March Madness is officially underway in the college sports world. Both men’s and women’s basketball tournaments began this past weekend along with the conclusion of the women’s ice hockey tournament that saw No.1 Ohio State defeat No.2 Wisconsin 1-0. Following Ohio State’s win, the men’s hockey selection show determined the teams participating in this year’s postseason. Four Big Ten teams heard their names called Sunday for a chance at a national championship: Michigan State, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Some of these teams have gained momentum heading into the tournament while others have struggled the last few weeks. However, the one-and-done elimination system doesn’t guarantee wins for the top teams. With all the parody this collegiate season, any team has a strong chance to make a run for the 2024 National Championship.
Playing as a No.1 seed in their regional quadrant, the Michigan State Spartans look to build off of their first Big Ten Tournament championship. The Spartans became the third team since the tournament’s establishment in 2014 to win the regular season and tournament championships in the same season (Minnesota in 2015 and Notre Dame in 2018). The road through the playoffs wasn’t easy for the Spartans as they narrowly defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes 2-1 in the semifinals. Michigan State would then prevail over their in-state rival Michigan Wolverines 5-4 courtesy of Patrick Geary’s overtime-winning goal. These successes should further build this group’s confidence as they clinched their first NCAA tournament berth since 2012.
Despite losing in the Big Ten Tournament Championship, the Michigan Wolverines have been one of the hottest teams in college hockey as of late. Over the last five weeks, the Wolverines have won seven of their last ten games. Michigan began their playoffs with a convincing sweep of Notre Dame in the quarterfinal series. They would follow that performance up with a 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Golden Gophers, beating them for a third straight year in the tournament. While the loss to the Spartans prevented a tournament three-peat from occurring, the Wolverines’ progression through the Pairwise rankings guaranteed an NCAA tournament placement after being a bubble team over a month ago. If their goaltending holds, the Wolverines could be a sleeper team to watch for this year.
A semi-final defeat on home ice stunned the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Despite not playing their best hockey in a two-game quarterfinal sweep of the Penn State Nittany Lions, the Gophers felt confident they could overcome Michigan after losing back-to-back tournament championships at home the last two years. Unfortunately, this theme repeated as Michigan dominated the Gophers most of the game with their 2-1 win. The offense gained momentum after Jimmy Snuggerud ripped a shot from the right-wing circle to make it 2-1 with 1:29 left in the third. A few chances later almost tied it for the Gophers, but time would run out on a comeback that started too late. Plus, graduate goaltender Justen Close stopped 29 of 31 shots to prevent an even worse outcome. A weekend away from hockey might give this group a fresh start in hopes of returning to the national championship for a second straight year.
Similarly to Minnesota, the Wisconsin Badgers had an extremely disappointing Big Ten tournament finish. The Badgers were upset by the last-place Ohio State Buckeyes in a three-game quarterfinal series at the Kohl Center. Their offense only produced six goals in the series, including just one goal in each loss. These outcomes resulted in their Pairwise ranking plummeting as they went from fighting for a No.1 regional seed to a No.3 seed. Like the Gophers, some time off could bolster a strong run for their first national title since 2006.
This college hockey season has shown that any team could win a game on any night. As a No.2 seed, Minnesota will be the first Big Ten team playing Thursday night against No.3 Omaha in Sioux Falls, SD. A win there could match the Gophers against the No.1 regional seed Boston University in a rematch from last year’s Frozen Four semifinal. The other three teams will square off Friday as Michigan State battles No.4 Western Michigan and Michigan takes on No.2 North Dakota in Maryland Heights, MO. There is a chance that the Wolverines and Spartans could face off again for the opportunity to go to St. Paul. Plus, Wisconsin plays the reigning national champion Quinnipiac Bobcats in Providence, RI as the overall No.1 national seed Boston College will await that outcome, more than likely. It will be tough to predict how these teams will fare this weekend, but anything can happen when it’s do-or-die for every team in the playoffs.
