I like hockey. I’ve never tried to write seriously (satire) about it before but it’s sorta absent from this here free website so let’s give it a go. I have no grand plan for what this will look like or how reliably my work schedule will allow me to write. So I welcome other contributions and perspectives, as long as they agree with mine.
So let’s start with last season. It was a two-tiered conference, with Michigan State, Michigan, Penn State, and Wisconsin clearly separating themselves from Ohio State, Minnesota, and Krylon Purdue Notre Dame. Despite that, a wild B1G Tournament saw Ohio State upset Michigan State to get to the title game where Michigan buried them. Michigan and Wisconsin then both made the Frozen Four, and Wisconsin was edged by Denver in the NCAA Championship.
2025-2026 Final B1G Standings
2025-2026 B1G Tournament
2025-2026 NCAA Tournament Bracket
Now let’s get to the current season starting this evening. The B1G features heavily in both USCHO and USA Today/Hockey Magazine pre-season polls, with 5 of 7 teams represented. Last season’s NCAA Champions Denver is unsurprisingly the #1, but not represented here because this is about B1G teams it’s long enough as it is. Those 5 teams are Michigan (#2, #2), Michigan State (#3, #3), Wisconsin (#6, #6), Minnesota (#14, #18), and Penn State (#17, #16).
Completely Half-Baked, Definitely-Don’t-Take-Too Seriously Predictions
I think the end of season Big Ten Standings look like this:
Unlike last season, I see three tiers in conference, 2 at the top, 3 fighting for positioning in the middle, and 2 at the bottom. I’ll run them down in order below; if I miss something or you disagree, well, I’m very tired so I’m sorry. If nothing else it’ll be good for arguing in the comments; after all, what else is a republic for?
Michigan
Coaching Staff: Head Coach Brandon Neurato returns for his 5th season at Yost. Chris Lazary was added as associate head coach in August as his first NCAA coaching post after a long career in Canada.
Roster: Michigan returns over 70% of their roster while adding a strong Freshman class. Forwards Michael Hage, Jayden Perron, and Will Horcoff are scoring machines and there’s plenty of depth behind them. Defense is also solid, and also offers scoring firepower. Jack Ivankovic returns in goal.
Half-Serious Outlook: Michigan are the clear favorites to win the conference and make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, as they did last year when it took overtime in the Frozen Four for eventual champs Denver to put them away 4-3. The Wolverines have all the tools necessary for revenge and will get their opportunity in a non-conference rematch with #1 Denver away the third weekend. Then there’s a home and home against #8 Western Michigan, so before B1G play even starts we’ll have a pretty good idea of what this team is made of.
This Weekend: Michigan opens the season this weekend with a home-and-home vs. Bowling Green State, in Ann Arbor on Friday at 6 PM CT, and then 5:07 CT on Saturday at BGSU.
Schedule: https://www.uscho.com/scoreboard/michigan/mens-hockey/2026-2027
Wisconsin
Coaching Staff: Mike Hastings is back for his 4th season in Madison, but he made major changes in the offseason by bringing in Andy Brant as an assistant, Steve Briere as goaltending director, and Joe Pavelski as director of player development. All are highly-seasoned coaches with success across several levels.
Roster: A strong roster dominated by Minnesotans and Wisconsinites return for the Badgers. Gavin Morrissey is a point-per-game threat, and the freshman trio of Talan Blanck, Chase Jette, and Zach Wooten offer future growth. Two transfers offer serious elevation opportunity for the Badgers: forward JJ Wiebusch collected 69 (nice) points for Penn State over the past two seasons, and goaltender Alexis Cournoyer (Cornell) will try to challenge Daniel Hauser for the primary starting spot.
Half-Serious Outlook: The coaching staff upgraded, the roster retained strength and upgraded through transfers, and Wisconsin looks fully recovered and reloaded after their 1-goal loss to Denver in the National Championship. The non-conference schedule is favorable to rack up some wins, and the Badgers will most likely build off a decent 2025-2026 season. This is a good team, looking to be great, and a deep run in the NCAAs is a very likely outcome. I hate it, but
Opening Weekend: The Badgers open the season smoking it up at home in a against Phillip Robert Morris Friday 10/2 at 8 PM CT and then Saturday 10/3 at 7 PM CT.
Schedule: https://www.uscho.com/scoreboard/wisconsin/mens-hockey/2026-2027
Penn State
Coaching Staff: You’ll be shocked to learn that Guy Gadowsky is back.
Roster: Penn State brings its typical mix of Canadians and Pennsylvanians back, and adds defensive transfers Caeden Herrington (Vermont) and Charlie Michaud (Miami, no not that one, the other one) who had 5 games between them last year. Forward transfer Justin Poirier (Maine) will lead the offense, but defense looks to be the bigger strength for the Nittany Lions.
Half-Serious Outlook: They’re going to be pretty good. Winning record good. Maybe NCAA Tournament good. I don’t think they’re going to win the B1G but this is a solid roster with an extremely experienced coach who is able to pull off some good upsets every season, and who’ve managed to make their rink a formidable place to visit. They might struggle to score goals at times but defense will keep them in games, and coaching combined with experience should be enough to ease them in over a younger Sparty squadron. A middling non-conference schedule will help the overall record, though single games against UConn and Quinnipiac will provide early tests.
Opening Weekend: Penn State waits until next weekend to start their season, opening on the road at #15 UConn on Friday 10/9. Cowards.
Schedule: https://www.uscho.com/scoreboard/penn-state/mens-hockey/2026-2027
Michigan State
Coaching Staff: Adam Nightingale sings again in Munn Ice Arena. He adds former teammate Andy Contois as an assistant to his veteran staff.
Roster: Last year’s star-studded roster suffered several notable departures, most serious being goaltender Trey Augustine. Augustine piled up awards in 2026 including the Mike Richter Award for the NCAA’s top goalie, Big Ten goalie of the year, and 1st Team All-Big Ten. Transfer Quentin Sigurdson (Northeastern) will try to fill the space between the pipes but with the other two goalies being Freshman, there are a grand total of 5 prior college games and 293 minutes played on the roster at this position. The rest of the roster trends young as well.
Half-Serious Outlook: The difference between a conference title and a strong mid-table finish for Sparty is probably performance between the pipes for the unproven goaltender corps. That said, there’s no reason to believe that this coaching staff can’t translate raw talent into a good season. Their non-conference schedule offers only a single serious challenge in Western Michigan, and even that is uncertain since it’s the rubber match of an in-season tournament. I’m thinking their youth will lose some games they should win, but talent will win them games they should lose. High-variance, which means they’ll fight with Penn State and Minnesota for the middle. Early exits from last year’s Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments stung and will provide some added motivation.
Opening Weekend: MSU hosts #12 Boston College in an Exhibition match in East Lansing on Friday at 4 PM CT and kicks off their regular season next weekend hosting Northern Michigan.
Schedule Link: https://www.uscho.com/scoreboard/michigan-state/mens-hockey/2026-2027
Minnesota
Coaching Staff: The departure of Bob Motzko was the logical endpoint of a long decline and appears to be a relief to all parties including Bob. Brett Larson replaces Motzko for the second time; his hiring hasn’t exactly created a buzz of excitement in Dinkytown. He assembled a 164-131-23 record in 8 seasons at St. Clown Cloud State but hasn’t touched the NCAA tournament since 2024. The Gophers will hope access to Big Ten resources and brand will match better for Brett. Assistants, Ben Gordon and Paul Martin are holdovers from Motzko regime. A new addition is Cory Laylin who joins Minnesota after 5 seasons on staff at St. Thomas.
Roster: Larson has brought change to Minnesota; barely 50% of the roster returns, and nearly 20% of it will be made up of transfers. Forward Austin Burnevik followed his coach from SCSU and will help lead a fairly deep group at that position. Transfer Melvin Strahl (Michigan State) will compete with fellow former Spartan Luca Di Pasquo for primary goaltender duties. Defense was a disaster in 2025-26, and that squad was also largely reconstituted this year.
Half-Serious Outlook: I’m a Minnesota fan so you’ll have to indulge me for a slight diatribe here: Minnesota has no excuse for its underperformance the past decade. It has access to resources, name recognition, successful alumni, and facilities that while no longer state-of-the-art, are still very good. But that doesn’t mean they deserve anything, and results have been accordingly.
Brett Larson is only the fourth coach at Minnesota since 1986 (Doug Woog, Don Lucia, Bob Motzko). In that 40 year period, the team has made the National Championship game five times and won twice; there've been plenty of other good performances but usually such longevity is a reward consistent hardware. Despite continuing to attract great talent, they have failed to keep up in physicality and style of play; last year’s team was downright brutal to watch much of the season. Gopher fans are casting a weary and suspicious eye towards 3M Arena at Mariucci Arena Stadium Rink Garden as attendance drops. Change is needed, and I hope Brett can bring it.
So, this year. The roster rebuild brought in needed talent but there’s always risk with that much turnover. Their generous #14/18 pre-season ranking belies faith among the college hockey literati that they will trend up. But the Gophers will play the toughest non-conference schedule in the B1G with 6 of 8 games against ranked opponents. As a result, I think they look like a less-talented Michigan State: high-variance, better than last season, but not enough to get higher than 5th.
Opening Weekend: The season starts with an old-school WCHA matchup away at #19-ranked Michigan Tech.
Schedule Link: https://www.uscho.com/scoreboard/minnesota/mens-hockey/2026-2027
Ohio State
Coaching Staff: Steve Rohlik enters his 14th season at the helm in Columbus that have featured ups and downs in nearly equal amounts.
Roster: The Buckeyes have the 2nd most senior roster in the conference behind Notre Dame with 13 Junior/Senior players; as is often the case they relied heavily on Canadian and European players in building out the roster. There are three transfers from other programs hoping to bolster the lineup: goaltender defenseman Sascha Boumedienne (BU), forward Erik Pauhlsson (Minnesota), and goaltender Jack Erickson (Bentley). The first two had semi-successful runs at their incumbent programs; Erickson did not see the ice last season.
Half-Serious Outlook: The Buckeyes have experienced a yo-yo pattern since leaving the CCHA; during that time they’ve had a single streak of 4 seasons with a winning record but otherwise have bounced back and forth. Ohio State looks to be…fine…just fine, this season. Making the NCAA Tournament would probably be an over-achievement; they will need to make hay in the non-conference, which is pretty dang weak compared to most other Big Ten teams this year. Ultimately, Ohio State is the 3.6 roentgens of the conference again; not great, not terrible.
Opening Weekend: Ohio State is among the cowardly teams not playing this weekend; they start the season on the road at RPI on Friday 10/9.
Schedule Link: https://www.uscho.com/scoreboard/ohio-state/mens-hockey/2026-2027
Notre Dame
Coaching Staff: Brock Sheahan returns for the 2nd season leading his alma mater. Sheahan has had success as a head coach in the USHL and AHL and experience as an assistant at Holy Cross and Notre Dame.
Roster: On paper, the Irish have one of the most experienced rosters in the Big Ten with 16 Junior/Senior players, and notable transfers defensemen Leo Gruba (Minnesota) and Michael Quinn (Miami…insert same dumb joke here), forwards David Klee (North Dakota) and Hagen Burrows (Denver). The challenge will be molding this roster into a cohesive unit.
Half-Serious Outlook: Brock Sheahan has an uphill battle ahead of him to gain ground for Not-As-Good-At-Football-As-Indiana in the B1G. Last year he replaced 19 year veteran Jeff Jackson at the helm but the Irish nonetheless continued their 4-season slide, and worst season since 2004-05. Another single-digit-win season seems unlikely, but a .500 record would be a good achievement for this. Transfers will help but none of them are lights-out, so Sheahan will need to focus not only on recovery, but translating that into strong future recruiting. This is year is not about this year.
Opening Weekend: Notre Dame opens the season with back-to-back exhibition matches against the US National Development Program on Friday and University of Toronto on Saturday.
Schedule Link: https://www.uscho.com/scoreboard/notre-dame/mens-hockey/2026-2027
