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Wisconsin Men's Hockey Falls After Early B1G Tournament Exit

Voters in both national polls dinged the Wisconsin Badgers for taking a lopsided postseason loss on home ice
Kedrick Stumbris|
Wisconsin men's hockey coach Mike Hastings guides the team through practice at La Bahn Arena in Madison, Wis. at Tuesday Sept. 26, 2026.
Wisconsin men's hockey coach Mike Hastings guides the team through practice at La Bahn Arena in Madison, Wis. at Tuesday Sept. 26, 2026. | Mark Stewart / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

Madison, WI — After suffering its second-most lopsided postseason defeat on home ice in program history, Wisconsin men's hockey slid down the rankings in the national polls. As the Wisconsin Badgers await their NCAA Tournament fate on Sunday, voters see UW in a slightly worse light than they did a week ago.

With its loss on Wednesday, Wisconsin (21-12-2, 14-10-0 Big Ten) was bested in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament by the Ohio State Buckeyes for the third consecutive season. The Badgers have not made it past the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament since 2021, when UW enjoyed a bye to the semifinal by winning the Big Ten regular season title.

A first-round bye to the semifinal remains the only manner in which Wisconsin has gotten past the quarterfinal round, doing so in 2014, 2017, and 2021. Since the conference began sponsoring men's ice hockey in the 2013-14 season, UW has failed to advance past the quarterfinals ten times.

Much like last year, however, UW's opponent in the opening round of the tournament has gone on a run to the title game.

Wisconsin Badgers men's hockey falls to No. 12 in national polls

In the USCHO poll, the Badgers fell two spots out of a tie for tenth with the Penn State Nittany Lions down to 12th in the rankings. Wisconsin was passed in the poll by the Dartmouth Big Green. Dartmouth went 2-0 last week, sweeping the Colgate Raiders and advancing to the ECAC Tournament semifinal.

Voters in the USA Hockey poll also slotted the Wisconsin Badgers at No. 12 as Dartmouth rose on their weekly ballots.

After Ohio State secured road victories over Wisconsin and the Big Ten regular season champion Michigan State Spartans, the Buckeyes vaulted into the rankings at No. 19 in both set of rankings. OSU, which now heads to Ann Arbor to face the unanimously top-ranked Michigan Wolverines in the Big Ten Tournament title game, has not been ranked in either poll since the first week of November. No voter in either poll gave a single vote to the Buckeyes last week.

Wisconsin currently boasts a 3-3 record over teams ranked in the top three, a 5-6 record over teams in the top ten, and a 7-9-2 record over teams in the top 20 of the national rankings.

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Kedrick Stumbris
KEDRICK STUMBRIS

Kedrick Stumbris has covered the Wisconsin Badgers since 2022 with a focus on the Badgers football, men's basketball, and women's hockey programs. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2018 with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science.

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