Oh, Big Ten hockey fans, time is fleeting – and so much can change with just a game or two.
While Michigan State remains at the top of the Big Ten standings, the Spartans no longer control their own Big Ten destiny.
In their last 10 games, the Spartans have gone 5-3-2 and most recently have split weekends with Michigan and Ohio State. In both of those series, Michigan State dropped the opening game and rebounded with a decisive win the following night. After losing 4-2 to the Buckeyes Jan. 30, the Spartans won the rematch 4-1.
Last weekend, Michigan State lost 2-1 at home Friday to archrival Michigan on Garrett Schifsky’s even-strength goal with less than a minute remaining in regulation. The following night – in front of over 19,000 fans at Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena – the Spartans pummeled the Wolverines, winning the annual Duel in the D game 6-1.
Those second-game responses are what coach Adam Nightingale wants from his team.
“We’ve got to do a better job of getting to the inside and paying the price it takes to try to score this time of year,” said Nightingale, who added that the team did “a way better job of that” in Saturday’s win.
Now with 43 points, Michigan State is five ahead of second-place Minnesota, but the Golden Gophers have two games in hand on the Spartans.
Simply put, Michigan State can win its last four remaining regular season games and still not capture the Big Ten crown.
The one team in the league that can win out and win it all? The Minnesota Golden Gophers. In fact, the Gophers – like the Spartans – are guaranteed not to travel should they be playing in the first round of the Big Ten playoffs.
Last weekend was a bye week for the Gophers. On his radio show this week, Minnesota coach Bob Motzko said that it couldn’t have come at a better time.
“It was a great off week for us because one, we had some injuries,” said Motzko, “and two, we had the sickness.”
Motzko said that he’s hopeful that whatever bug that made its way through the Gopher locker room “has run its course,” with the team at least. The coaches, though, may still be working through it. “I’m in week four,” he said.
Ah, to be young.
This week, Minnesota travels to Michigan for two games. After that split with the Spartans, the Wolverines are in fourth place in the conference – 10 points behind the Gophers – and Michigan currently sits at No. 12 in the PairWise Rankings.
And with so many big-picture factors that can impact this series, Motzko remains laser-focused on one single item.
“The only thing we’ve got to do is win our next game,” said Motzko. “That’s it. Win your series against the teams you play, and you don’t talk about anything outside of that. It’s senseless to do it ’cause there’s three weeks to go in the season.
“We’ve got to win our next game. We’ve got to go on little one-game winning streaks.”
The Big Ten landscape has changed quite a bit in the second half of the season. At the start of 2025, Minnesota was in first place with 24 points, five ahead of the Spartans and Badgers, tied in second. Ohio State was a game back from that with Michigan a game behind the Buckeyes. Notre Dame was in sixth place with 10 points and Penn State had yet to win a conference game.
The Spartans have the best conference win percentage (.600) in the second half – hence their position at the top of the standings – but the team that’s seen the biggest improvement is Penn State. With their 3-2-3 conference record (.561) since Jan. 1, the Nittany Lions are now in sixth place with 20 points, and Penn State has moved into the PairWise bubble at No. 16.
The team that’s seen the biggest drop in the second half is Wisconsin. The Badgers are 1-6-1 in B1G play (.188) and now need a little help from teams around them to finish as high as where they currently sit in the Big Ten standings, fifth place.
“Our league, all of a sudden, there are six teams that are playing at a very high level, and I’m not trying to take anything away from Notre Dame,” said Motzko. “They can still dial it up. Our league is getting to the top at the end here. We are in for a dogfight down the stretch – our entire league when I say ‘we’ – down the stretch.”
The team that captures the regular season crown sits out the first round of the Big Ten playoffs while the next three teams host the bottom three.
As it stands now, Ohio State is the only team aside from Michigan State and Minnesota that can finish first, although the Buckeyes would need quite a few things shift for that to happen. If Ohio State wins all six of its remaining games, the Buckeyes are guaranteed to finish at least as high as second place. Doing the math, the Buckeyes can finish no lower than sixth place and it would take a lot of bad play and perhaps some bad luck for Ohio State to travel in the first round of the playoffs.
After the Buckeyes, the playoff picture gets a little murkier. Fourth-place Michigan needs to win all four of its remaining games – against Minnesota and Ohio State – to guarantee a fourth-place finish.
Looking only at the numbers, Wisconsin has a chance to finish as high as third. It is possible for the Badgers to win all four of their remaining games and still find themselves traveling in the first round. Two wins gives Wisconsin at least a sixth-place finish. That’s the only thing guaranteed for the Badgers.
Penn State – the team that has only moved forward in the second half and whose only two losses in that stretch have come to Michigan State and Michigan – can finish as high as third as well if there are several favorable planetary alignments. If they win out, the Nittany Lions can finish no lower than fifth.
Notre Dame has no control over whether it finishes out of last place. With six games left, the Irish need assistance from the teams immediately ahead of them in the standings to avoid a seventh-place finish.
“Michigan just went to 12 in the PairWise, Ohio State’s on fire, Penn State’s on fire,” said Motzko, “so we’ve got an extremely difficult stretch, but so does everyone else in our league, too.”
No. 4 Minnesota faces off against No. 12 Michigan in Yost Ice Arena at 7:00 p.m. Friday and 6:00 p.m. Saturday. Friday’s game streams on Big Ten Plus and Saturday’s game is carried by the Big Ten Network.
Wisconsin travels to play No. 8 Ohio State in Value City Arena. Friday’s 7:00 p.m. start will stream on Big Ten Plus and the Big Ten Network will carry Saturday’s 8:30 p.m. game.
Notre Dame heads to No. 18 Penn State for two games in Pegula Ice Arena. Friday’s game starts at 7:00 p.m., Saturday’s starts at 5:00 p.m., and both are streaming in Big Ten Plus.
