things like the NCAA tournament schedule. Although the Minnesota coach had one quibble after seeing the bracket on Sunday evening.

The Minnesota Gophers are the top seed for the Fargo regional, and as such will get the No. 16-seeded Canisius Golden Griffins at 8 p.m. on Thursday night. That last detail was Motzko’s only complaint.

“We don’t want to practice, we want to play games. The only problem I saw was 8 o’clock (at night). I’d rather play at 8 in the morning,” Motzko said. “We have a group that needs to get in some game time right now. I’m glad it’s Thursday. They don’t need to hear my whistle anymore.”

In the other Fargo matchup, St. Cloud State will face Minnesota State Mankato at 4 p.m. Thursday. The Huskies, making their 17th NCAA Division I tournament appearance and fifth straight, are coming off a 3-0 victory over Colorado College on Saturday in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff championship game.

The Mavericks, meanwhile, after two straight Frozen Four appearances, were just minutes away from a potential season-ending loss when two goals in the final three minutes and an overtime winner by Zach Krajnik propelled them past Northern Michigan 3-2 on Saturday.

Last season, the Huskies got beat 5-4 by Quinnipiac in Allentown, Pa., in the regional semifinals. In 2021, the Huskies made their second Frozen Four appearance by winning a regional in Albany, N.Y.

The bracket reveal, televised by ESPN, showed that after winning the Big Ten title and holding the top spot in the national polls and the PairWise for much of the season, the Gophers still have to leave the state in order to find a way back to the Frozen Four.

But only by about a mile or so.

Although Minnesota has never played in a regional there, Scheels Arena is a place several players know from pre-college hockey.

“It’s a place a lot of guys are familiar with, either from youth (hockey) or from playing juniors up there,” said defenseman Mike Koster. “We’re excited to go up there and have been waiting for this moment for a while this season.”

A win on Thursday and the Gophers will advance to face a familiar foe, with St. Cloud State facing Minnesota State Mankato in the opening game on Thursday.

It will not be the Gophers’ first regional in the Flickertail State. They were in Grand Forks in 2006 for the legendary upset loss to Holy Cross.

“We get to play this week, we’ll play close to him with a little Minnesota flavor, and we also have to take on Canisius which just won their conference championship to get in there,” Motzko said. “One thing that’s proven over recent history, the last decade or so, one and four seeds don’t matter. ... It’s how you’re playing and we’ve got to make sure we’re playing our best.”