When I wrote my season preview before Week 1 I said I had no idea what my posting frequency would be and has that ever turned out to be prescient. Life continues to life me in 2026; I'll try to do better going forward but as Minnesota is finding out so far this season, you get what you pay for sometimes.
It's early, far too early to draw too many conclusions about the season, but the current trend is a very top-heavy conference again. The B1G started out with 5 of 7 teams ranked and the two lowest, Minnesota and Penn State, have promptly dropped out.
Meanwhile the best keep getting better, and Michigan is now the #1 ranked team in the land after a red-hot 6-0 start, with Michigan State now #2 and Wisconsin at #6. Notre Dame and Ohio State sit in the middle seat at 2-2 each, but have also played weak schedules. So let's check in on things top to bottom.
Michigan, 6-0-0 (#1 USCHO, #1 USA Hockey)
The #1 Wolverines are off to a red-hot 6-0-0 start, showing all the signs of being an offensive machine. They've scored 36 goals in 6 games, I'll let you do the math to find the average. It's a lot. And even though 28 of those came against Bowling Green State and Alaska-Anchorage, they capped it this past weekend with a sweep at Denver, the defending National Champions and not an easy place to play. Michigan does nothing but generate offense; 4 of the top 10 Points scorers are theirs, including #1, 2, and 4, and the number one scoring defenseman in the NCAA Drew Schock comes in at #9.
If Michigan has a weak spot so far, it's in net where Jack Ivankovic has a 2.00 GAA coming in at 28th in the NCAA. But again, it's early, and they played Denver in Denver. That average will come down.
Michigan has a one-game weekend, playing the first end of a home-and-home with #5 Western Michigan on Friday. The back end will be played on January 30th. Friday's game is home at Yost where I presume the clock has been carefully calibrated.
Michigan State, 3-0-0 (#2 USCHO, #2 USA Hockey)
All Michigan does is score, but Michigan State adds defending. Sparty has had an easier time to start the season, playing only 3 games that count plus an Exhibition against #12 Boston College. They've taken care of business, averaging 5.333333333 goals per game while giving up an average of 1.3333333333. Now, their opponents (Northern Michigan and RIT) are not good. But Michigan State has left absolutely no doubt.
Something to watch as the season goes on is a balanced attack. Where Michigan has relied on a handful of top line scorers, MSU has spread the love with four of their top scorers within a point, and their leader having only one more. MSU is also thriving on the Power Play, with a PP% of 44.444444444444 which is only behind Army in the NCAA; 8 goals on 18 attempts in only 3 games.
Goaltending has been solid, though the opposition is less than fierce. Regardless, Sparty is doing what they need to do so far. This weekend they head out east to take on 2-1-1 New Hampshire Friday and Saturday.
Wisconsin, 4-0-0 (#6 USCHO, #6 USA Today)
Wisconsin's good again. Now, have their opponents thus far won any games yet? No, they have not. So, not ready to call them great yet but like MSU, they are not letting anyone stay in the game aside from a 1-0 win over Robert Morris that wasn't as close as the score suggested.
In fact, the Badgers and MSU look very similar overall. Wisconsin has spread their scoring out even more evenly aside from forward Vasily Zelenov's 7 points. That, combined with a 0.75 GAA for their two goalies shows a team that knows what it needs to do and is simply doing it. Could be a very tight race for the 2nd spot in the B1G this season, and Wisconsin will be in it.
The Badgers go to Kalamazoo to meet #5 Western Michigan in Exhibition on Saturday.
Ohio State, 2-2-0
There's a big drop from Wisconsin to Ohio State, whose performance thus far can be best described as "middling". Literally; they've scored 11 goals and given up 11. Both series so far have been splits with a Friday loss and Saturday win (against RPI and Sacred Heart).
Not much to get excited about here; the Buckeyes have a meager power play (18.75%) though not the worst in conference (more on that below), and a poor penalty kill (69.23%) though again, not worst in the conference. But the fact Ohio State is putting up such middling numbers against very bad opponents does not bode well for Value City Arena at Jerome Schottenstein Center.
We'll know for sure where the Buckeyes stand after this weekend when they host #13 Augustana in Columbus on Friday and Saturday.
Notre Dame, 2-2-0
I put Ohio State over Notre Dame on this list because they're actually a full conference member and that deserves something. But on balance, Notre Dame has looked better this year if only just. After needing overtime to put away Toronto in Exhibition to start the season, they swept Niagara at home winning 3-1 and 4-0, more convincing than the Buckeyes.
Then they had to face #6 Western Michigan in a home-and-home and lost 1-6 and 0-4. Notre Dame does what it says on the tin (helmets). There's not a whole lot to take away from this team so far; they've played one very bad team and one very good one. Tough to extrapolate blowout data.
This weekend the Fighting Irish host #20 Merrimack on Friday and Saturday which should help clarify things a bit with this team.
Minnesota, 0-3-1
The Brett Larson experiment in "Make The Same Hiring Decision As Last Time And Hope It Changes Things" is producing things that can technically be described as results. It has been a disastrous start to the season for Minnesota. The first game against #14 Michigan Tech had to be postponed because despite being literally everything happening in Houghton that day, the ice was not ready at Macinnes Ice Arena. Minnesota looked less than spectacular while being swept 3-2 and 3-1. This past weekend, #9 UMD pantsed them in Duluth 7-1. The Gophers did show a tiny bit of spirit on Saturday to gain a 2-2 official tie but a shootout win, which at least gives Larson a better record than his predecessor in a category.
Minnesota has had the hardest schedule yet in the conference, and that continues this weekend against traditional WCHA rival #3 North Dakota. It's too early to panic, but it also leaves little room for error once conference play begins, and there is nothing about Minnesota's statistics right now to engender confidence. The best that can be said right now is that their Power Play is ok and they haven't taken many penalties. Which is good, because they're dead last in the NCAA in Penalty Kill (64.29%).
Penn State, 0-3-0
Minnesota's tie is truly the only thing to distinguish them from Penn State at this point. The Nittany Lions dropped their opener to #16 UConn by a respectable 3-1 but subsequently dropped single games to Sacred Heart and #8 Quinnipiac by 6-3 scores. Thus far, Penn State has been led by their younger players as the top three scorers are all underclassmen, but the defensive side of the ice has been every bit the disaster that Minnesota's has.
Let's just say that so far, my pick of Penn State to finish third in the conference is not looking fantastic.
On the other hand, it's been a tougher schedule so far, and potential relief is offered in an odd Tuesday night game against 0-4-0 Robert Morris before 3-2-1 Canisius comes to Pegula on Friday and Saturday.
