Michigan's Louie Caporusso finds himself between happy teammates and happy fans after knocking in his second goal of the game to help the Wolverines knock off Northern Michigan University, 2-1, to win Saturday night, March 20th's CCHA Championship between the two teams at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. The win gets Michigan into the NCAA Tournament. Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com

The Michigan hockey team spent Saturday night celebrating on the ice, relishing a CCHA Championship that only a few weeks ago appeared to be anything but realistic.

Less than 12 hours later, the reality of clinching a record 20th NCAA Tournament appearance brought the Wolverines together again, this time around a television inside the Michigan dressing room at Yost Ice Arena.

The wait to learn its tournament destination wasn't a long one. Barely five minutes into Sunday's NCAA Selection show, the Wolverines were announced as the No. 3 seed at the Midwest Regional in Fort Wayne, Ind., where Michigan will face No. 2 seed Bemidji State Saturday night at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.

But as much as the Wolverines (25-17-1) had to celebrate after earning the CCHA's automatic bid with a 2-1 win over Northern Michigan Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena, they realize there's still plenty to accomplish in order to reach next month's Frozen Four at Ford Field in Detroit.

"It's a good feeling, but we have to stay humble," junior forward Carl Hagelin said after Sunday morning's announcement. "We know we haven't achieved anything yet and we want to get to that (national) championship game. So from now on, we'll focus on the game on Saturday."

Saturday's meeting will be Michigan's first meeting with Bemidji State (23-9-4), which is making its fourth NCAA appearance since 2005. The Beavers have spent 22 straight weeks ranked in the Top 15 and won their fifth College Hockey America league title in seven years after compiling a 14-3-1 mark.

The Wolverines, meanwhile, enter the NCAA Tournament playing their best hockey. Michigan has reeled off six straight playoff wins after toppling No. 2 Michigan State and No. 1 Miami (Ohio) in consecutive weekends, getting equally important efforts on both the offensive and defensive end of the ice.

The confidence Michigan possesses heading into Saturday's regional semifinals is a far cry from the uncertainty that surrounded the Wolverines a month ago. The Wolverines hovered around .500 after finishing the regular season losing four of six games and with back-to-back splits with Northern Michigan and Notre Dame.

"We came into the CCHA Tournament kind of distraught at how our season (had gone)," senior defenseman Steve Kampfer after Sunday's NCAA bracket announcement. "Now after going through those six games and winning the CCHA Tournament, we're excited.

"We know what we can do, we know what kind of team we are and we're looking forward to this next weekend."

Although their road to their latest NCAA appearance would be bumpy, the Wolverines somehow managed to rediscover their identity. Six victories later, Michigan went from a tournament after-thought to becoming one of the most dangerous teams in the nation.

"We realized what kind of team we were," Kampfer said. "We realized we were a team that could go places. We came out of those first two playoff series as a team nobody wanted to play and that's what we're going to keep doing.

"We're going to keep playing our kind of game and hopefully, that carries us through the rest of the tournament."

Michigan coach Red Berenson won't allow his team to think ahead to a possible rematch with Miami in Saturday's regional finals. Despite the committee placing the two CCHA rivals together in the Fort Wayne regional as a way to boost attendance, the Wolverines understand they can't get wrapped up in looking ahead.

As appealing as a rematch with tournament favorite Miami appears, the Wolverines realize they won't get a shot at the RedHawks by ignoring the task at hand. Miami, will face No. 4 seed Alabama-Huntsville in Saturday's other semifinal with the winners advancing to Sunday's regional final.

"We're all proud of ourselves for making the tournament," said junior forward Louie Caporusso, who scored two power-play goals in Saturday night's tournament title-clinching victory.

"Miami's a great team, but I really don't care about Miami right now. They can do whatever they want. People are obviously going to be looking at a possible scenario of us and Miami in that (regional final), but right now, we're just concentrating on that first game."

Jeff Arnold covers Michigan hockey for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at jeffarnold@annarbor.com or 734-623-2554. Follow him at Twitter @jeffreyparnold.