For the fifth year in a row, the state of Michigan will be represented in the championship game of the Big Ten hockey tournament.
This time, it’ll be Michigan ― and, to spice things up, the Wolverines will face Ohio State in the final. The No. 5 seed Buckeyes will take on the No. 2 seed Wolverines at Yost Ice Arena on Saturday, March 21. The game starts at 8 p.m. and will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
Michigan (28-7-1) advanced to the championship game with a 5-2 win over Penn State at Yost on Saturday, with a big game from forward Garrett Schifsky and strong special teams. Ohio State (14-20-2) and freshman star Jake Karabela upset top-seeded Michigan State, 3-2, in overtime at Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing.
Michigan — which ended the regular season two points shy of earning a share of its first ever Big Ten regular season title — beat Ohio State in all four regular-season meetings by a combined score of 22-9, with one overtime win in the most recent meeting Jan. 31 at Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio. The last time the teams met in the postseason, the Wolverines dispatched the Buckeyes 7-3 in a Big Ten semifinal at Yost Ice Arena before winning the championship game at Minnesota. That season ended in the Wolverines second of three straight Frozen Four appearances from 2022 to 2024.
Michigan is in the Big Ten championship game for the sixth time. It last made it in 2024, losing to Michigan State on an overtime goal by Patrick Geary. The Wolverines’ three Big Ten Tournament championships (2016, 2022, 2023) are the most among the conference’s seven members, all won under different head coaches.
Ohio State is making its fourth appearance in the Big Ten championship game; it has never won. Michigan and Ohio State have never met in the Big Ten championship game in hockey. Michigan State won the last two tournament titles, beating Ohio State in last year’s final, 4-3 in double-OT.
NCAA hockey bracketology: Wolverines, Spartans, Broncos locked up top seeds
Though Michigan State and Western Michigan will have to wait around to see who they draw in the NCAA hockey tournament, their resumes should be enough to earn one of four No. 1 seeds.
According to College Hockey News’ NPI probability matrix, all three of Michigan, Michigan State have locked up a No. 1 seed in the 16-team field. The Wolverines project as the top overall seed, while the Spartans will be the third and the Broncos will be the fourth.
Of the four regional locations, Michigan is likely to end up in Albany, N.Y., while Michigan State (25-8-2) and Western Michigan (26-10-1) will get either Loveland Colo., or Worcester, Mass.
Whichever team draws Loveland faces a doozy of an opponent. That regional is hosted by Denver, who will also make the field as a No. 2 seed and could be a second-round matchup for the No. 1 seed. Denver has won two of the past four national championships and lost to eventual national champion Western Michigan in the Frozen Four last season. It’s a tough draw, and something Michigan State and Western Michigan could have avoided they bolstered their resumes further.
The Spartans could have gotten another crack at Michigan in the Big Ten championship game after splitting the series with in the regular season but taking an extra point in one overtime loss and outscoring the Wolverines 11-10. Western Michigan had a chance to face Minnesota-Duluth, who beat the other No. 1 seed, North Dakota, in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff.
Last season, Michigan State earned a No. 1 seed before losing to Cornell 4-3 in the opening round of the tournament. Michigan missed the field for the first time since 2019 (the 2020 tournament was cancelled due to COVID-19). The last time Michigan was a No. 1 seed, it made a trip to 2023’s Frozen Four in Tampa Bay before losing to eventual national champion Quinnipiac, 5-2.
Western Michigan will look to become the first back-to-back NCAA men’s hockey champion since Minnesota-Duluth in 2018 and 2019. The Broncos won their first national championship in 2025, 6-2, over Boston University at Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Mo.
Western Michigan lost at Denver, 2-1 in overtime, in the NCHC tournament Saturday.
The Spartans last won a national championship in 2007 and the Wolverines most recently in 1998.
How to get tickets to the Big Ten hockey championship game
Tickets for Saturday’s Big Ten championship game will go on sale to the public at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
tpaul@detroitnews.com
@tonypaul1984
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan to play Ohio State for Big Ten hockey title; how to get tickets
Reporting by Connor Earegood and Tony Paul, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
