Five games Saturday and one Sunday are all that remain in the 61st WCHA regular season and here’s what is known: St. Cloud State has clinched at least a tie for its first MacNaughton Cup and will be the No. 1 seed in next week’s league first playoff round (facing Alaska Anchorage).

Minnesota and North Dakota still have a shot at a co-championship. UMD, presently ninth, will finish eighth or ninth and be on the road next weekend at, most likely, Minnesota State-Mankato, Wisconsin or Denver.

The top seven teams are separated by seven points. The final standings, however, won’t be known until Sunday afternoon as Alaska Anchorage plays at Denver at noon. Standings are below.

All playoff possibilities and tiebreaker eventualities are available in a WCHA news release here.

A recap of UMD’s 5-4 home win over No. 16 Nebraska-Omaha from the News Tribune here and the Omaha World Herald here.

And Duluth blogger Matt Christians looks back on Friday here.

The News Tribune’s live blog Saturday: Nebraska-Omaha at Minnesota Duluth, at 7:07 p.m. will be right here.

UMD’s four-game unbeaten streak (3-0-1) is the longest of the season. Omaha has lost three straight.

Up-to-date U.S. College Hockey Online NCAA Bracketology is right here.

At Madison, Wis., three third-period goals pushed No. 8 St. Cloud State to a 4-2 win over No. 14 Wisconsin. Jonny Brodzinski (19) had two goals, and Drew LeBlanc (12) added an empty-net score with 55 seconds left. Ryan Faragher (20-11-1) had 26 saves. Wisconsin led in shots 28-23. Attendance a mere 3,863 at the Dane County Coliseum. Wisconsin led 2-1 after two periods. St. Cloud State has 6-0-1 streak vs. Badgers. From the Wisconsin State Journal here and St. Cloud Times here.

At Houghton, Mich., Jamie Phillips made 22 saves and Michigan Tech shut out Colorado College 2-0. Tech led 33-22 in shots. Milos Gordic scored in the first period and Tanner Kero added an empty-net score with 21 seconds to play. From the Colorado Springs Gazette here.

At Bemidji, Minn., two third-period goals rallied No. 2 Minnesota to a 4-3 victory over Bemidji State. The Beavers led 3-2 on a Cory Ward goal 2:30 into the final period before Justin Holl scored at 7:27 and Nick Bjugstad (19) got the game winner on a power play with 5:06 to play. Bemidji is 1-11-5 the last 17 games. Minnesota led 28-27 in shots and had two PPGs. Attendance 4,028. From the Minneapolis Star Tribune here and Bemidji Pioneer here.

At Mankato, Minn., Stephane Pattyn and Rocco Grimaldi had third-period goals to spark No. 5 North Dakota to a 4-3 win over No. 10 Minnesota State-Mankato. The game was 2-2 after two periods. Pattyn scored 6:46 into third and Grimaldi had an empty-net goal with 35 seconds left. Zane Gothberg got the win. North Dakota is 6-1-3 the last 10 games.  Mankato led in shots 40-20. Attendance 4,618. From the Mankato Free Press here and Grand Forks Herald here.

At Denver, three first-period goals led No. 12 Denver to a 7-1 win over Alaska Anchorage. Zac Larraza had two goals (including shorthanded). Juho Olkinuora earned the win. Denver led in shots 52-17. Anchorage is 1-17-3 the last 21 games and has lost six straight. Attendance 5,223. From the Denver Post here and Anchorage Daily News here.

WCHA Standings and Summaries Courtesy of College Hockey Stats.net

 1 St. Cloud State   37  27 18- 8- 1 .685  92- 63   35 21-13- 1 .614 117- 88
 2 Minnesota         35  27 15- 7- 5 .648  89- 64   35 23- 7- 5 .729 126- 70
   North Dakota      35  27 14- 6- 7 .648  92- 69   35 19- 9- 7 .643 116- 87
 4 Denver            31  27 13- 9- 5 .574  86- 80   34 18-11- 5 .603 114- 93
   Minnesota State   31  27 15-11- 1 .574  88- 67   35 21-11- 3 .643 115- 81
   Wisconsin         31  27 12- 8- 7 .574  66- 62   35 16-12- 7 .557  87- 74
 7 Nebraska Omaha    30  27 14-11- 2 .556  92- 85   35 18-15- 2 .543 121-103
 8 Colorado College  24  27 10-13- 4 .444  84- 95   35 13-17- 5 .443 112-123
 9 Minnesota Duluth  23  27  9-13- 5 .426  69- 83   35 13-17- 5 .443  91-102
10 Michigan Tech     20  27  8-15- 4 .370  72- 88   33 12-17- 4 .424  99-100
11 Bemidji State     17  27  5-15- 7 .315  57- 82   33  6-19- 8 .303  69- 99
12 Alaska Anchorage  10  27  2-19- 6 .185  51-100   33  4-22- 7 .227  64-116

  Colorado College   0 at Michigan Tech      2       Box   
  St. Cloud State    4 at Wisconsin          2       Box   
  Nebraska Omaha     4 at Minnesota Duluth   5       Box   
  Minnesota          4 at Bemidji State      3       Box   
  North Dakota       4 at Minnesota State    3       Box   
  Alaska Anchorage   1 at Denver             7       Box