Boston College captain Eamon Powell has embraced his last best chance to reach the pinnacle of college hockey.

BC (31-5-1) was awarded the No. 1 overall seed during the NCAA selection show on Sunday and will face Michigan Tech (19-14-6) in the Providence Regional on Friday at the Amica Mutual Pavilion. BC has won the National championship five times, four in this century and the last in 2012.

“All the boys are really excited but this week it is just back to work and hopefully I have four more games left in me,” said Powell, a senior defenseman and Tampa Bay Lightning draft pick who has played in a staggering 134 games.

“For this group it is a really exciting time and each year you look forward to these playoffs games so to be here is exciting.”

BC tops the list of four Hockey East teams to make the NCAA’s field of 16. Boston University (26-9-2, 20-4-1) drew a No. 1 seed and will play RIT (27-10-2) on Thursday in the Sioux Falls Regional at Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.

UMass and Maine will both compete in the Springfield Regional at the MassMutual Center. Denver (28-9-3) drew the No. 1 and will play No. 4 UMass (20-1-3-3). Maine drew the No. 2 seed and will play No. 3 Cornell (21-6-6).

“I think we all help each other prepare for this,” said BC coach Greg Brown, the Hockey East Coach of the Year. “It is such deep league this year and every team was a battle and when you have that kind of depth in the league, you get experience playing in tough games and tough situations and it helps you get better.”

Powell came to BC with realistic expectations of deep runs in the NCAA tournament but it didn’t work out the way he envisioned. BC qualified for the 2021 NCAA tournament Powell’s freshman season in Albany, but it was a fractured experience played in an empty arena. BC got a first-round bye when Notre Dame had a COVID outbreak before falling, 4-1, to St. Cloud State.

“That tournament was weird and that whole year was weird,” said Powell. “We tried to make the most of it in Hockey East all year and that (St. Cloud) was the first game against a team out of conference and that was a little different. My sophomore year it was good to get the crowds back and this year the crowds have been electric.”

The Eagles’ remarkable run to the NCAA tournament exemplifies how far the program has advanced from last season, Brown’s first behind the bench. BC underachieved, going 14-16-1 overall, 8-11-5 in Hockey East in 2023 and were eliminated in the quarterfinals with a 1-0 loss to Merrimack.

“We got a lot of new players this year and BC has keen kind of known as a younger team,” said Powell. “But we play a lot older than our age and it has been a great transition from last year to this year.

“The last few years we’ve been kind of middle of the pack. So, it’s is good to be back at the top of the pack headed into the tournament.”

BC retained the No. 1 ranking by beating No. 2 BU, 6-2, in the Hockey East title game Saturday night at TD Garden. BC center Will Smith of Lexington became the first freshman to score a hat trick in the title game with four goals and an assist. The Eagles’ power play accounted for four (two by Smith) of the six tallies against the Terriers and have 45 on the season.

“The power play comes down to a game of inches,” said sophomore center Cutter Gauthier, who leads the nation with 35 goals. “Any time we get on the power play we want to execute and it’s a younger group but it’s all experienced.”

BU is making its 39th appearance also looking to secure its sixth NCAA title and first since 2009. The Terriers went down this road last season, but with 14 NHL draft choices and freshman forward Macklin Celebrini, BU coach Jay Pandolfo has a stronger group. Celebrini is the Hockey East Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year and is expected to be the first player taken in the 2024 NHL Draft.

After clinching last year’s Hockey East crown, BU embarked on successful run to the Frozen Four. The Terriers eliminated Western Michigan 5-1 in the opening game of the Manchester Regional at SNHU Arena. BU followed that in a classic 2-1 victory over Cornell to advance to the semifinals. The Terriers run ended with a 6-2 loss to perennial power Minnesota on April 6 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla.

UMass had a number of factors fall into place, all of which took place outside Hockey East. The Minutemen befitted form Cornell’s 3-1 victory over St. Lawrence in the ECAC title game and Denver’s 4-1 over Omaha in the NCHC championship match.

Maine had been a top 10 team most of the season and were ranked No. 7 before falling to BU in the Hockey East semis. The Black Bears can equal their best wins total since 2006 with a victory in the opening round.