COLORADO SPRINGS - The University of Denver's opponent for the first round of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs was in doubt literally until the final seconds of the regular season.

But, in the end, the matchup that perhaps was meant to be finally became a reality. DU will host Wisconsin in a best-of-three series beginning Friday at Magness Arena in a battle between the teams that have captured the past three national championships.

"They are a terrific defensive team and a team that prides itself on defense and frustrating the other team," DU coach George Gwozdecky said. "They are the defending national champions and they've got a lot of pride. They battled hard the second half of the season to put themselves real close to getting a top-five finish but they just weren't quite there."

DU managed to secure the fourth seed in the WCHA after Keith Seabrook and Ryan Dingle scored goals in the final 36 seconds of regulation Saturday at Colorado College to salvage a 5-5 tie.

DU swept the Badgers at Madison, Wis., in November and split a series at Magness during the first weekend of January.

DAUNTING HISTORY: Saturday was not the first time DU and CC capped the regular season with a 5-5 draw. The Tigers hope their postseason fate proves more fortunate than after the last time it happened.

The Front Range rivals played to a 5-5 draw on March 5, 1994, in the final regular-season game at CC's Broadmoor Arena. The Tigers then played Michigan Tech in the first round of the WCHA playoffs, lost in three games and missed the NCAA tournament.

This year, CC once again will face the Huskies in the WCHA playoffs with its NCAA tournament hopes hanging precariously. Despite its win and tie against DU over the weekend, CC still is tied for 15th in the PairWise rankings, meaning the Tigers not only have to beat Michigan Tech to keep their tournament hopes alive, but they likely will have to win the play-in and semifinal-round games at the WCHA Final Five.

CC coach Scott Owens realized his team's next opponent remained in limbo throughout the conclusion of Saturday's wild game.

"I knew on the bench it was going to be either Wisconsin or Tech, and I couldn't even tell you which one," Owens said. "Tech is quietly a real good team. They're playing as good of hockey as anybody right now and they're scary."

CC has had better luck against the Huskies since it moved to the World Arena, where Michigan Tech has never won.

ETC.: Air Force (16-15-5) will host an Atlantic Hockey Association quarterfinal game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday against Holy Cross. The winner will advance to the AHA final four in Rochester, N.Y. . . . DU's Geoff Paukovich missed Saturday's game because of a slight concussion he suffered Friday, but the junior center is expected to return to practice this week and be available for the Wisconsin series. . . . Dingle needs four points to become the 90th member of DU's 100-point club. . . . After suffering consecutive shutouts, a goal by DU's Chris Butler finally ended the team's school-record scoreless streak at 136:56. . . . Pioneers leading scorer Brock Trotter had only one point in six games before collecting a goal and two assists Saturday.