The Big Ten Conference has big budgets, big atmosphere and big recruits. The conference boasts seven of the top 14 programs in college hockey for total expenses. All seven institutions are in the top twenty for average attendance and this year the league will host an outdoor game at Lambeau Field where the Ohio State women’s team will play Wisconsin and Michigan’s men’s team will play Wisconsin. Rosters in the Big Ten include 87 NHL drafted players. Michigan State’s nine first-round picks on its roster are the most ever by a college hockey team, breaking a record seven that Michigan skated in 2021-22.
What the league doesn’t have after 13 years under this iteration is a member winning a men’s NCAA championship.
Michigan is tagged to win the conference this season, and for good reason. Coach Brandon Naurato welcomes back a large portion of his roster from last year that went to their third Frozen Four in the past four seasons. Junior forward Michael Hage returned for another year rather than sign with Montreal after a big season where he scored 13 goals and 39 assists. The 21st overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft also shined during his first time playing in an international tournament as Team Canada’s leading scorer at the World Juniors with 2 goals and 13 assists.
“Going through camp we’re just touching up on things and then teaching some of the new guys our style of play, but it’s been very refreshing to move onto the next thing quicker because guys already get it,” Nurato told M Go Blue TV. “Every year you go in excited, optimistic and hungry — I feel like this group is hungrier than ever. We feel that we deserved more last year. We liked a lot about our process and the people that we had here. (Guys) have a chip on their shoulder and we have something to prove.”
The Wolverines are one of the teams that jumped into recruiting CHL players and landed potential 2027 NHL top pick Landon DuPont, who is one of 10 major junior players wearing maize and blue this year. The talent influx from north of the border bolstered already strong rosters across college hockey and the Big Ten welcomed nine CHL first-round picks to their ranks this season.
The other big favorite in the league is Michigan State, as the nine first round picks on their roster is an NCAA record. Looking at their talent on paper makes them the envy across many programs. The question is whether Adam Nightingale can put the pieces together to make a run in the NCAA tournament after making the postseason three years in a row without a Frozen Four trip.
“We don’t assume anything. We haven’t done anything as a group and so on paper people will say, ‘well, you guys got a good team and all this stuff,'” Nightingale said. “The game’s not played on paper. We’ve got a long way to go. I love this group. I love how they’re working. We’ve gotten better since we’ve gotten on the ice, but I think the biggest thing is just that we are a one-day-at-a-time program.”
Big Ten
2025-26 regular season champion: Michigan State (16-6-2, 26-9-2 overall)
2025-26 tournament champion: Michigan (17-6-1, 31-8-1, No. 2 tourney seed, defeated No. 5 Ohio State 7-3)
2025-26 NCAA tournament teams: Michigan (No. 1 seed, lost 4-3 to Denver in 2 OT semifinal); Michigan State (No. 1 seed, lost 4-3 to Wisconsin in OT regional final); Penn State (No. 3 seed, lost 3-1 to Minnesota-Duluth in first round); Wisconsin (No. 3 seed, lost 2-1 to Denver in NCAA championship.)
Preseason coaches poll No. 1: Michigan
Players to watch: Michael Hage (Michigan, Jr., F, only unanimous All-Big Ten First Team); Landon DuPont (Michigan, Fr., D); Jack Ivankovic (Michigan, So., G); Jayden Perron (Michigan, Sr., F); Ryker Lee (Michigan State, So. F); Cayden Lindstrom (Michigan State, So., F); Chase Reid (Michigan State, Fr., D); Brodie Ziemer (Minnesota, Jr., F); Evan Murr (Minnesota, Sr., D); Luca Di Pasquo (Minnesota, Sr., G); Wyatt Cullen (Minnesota, Fr., F); Luke Osburn (Wisconsin, So., D); Gavin Morrissey (Wisconsin, Jr., F); Danny Nelson (Notre Dame, Sr., F); Jackson Smith (Penn State, So., D); Jake Karabela (Ohio State, So., F); Max Montes (Ohio State, Sr., F)
USCHO 2026-27 PREDICTIONS:
Regular season champion: Michigan
Playoff champion: Michigan State
Tournament teams: Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Wisconsin
Dark horse: Ohio State