Gophers hockey wins seventh Big Ten regular season title, what's next?

Gophers men's hockey took down Penn State 5-3 on Saturday night, leaving Happy Valley with four points and a share of the Big Ten regular season title. Since the conference began playing hockey in 2013-14, Minnesota has won seven regular season titles, and Michigan State is the next closest with two.

The Spartans hold the tie-breaker over Minnesota, so they will be the No. 1 seed for this year's Big Ten Tournament, which gives them a first-round bye. That means No. 2 seed Minnesota will host No. 7 seed Notre Dame in a best-of-three series next weekend at 3M Arena at Mariucci.

2025 Big Ten Tournament Bracket:

Big Ten men's hockey conference tournament bracket | Picture via: @tonyliebert (X)

Gophers head coach Bob Motzko has been pretty clear in his belief that the top seed earning a first-round bye in the Big Ten Tournament is almost a disadvantage. Michigan State will have a full week off before hosting a team in a single-elimination semi-final, while Minnesota and the rest of the conference get to play at least two weekend games against the same opponent, something every Big Ten team has done for the entire season.

Getting a home-ice advantage for the championship game is obviously a big reason why you'd want the top seed, but Minnesota was able to win the regular season title and now host a Notre Dame team that they'd beaten three out of four times in the regular season.

The Fighting Irish were 4-19-1 in the Big Ten this season, finishing with only 14 points in the regular season. After a November sweep in South Bend for the Gophers, they picked up a 5-2 win and a 4-3 OT loss at home in January. The PairWise rankings have Notre Dame slotted at 45th in the country, so Minnesota will be heavily favored to advance.

The bracket will be re-seeded after the first round, so Michigan State will automatically host the lowest-seeded team remaining in the semifinals. Michigan, Penn State, Ohio State and Wisconsin all had their moments in the regular season, so it could be a competitive opening round. Minnesota is looking to win its third Big Ten Tournament title and first since 2021.

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